Sheik Dr. Ibrahim A. Yusuf, Chief Imam, Central Mosque, Bwari Area Council, Baba Adinni Bwari Area Council
NURHI, over the years has gained tremendous support from religious leaders who openly advocate for family planning. Among such persons is the erudite Sheik Ibrahim Yusuf, the Chief Imam of the Central Mosque, Bwari Area Council, in the FCT. In this interview, he gave some insights on the place of FP in Islam. “Islamically, family planning has been there for long so its not new to Islam. It is stated in the Holy Quran that when you marry, you should make sure that when you have a child, you must give a minimum of 2 years spacing between each child and breastfeeding must be done for complete 2 years. It is the lack of understanding and the way family planning is presented most times that makes people to reject family planning.
They think that family planning is about limiting the number of children you would have, but that’s not what it means. It means spacing your children properly and allowing the woman to rest after each child, allow the womb to regain itself, the mother, child and family will be healthy” He further stressed that the word child spacing is more understood among Muslims when used rather than family planning.
In his final words he said “ Child spacing is a life saver for both the woman and child and also help the men to plan well”
