A pregnant woman has been advised by her doctor to have an operation to ensure that she does not get pregnant again. She had previously given birth twice, each time delivering by Caesarean section. The doctor’s advice is based on that three abdominal operations is the maximum that a woman can have. Otherwise, the risks to her health are considerable. Please advise whether such an operation is acceptable.
M. Iqbal
To start with, contraception to prevent pregnancy is permissible. The Prophet was told by some of his companions that they were resorting to it and he did not tell them to stop such practice. Needless to say, they resorted to the method known at the time. The fact that he did not ban it, realizing that it is meant to avoid pregnancy, means that it is permissible. One of the Prophet’s companions said: “We used to resort to contraception at the time when the Qur’an was being revealed.” What he meant is that if it was not permissible, the Qur’an would have clearly stated the prohibition. Since there is no such prohibition, it remains permissible.
When the method of contraception is not of the permanent type, such as the pill, the loop or the condom, the permissibility is clear. The case may be different when the method is permanent, as in the case of an operation of the type this lady is advised to have. Such an operation is permissible when there is a clear risk to the mother in any future pregnancy. The woman should have had clear advice by a competent doctor who is religious. When a case meets these conditions, then the permissibility is based on the principle that “necessities relax prohibitions”. It is not permissible for a healthy woman to have a sterilization operation when pregnancy represents no health risk to her or her children. She can resort to normal methods of contraception. In a case where there is serious health risk from any future pregnancy, sterilization may be permitted, provided expert advice strongly recommends it.
In my home country, farmers are using organic manure, which includes cow dung. Is this permissible, considering that dung and animal excreta are impure? May I say that this method is effective in increasing production.
A. Yousuf
Organic manure using the excreta of animals such as horses, cows and similar domestic animals is perfectly permissible. Only the dung and urine of animals whose flesh we are forbidden to eat are impure. Those of animals that we eat, such as sheep, goats, chicken and cows are not classified as impure, or najis. Therefore, using it as fertilisers is perfectly appropriate.
