Tawakkul, Rizk, and Reproductive Agency: Perspectives on Family Planning and Abortion in Malabar

This paper looks into how Muslim women exercise their reproductive agency with regard to the pro-life ideology of Islam as practiced in Malabar by examining reproductive practices such as contraception and abortion. Muslim women’s reproductive practices are often grounded within the patriarchal theological systems or seen as a reflection of socio-economic marginalisation of the community. However, academic studies which examine Muslim women’s reproductive agency through a grounded reading of their everyday experiences - including the material and transcendental - are almost absent. This paper argues that women anchor their negotiations within the vocabulary of religion, specifically adopting the language of tawakkul (trust in God) and rizk (sustenance). However, this language centered on religiosity is not linear as women widely adopt contraceptive measures, negotiate religious laws in favor of their everyday reality while also remaining informed by scientific/modern discourses regarding procreation and parenting.