| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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theoretical development of the concept, and exclusion of several other important health conditions (Pillai & Wang 1999).
In sum, current theoretical approaches to population control are influenced by the ideological shift toward a broad-based approach that involves fertility or family size as one component of reproductive health. In this regard, several scholars have suggested that the current theoretical approaches to population control are of limited use in understanding reproductive health. However, as we mentioned earlier, the assumption that factors that influence fertility are poor predictors of reproductive health has not received adequate empirical examination. Second, feminist scholarship on reproductive health has criticized the focus of current policies on the limited availability of and accessibility to birth control. Feminist scholars have consistently pointed out the role of political and social constraints on women's reproductive health. However, these suggestions have not been adequately incorporated into an empirical model of reproductive health that pays attention to the process of reproduction involving sexual unions, conception, and gestation. Third, also as we mentioned earlier, several measurement issues in regard to reproductive health have not been adequately addressed. One reason for this inadequate attention to reproductive health stems from a lack of a theoretical approach toward selecting indicators of reproductive health. Finally, there is noticeable lack of studies on reproductive health in Muslim countries. The role of religion is crucial to an understanding of the value basis of reproductive health. Islamic societies provide a rich research site in which to understand the role of social institutions in reproductive health, because Islam has well-defined directives on various aspects of fertility and reproductive health.
Given these shortcomings in the literature, the research we present in this book has two major research objectives. First, we