Experts Sound Warning on Impact of Islamic Conservatism on Population Growth

http://thejakartaglobe.com/news/experts-sound-warning-on-impact-of-islamic-conservatism-on-population-growth/303755

Like any working mother, Yoyoh Yusroh, a legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party, begins her day tending to her children. The difference is that her family is nearly six times the size of the average Indonesian family.

Yoyoh, 46, and her husband have 13 children, aged between 6 and 23. Having as many children as possible, Yoyoh said, was something that Islam encouraged to produce the next generation of pious Muslims.

"It is not official party policy but we hold the belief that children are an asset," said Yoyoh, a member of the House of Representatives Commission overseeing social affairs, religious affairs, women's empowerment and child protection. She is also an outspoken critic of family planning.

The Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, is a growing conservative Islam-based party that at one time supported the idea of Indonesia becoming an Islamic state based on Shariah law. The party's president, Tifatul Sembiring, once commented that the party indeed encouraged its members to have many children.

Tifatul himself has seven.

Other PKS legislators, Zirlyrosa Jamil and Nursanita Nasution, have six and seven children, respectively. Another party lawmaker bragged to a Jakarta Globe source recently that his three wives were expecting babies at the same time. He already has four children.

While there is no available research on the issue, some population experts see a connection between growing religious conservatism, particularly in Islam, and higher birth rates. The conservative Islamic movement supports polygamy and encourages families to have as many children as possible.

"The religious conservatism movement is not mainstream, but we need to be prepared if it becomes more widespread," said Muhadjir Darwin, director of the Center of Population and Policy Studies at the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta. "[Islamic conservatism] revives the idea of a big family as the norm, encourages getting married as soon as possible and tolerates underage marriage. This sentiment is still small scale, but it has to be watched."

Suahasil Nazara, director of the University of Indonesia's Demographic Institute, said that while the government should respect religious freedom, issues such as polygamy and couples having several children would have an impact on Indonesian society as a whole.

Sugiri Syarief, head of the National Family Planning Coordinatingon Board, said he was not worried that religious conservatism would affect the family planning program because it was generally supported by leaders from different religious groups. The country’s largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have campaigned on behalf of the program. "I think people from different religions are rational people and they understand the importance of controlling population growth," he said.

Posted by hera at Friday, January 2, 2009 1:18 AM | Permalinks