Why do Pakistani men want many children?

I've always wondered why most Pakistanis believe that birth control is a heinous sin for which the punishment is the Fire. There was a neighbor of ours (a Memon) who had seventeen children from one wife. Another Memon had nine (he looked so much like me that even his three year old daughter once came running to me and sat in my lap instead of his). He would have produced more, but died of heart disease in his forties.

I once told another Memon (an industrialist) that Pakistan's problem is the exponential growth of its population and we should limit the number of our children to two or three. He was so angry that for a few minutes I was afraid he might attack me. "What kind of Muslim are you?" he yelled. "Don't you know we need more Muslims in the world to convert others to Islam?"

We've had a half blind peon (a Pathan) for thirteen years. His wife gave birth to their eighth child (another boy, his sixth son). He's been married for sixteen years. When I think of how tough it was for me to raise three children, I wonder how this guy has managed to feed his wife and kids despite earning the minimum wage. 

But one thing I know: as long as the mullahs keep on saying that Islam doesn't allow birth control, these guys will go on breeding like rabbits.