Disputing Contraception

Muslim Reform, Secular Change and Fertility

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3636464
AutoresPatricia Jeffery (University of Edinburgh, autor de correspondencia), Roger Jeffery (0000-0003-1702-7253, University of Edinburgh), Craig Jeffrey (0000-0001-7263-8992, University of Washington)
Año2008
Volumen42
Número2-3
Páginas519-548
Fecha de publicación2008-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x07003162
OpenAlexW2102450232
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas51

In South Asia, Muslim reformers have often attempted to 'rationalize' and gentrify the everyday behaviour of ordinary Muslims. Yet, despite the existence of discussions of contraceptive techniques in theyūnān-ī tibbcurricula of 19th century India and the apparent affinity between rationalism and fertility regulation, contraception was rarely discussed in public debates involving Muslim reformers. In this paper we discuss some of the relationships between élite debates among Muslim leaders and the grassroots behaviour of villagers in rural Bijnor, in western Uttar Pradesh. Villagers' voices are ambiguous, with fears for mother and child health surfacing as often as concerns for religious orthodoxy and one's destiny in the afterlife. In addition, many of the villagers' views of Islam were much more restrictive than those of the locally accepted authoritative voices: although the staff atDaru'l'Ulūm, Deoband, saw much modern contraception as an unwelcome sign of modernity, their discussions of the acceptability of family planning circled round notions ofmajbūrī[compulsion], repentance, and the unfathomable mercy of Allah. We conclude that focusing on local notions of Islam to understand the fertility behaviour of rural Muslims is less fruitful than considering a "political economy of hopelessness" that, increasingly since 1947, affects many Muslims in north India

Destiny (ISS module · Grassroots · Islam · Modernity · Modernization theory · Orthodoxy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships