Fatwa #4708922 June 2024Pakistan
Reverse Contraception for a mentally ill woman
Question
Assalam-U-Alikum wr wb honorable Mufti Sahab, This question regarding the clarification the fatwa I came across on the website regarding contraception. The website says contraception is alllowed under limited scope of reasons as follows: “Among the reasons accepted by the Shariلh as valid for practising reversible contraception are: (A) Physical weakness.(B) Sickness.(C) The wife maintaining her beauty or figure for the sake of her husband.(D) The couple being on a journey or in a distant land.(E) Adverse political conditions, e.g. children are forcibly separated from their parents as is advocated by communism; etc.(F) The couple decide to separate in the near future.(G) The wife is an immoral person.” I wanted to seek the clarification regarding the term sickness. Does it include implicate and acknowledge mental health sickness like clinical depression and anxiety (diagnosed by a doctor and not self-diagnosed). So much a person had been on medicines. If a woman who is a primary caregiver is in such a situation and feels that considering her mental health, she will be unable to fulfill the rights of a child adequately and may become sinful for that. Does such a situation qualify as a Shariah reason? Your response will be very much appreciated. Remember us in your duas, Jazakumullah Khairan
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
You refer to Fatwa #18345 on reversible contraception.
If a woman is diagnosed by a qualified doctor with clinical depression and anxiety, and the doctor feels the woman is not suited for birth in her current state, the use of reversible contraception will be permissible.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hasan Ahmed Razzak
Student – Darul Iftaa
Paterson, New Jersey, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
(2021-01-26)