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al-isl§m and al-Êm§n 39and 46:15, 35 that Allah addresses all human beings because Heappeals to their general innate disposition of kindness. It impliesthat this injunction enjoys universal validity.3. ‘ Kill not your children on a plea of want’:This third moral commandment is a ban to kill children out ofa desperate financial situation. It was first stated as general ethicsand then confirmed as particular ethics in MuÈammad’s (ß)message (17:31). 36 However, we recognise that the Book clearlyindicates a difference between general and particular ethicswhen it talks about the killing of children. In Sårat al-An#§m itsays ‘on a plea of want’ (6:151), while in 17:31 it says ‘for fearof want’, indicating that in the first instance the situation of thepeople was actually really miserable, a very concrete case ofeconomic crisis (‘on a plea of want’), while in the second instancethe prohibition was less specific as it referred to a situation inwhich people only feared or anticipated future plights due to theburden of having children (‘for fear of want’). Also, Allah saysfirst: ‘We provide sustenance for you and for them’ (6:151) butthen changes it to ‘We shall provide sustenance for them as wellas for you’ (17:31). In the first instance, Allah provides sustenancefirstly for the parents (‘for you’) and then for the children(‘for them’), whereas in the second instance, it is the other wayaround: God gives firstly sustenance to the children (‘for them’)and then feeds the parents in honour of the children they haveraised (‘for you’). In the latter sequence of provision, the killingof children would deprive their parents of God’s sustenance,which is not the case according to the sequence of 17:31. Inother words, the general prohibition to kill children ‘for fear ofpoverty’ has become even sharper in particular ethics. And yet,we should not see this as a command to have as many childrenas possible and not to introduce birth control and family planning.This is because nowhere does Allah link his assurance ofsustenance with the number of children parents raise. There is35‘And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upontravail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command),“Show gratitude to Me and to your parents: to Me is ( your final) goal.’(Luqm§n 31:14), and ‘We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain didhis mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth’ ( Al-AÈq§f 46:15).36‘Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for themas well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin’ ( Al-Isr§" 17:31).