Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Is it permissible to use modern forms of birth control, and when is their use permissible? Is it permissible for one who has a lot of children and fears, for example, that one will not be able to properly care for them?
There are two kinds of birth control. One kind prevents pregnancy by permanently eliminating the ability to bear children. This kind is not permitted, as the erudite Ibn Hajar clearly states in the Tuhfa (8.241). Men and women are equal in this regard.
As for the means that delay pregnancy rather than eliminating the ability to bear children, there is some detail regarding them. If it is through the practice of withdrawal (coitus interruptus) which is to withdraw the penis before ejaculation so that semen doesn’t enter the vagina this is permissible, though disliked, according to our school. Similar to this is what is asked about — that being wearing a barrier [m: (e.g. a condom)] over the penis such that semen enters it; this is permissible, but disliked.
Other contemporary and well-known methods of birth control include oral contraceptives and vaginal suppositories. Using such methods is permissible as long as there is no harm in them. As for what is known as the “coil” (intrauterine device), which is a specific contraption that is placed in the woman’s uterus to prevent pregnancy, modern [m: scholars] have differed regarding it. Some exacting scholars, like our shaykh, the erudite Muhammad Al-Khateeb, have declared it forbidden because it involves exposing nakedness without excuse.
– Amjad Rasheed
(Translated by Sidi Moustafa Elqabbany)