When human trying to limit their number

Assalamualaykum jami'un!

“ It is He (Allah) Who has made you (His) Khalifah (vicegerents), inheritors of the earth : He has raised you in ranks, some above others : that He may try you in the gifts He has given you; for your Lord is quick in punishment; yet He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Surah Al-An-am 6 :165

From this verse, Allah told us, that we are the Khalifah on earth that must alive the world in a right way. It certainly appears to be true, that the concept and the role of Khalifah is the whole purpose of our existence, that human beings and the universe and everything in it would not exist if we were not to be Khalifah of Allah, and that on the Day of Judgement we are essentially judged how well we carried out our role as Khalifah of Allah.

In 2009, the Unite Nations estimated the population to be 6,800,000,000, while current estimates by the United States Census Bureau put the population at 6,830,200,000 and due to the world population clock, human population at this moment is 6 828 769 769. Human population increased rapidly over the course of the 20th century and we name it as overpopulation. This word raised so much attention especially for developed country.

Base on this fact, they're trying to control the birth rate at their country in order to lesser the population. As the policy implemented for a couple of decades, the impacts now have been obviously appeared. The national birth rate has dropped from 6.2 children per household to a mere 2.2 within a generation. Who's to blame for such sharp declining? Japan is among the countries that facing the crisis of population. They have lack of children and teenager that would lead the country in future.

In an article titled, "Japan Steadily Becoming a Land of Few Children," the Washington Post writes:

Japan, now the world's second-largest economy, will lose 70 percent of its workforce by 2050 and economic growth will slow to zero, according to a report this year by the nonprofit Japan Center for Economic Research.

This is what happen when human trying to control their population. As for muslims, we have our manual and reference (Quran and hadith) for each problem arise, and we believe that every single action that we take would be ask by Allah. The question is: Is family planning allowed in Islam? From the Islamic perspective, children are a gift and a blessing from Allah. Allah mentions some of the bounties that He has bestowed upon mankind in the following verse:

"And Allah has made for you spouses of your own kind and has made for you, from your wives, sons and grandsons, and has bestowed upon you good provisions." (al-Nahl 72)

Allah also said: "Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world." (al-Kahf 46)

The only true provider for all mankind is Allah. If Muslims follow what Allah has prescribed for them, Allah will provide for them. Allah has warned about killing one's children out of fear of poverty for either parents or the child. Allah says: "Kill not your children because of poverty - We provide sustenance for you and for them" (al-Anaam 151)

Allah also says: "And kill not your children for fear of poverty. We shall provide for them as well as for you. Surely, the killing of them is a great sin" (al-Isra 31)

Hence, Muslims should never abort or kill their children out of fear of poverty. It is Allah who provides for them.

Based on the above points and numerous others, the scholars who participated in the research on matter came up with the following resolution:

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  It is forbidden to "permanently" end a man's or a woman's ability to produce children, such as by having a hysterectomy or vasectomy, as long as that is not called for by circumstances of necessity according to its Islamic framework.
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  It is not allowed to enact a general law that limits the freedom of spouses in having children
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  It is permissible to control the timing of births with the intent of distancing the occurrences of pregnancy or to delay it for a specific amount of time, if there is some Shariah need for that in the opinion of the spouses, based on mutual consultation and agreement between them. However, this is conditioned by that not leading to any harm, by it being done by means that are approved in the Shariah and that it not do anything to oppose a current and existing pregnancy.

Islam is neither ritual nor a heritage, but Islam is the way of life. Islam has a solution for each matters. It just depand on us whether to use the manual or not, but it would not benefit you if you didn't use it just like a computer that you bought and then you let it on the desk, never touch or use it. There's a point to ponder and reflect.

Allahua'lam.

Sources:
http://www.missionislam.com
http://wikipedia.com