Historical Background of Global Population Control Program

Population control has been a serious issue for human societies throughout the history, particularly in recent years. Different schools of thought and many scholars have presented different opinions on this subject. Referring to the historical background of population control we have found that a group of religions, civilizations and laws such as the laws of Hammurabi and some thinkers of the Middle Ages, saw increase in population good for individual and community progress. On the other hand, some philosophers of ancient China (Confucius), and Greece (Plato and Aristotle) were in favor of balance in population (optimal population size). Nevertheless, Malthus and his followers - based on their commercial vision - looked at population from a political and experimental point of view. Therefore, the attention of Malthus was closely connected to the economic dimension. According to this view, the increase in population was an overload for the society. Malthu's theory was disputed in many ways, especially in terms of practice. In addition, increasing population records of some countries with economic growth such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, some European countries and Japan provided apparent reasons to deny his claim. After Malthu's theory was discredited, the Population Balance Theory was strengthened. This theory implies a balance between reducing the population due to promoting population control in some Western countries, and its natural increase in other countries. Optimization of the population according to supporters of this theory is also very important. Global Population Control is done aligned to this theory. Meanwhile, Islam is on the view of increase in the population. However, it allows its temporary control to reach an overall balance in all aspects. This may vary in different circumstances of time and place. This vision is partly in line with the Population Balance Theory.