The Family in Islam

Translator’s Foreword

Family life and related issues such as marriage, divorce, parenthood, underage pregnancy and abortion are areas of great discussion and dispute in the ‘western’ world today.

The facts emanating from various societies in the ‘developed’ world show that the current state of affairs is unsustainable and illogical and will inevitably result in the decline and self-destruction of these societies. A prime and oft-quoted1 example of this is Italy where, being a Catholic country, one would expect the birth rate to be high. However with a reproduction rate of only 1.3 children per couple it is clear that the population is not being sustained or replaced and is dwindling. It requires a live reproduction rate of at least 2.0 children per couple to maintain population levels each generation.

This story is repeated throughout the European Union where the Republic of Ireland despite also experiencing a sharp drop in the ‘fertility’ rate is the only country where rates are at ‘generation replacement level’.2 At these rates, Italy’s abortion statistics at around 150,000 per year3 seem an unaffordable luxury as they do in the other countries of the EU. The use of the term ‘fertility rate’ according to these statistics also appears to be a little disingenuous, as it does not take into account the number of terminations each year. The number of live births per woman is not a valid reflection of true fertility, because a conception subsequently terminated can also be regarded as a statistic of fertility.

The killing of children is deemed wrong in the Qur’an and hence in Islam:

‘And kill not your children for fear of want, We will sustain them and you. Indeed, the killing of your children is a great sin.’4 In many places in the Qur’an also, evidence is brought that previous nations and generations were brought down by their sinning:

‘Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before them? They were even superior to them in strength and in the traces (they have left) in the land: but Allah did call them to account for their sins, and none had they to defend them against Allah.5

Hence we can see that the concept of sin is not just an abstraction with no relevance or effect in the real world but it is a way to the downfall of human society.

One man who has witnessed such a downfall in his own beloved society is Grand Ayatollah Imam Muhammad Shirazi, a prolific religious scholar and authority now living in Iran. In his book Our Life of Half a Century Ago written in Arabic and yet to be translated, he describes the ease, simplicity and purity of Islamic life in ‘Iraq – particularly the cities of Najaf and Karbala – 50 years ago. He then tells of a gradual decline and erosion of basic Islamic tenets on a societal level and the adoption of eastern and western secularisation. This experience has lead to the main theme which runs through virtually all of Imam Shirazi’s books namely a call for the gradual reinstitution of Islamic tenets, laws, principles, and commandments in all areas of life – legal, economic, political, social, and spiritual.

The Family in Islam is one such book of Imam Shirazi’s. In it he highlights the problems he sees primarily in Islamic societies today from the phenomenon of unmarried young men and women through to birth control and contraception. He calls for a return to the simplicity he experienced in his youth and draws our attention to the Islamic teachings and laws in this vital area of life. As well as being a call to the Muslim world to revert to the true teachings of the Qur’an and the Prophet and Imams, this book can also be of use as an introduction to others who seek some answers to the social problems of today. Islam has detailed teachings, which promise success in every area of human life on individual and societal levels, and what’s more their practicality has been historically proven despite being under constant attack from the outset until the present day.

It was not so long ago that Islam was berated for allowing divorce, which is religiously permitted and spoken about in great detail in the Qur’an, yet now it has been adopted by the very societies that formerly forbade it. However picking and choosing Islamic teachings to suit fashion or whims is not the key to success. Rather the key to success is to implement the Islamic ideology in all areas of life by following God’s guidance for mankind.

‘They follow guidance from their Lord and they are the ones who will prosper.’6