The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan has issued a ruling regarding "childfree," i.e., childless life. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Childfree is a subculture that promotes the conscious refusal to have children. Its ideology has become one of the pressing issues today.
"Supporters of this view do not hate children. However, they often cite as main reasons avoiding the costs of raising children, not wanting to take on additional responsibility, prioritizing personal freedom and professional development, as well as the ideology of 'my body – my right.' And the conscious refusal to have children is not approved from the perspective of Sharia," the official statement of the muftiate said.
In this regard, specialists of the spiritual administration cited several specific arguments:
- 01This ideology contradicts human nature (fitra); marriage and procreation are natural phenomena.
- 02Marriage is the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). One of its main goals is the preservation of the human race and continuation of offspring. Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Marry women who love you and give birth to many children, for I will boast of your multitude before other nations on the Day of Resurrection."
In Islam, having children is a common right of spouses. Therefore, if one of them desires children, the other cannot forbid it.
"It is permissible to temporarily postpone pregnancy for valid reasons, such as preparing for child-rearing or restoring health. In such a case, mutual consent of the spouses is required, and the methods used must not harm health. But deliberately refusing pregnancy only to avoid responsibility or out of fear of poverty is not approved in Sharia," say muftiate specialists.
Also, any methods that lead to infertility and permanently prevent pregnancy are considered haram in Sharia.