Title: Sex and society in Islam: birth control before the nineteenth century

POPLINE Document Number: 020517

Author(s):

Musallam BF

Source citation:

New York, N.Y./Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 1983. ix, 176 p. (In series: Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)

Abstract:

This monograph presents evidence from Medieval Arabic jurisprudence, medical texts, erotica, and literature which establishes that contraception was widely used in premodern Middle Eastern populations. Contraception was sanctioned by Islamic religious law from the 1st Islamic century, and there was general knowledge, discussion, and dissemination of effective birth control techniques through a variety of media. Arguments advanced for birth control practice included the economic hardships of a large number of dependents, avoidance of fathering children who would be slaves, protection of young or sickly women from the dangers of childbirth, the need to safeguard property, and the importance of guaranteeing the education of existing children. Coitus interruptus and precoital intravaginal suppositories and tampons were the most widely used birth control methods. Abortion was generally tolerated if it took place before ensoulment. Recognition of the personal, social, economic, and medical indications for contraception was made possible by the religious sanction of birth control and the open attitudes toward sexuality. The evidence contained in the various categories of literature from Medieval Arabic society refutes the belief that birth control is strictly an aspect of modernity.

Keywords:

Asia
Africa, North
Africa
Africa, Sub Saharan
Islam
Historical Demography
Family Planning
Religion
Contraception
Women's Status
Medicine, Traditional
Historical Review
Religious Aspects
Developing Countries
Demography
Social Sciences
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors
Medicine
Health Services
Delivery of Health Care
Health