by Fudia Muhammad
The topic of birth control continues to be highly controversial and is often a politicized issue. As with most societal concerns in this country, we rarely factor into the discussion the Will of God in our decision-making. The generally accepted definition of birth control is: “The act of preventing pregnancy. Methods include medications, procedures, devices, and behaviors.” Prevention of pregnancy is the ultimate goal for those staunch promoters and champions of any and all forms of contraception. These advocates are usually the same people who encourage abortions, should the contraception fail. Birth control in that sense is not even thought of in Islam. However, birth control in Islam means what is says, controlling when you give birth. Planning as many aspects of parenthood as possible before conceiving; including spiritually, mentally, physically and financially – this is birth control. Birth control should not center on preventing pregnancy by any means necessary. We should plan, to the best of our ability, when we choose to conceive – always remembering that Allah (God) is the Best of Planners, therefore we are willing to surrender to His plan should it not turn out to be the same as ours.
Fudia Muhammad
So, it is a misconception that Muslims in the Nation of Islam do not “believe” in birth control. We absolutely do. We practice writing our history then walk into it – meaning, we plan our future and then seek to fulfill it. But we are not willing to abuse our bodies by disturbing our natural biological chemistry or interrupting the woman’s menstrual cycle for the sake of preventing pregnancy. Any artificial form of contraception that alters the blood, affects hormone levels, or interferes with menstruation and ovulation are discouraged. This includes birth control pills, birth control patches, IUDs, Depo-Provera shots, the vaginal ring, the Morning After pill (Plan B), and others. The immediate side effects and long term consequences of these artificial methods can be devastating.
In Message to the Blackman in America, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote, “Using birth control for a social purpose is a sin. Using the birth control law against production of human beings is a sin that Allah (God) is against and for which He will punish the guilty on the Day of Judgment. Both the Bible and Holy Qur’an’s teachings are against birth control. So you and I, too, should be against it…The motive behind these schemes is not designed to promote the welfare of black families, but to eliminate these families in the future” (p. 64-65). In How To Eat To Live: Book One, he wrote, “This pill is a bold offer of death, openly made…It is accepting extermination through a harmless looking pill, designed to take away the future birth of our Nation…Once you have swallowed the birth control pill, it is death” (p.86-87).
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad once told Minister Farrakhan, “Brother, you can’t fathom the depth of Satan.” We cannot fathom his level of evil because our nature is righteousness; but his is not! The enemy of God has a focused agenda “to cull between 2-3 billion people from the face of the Earth!” The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan warned us that Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor, said, “Today, it is infinitely easier to kill a million people, than to control a million people.” So the wicked are on a mission to kill millions by using our natural urges for both food and sex. They genetically modify and poison our food supply; and then promote “temporary” birth control, which is actually gradual sterilization, in hopes of eventual extinction. Their father, Yakub, is the originator of this birth control methodology which has now evolved into deceptive agencies like Planned Parenthood; the name itself is clearly false advertisement. Planned Parenthood is primarily found in poor communities populated by Black and Brown people. They do not help women plan to become parents – they help women prevent and end their pregnancies.
The Holy Qur’an reads, “And Allah has made the earth a wide expanse for you, that you may go along therein in spacious paths” (71:19-20). There is ample space and ample resources for every living person and creature on the earth. Any control to the population that must take place will take place by the hands of God; He does not need our help. He does not permit life to come forth without creating a way to maintain it. While we should definitely plan, we must always see the hand of God in everything. If it is His Will that we conceive; then we should embrace the pregnancy and allow it to come to term – no abortions. But family planning is the key. We control who we marry and with whom we decide to lay down. After that decision is made, we are mandated by God to bear the consequences of our actions.
Muhammad Speaks Newspaper (1965)
If we study how exquisitely Allah (God) designed the female – there are clear signs that He had every intention of the woman knowing exactly when she is ovulating so that she could plan when to conceive. We cannot begin to master anything outside of ourselves if we do not first study self, beginning with our physical make-up. A clean diet, regular exercise and adequate rest helps to regulate a woman’s cycle, which then makes her study of self much easier to analyze. Sometimes she does need outside help; but if that is the case, consider consulting a naturopathic or wholistic health practitioner to meet those specific needs – whether trying to conceive or trying to space pregnancies. This knowledge can be vital because women need adequate time between births to completely heal before conceiving again. There is such a thing as having too many children – only in the sense that the woman’s body will begin to break down a lot faster than otherwise. The best naturopathic practitioners will be able to help women meet their specific needs, by balancing their personal body chemistry with those elements that the earth naturally supplies.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan echoes both the Bible and the Holy Qur’an when he said that premarital sex is forbidden: “Among the righteous, those of high moral values, premarital sex is forbidden. In this world premarital sex is the order of the day and anyone who forbids premarital sex is looked at as archaic, old fashioned, and not thinking in the best interest of the individuals.” He teaches us that in the mosques [or any houses of worship] and in our schools, the only message that we teach and promote is abstinence until marriage – period. Unfortunately in a world like this, our children are exposed and bombarded with sexually explicit images and subliminal messages constantly. So it sometimes takes a miracle (divine favor or God’s active intervention) to keep our youth away from premarital sex.
WARNING: The Minister has stated that we should study our children. No one knows our children better than we and if we see that they are headed toward this activity, we have a duty as parents, to teach them how to protect themselves. This role is reserved for parents and guardians. It is not for the mosques or schools. Prevention of pregnancy is not the primary goal here; but rather protecting our children from sexually transmitted diseases, which can sometimes be a life sentence.
Doing our very best every day to live a life pleasing to Allah (God) and trusting His guidance assures our success. So let’s get better at controlling (planning) our births naturally and be sure to teach the young sisters and brothers coming behind us to do the same. The enemy’s way is dying out and the righteous must replace it with something new, something better – a Nation that will last forever!
(Sister Fudia Muhammad is a member of Muhammad Mosque No. 64 in Austin, Texas. She is married to Student Minister Robert L. Muhammad and they have been blessed with four children. Sister Fudia holds a Master’s degree in Education – she is a writer, an educator and an advocate for God-centered child-rearing.)
