Studying and Analyzing the Concept of Childbearing from the Point of View of Muslim Thinkers: From Farabi to Ibn Khaldun

Childbearing is a very important concept in contemporary demographic theories, referred to as fertility. In order to describe and understand this concept, the current article has taken into account the views and ideas of Muslim thinkers such as Al-Farabi, Miskawayh, Al-Machr('39')arri, Ibn Sina, Khaje Nasir al-Din, and Ibn Khaldun, using the attributional method. This reseacrh is important as today’s university system of Iran is based on the principles of Islamic law hence; there is need for indigenous knowledge in all fields of humanities, including demography. The findings of the study show that all the thinkers have had paid attention to the issue of reproduction and its related forces. The importance of reproduction or generational reproduction in their view has been so importnat that they not only introduced fertility as a vital feature of women but also explained the first and foremost purpose of marriage as the human generational reproduction. They used religious verses and traditions to substantiate their views. However, Al-Machr('39')arri is an exception as he recommends men to abstain from marriage and childbearing. The analysis of the findings and results shows that the Muslim thinkers, despite discussing about childbearing and related phenomenon, have not provided figures in this regar and rather expressed their ideas theoretically. Of course, this should not be seen as a sign of the weaknesses of those great thinkers, but that was probably due to a limitation on statistical data in the past.