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Monday, September 26, 2005
Leaders’ fatwa supports family planning
THE Muslim community is joining other faiths in supporting the government’s family planning programs.
Through a religious edict or fatwa, family planning programs have been promoted using radio ads in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
A press release by the Social Acceptance Project-Family Planning and Corporate Image Dimensions (SAP-FPCID) states that the radio spots are well received.
The ads that started airing in June informed the public that the Qu’ran, or the holy book of Islam, does not actually prohibit birth spacing.
The Muslims, though, are not the first to promote family planning in the religious sector.
Ideal gaps
Early this year, other faith organizations signed a pact signifying support for the Department of Health’s family planning programs that are viewed as an important factor in the country’s development.
In March 2004, the House of Islamic Opinion in Central Mindanao affirmed the acceptability of birth spacing in Islam, also through a fatwa, in response to the growing uncertainty on the teachings of Islam regarding the issue.
Prior to this, a survey released by the SAP-FPCID stated that 27 percent or at least two out of 10 married women in ARMM actually want to practice birth spacing, but did not use any kind of family planning method for fear that it goes against their religion.
The most advisable gap between children is three to five years.
According to the latest National Demographic and Health Survey, “Children born less than 24 months after a previous birth are twice as likely to die before the age of five, compared to those children born three years after a previous birth.” (JGA)
(September 26, 2005 issue)
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