According to new research, Islam just might contradict breastfeeding and knowing how repressive it is to women, it shouldn’t come as any shock. In many, if not most, Islamic nations, women have to be covered from head to toe — forget about even showing a toe — you’d get your ear cut off! Do you really think the sensitive, oh-so-in-touch-with-their-feminine-side-brotherhood would be down with chicks doing that in public?? When are people ever gonna learn?? The Islamic society represses and suppresses women. Women are as good as dirt in much of the middle east (and Islamic nations). This is one of the reasons I find it so deplorable that anybody would try to find reason within their totalitarian regimes and/or try to justify their motives.

I do find it super-duper ironic however, that the breastfeeding advocates who sponsored this study, are trying to use religion to influence women’s feeding choice. From the article, “Ulfat Shaikh, MD, MPH, and Omar Ahmed, MD, from the University of California Davis School of Medicine explain that the Islamic holy book, the Qur’an, recommends that mothers breastfeed their children for two years if possible and, in fact, states that every infant has the right to be breastfed. If a mother is unable to breastfeed, she and the father can decide together to have a wet nurse feed the child.”

Of course, the influence and propaganda of the non-secular, breastfeeding advocates in North America use the exact same religous diatribe dribble to convince and influence women to breastfeed? Do you not find that ironic?

I’m not saying that more Muslim women shouldn’t be breastfeeding or that they shouldn’t get the support they need, but given that the Qur’an states that every infant has the right to be breastfed and that’s what non-secular advocates try to push down our throats everyday, and both spawn their share of fanatism (not all, but a lot). I’m not Muslim and in my view, I think every infant has the right to be fed a nutritionally sound, safe, healthy and appropriate food, but that’s a very non-partisan point of view so it often gets poo-pooed or ignored.

The real problem here is not whether or not Islamic women breastfeed, it’s about the non-existant rights of the women of Islam. It’s a cultural barrier for women that they are generally believed to be inferior to men. Breastfeeding will come when women aren’t shot for flashing a leg or an arm. For me, it once again confirms that many breastfeeding advocates care more about forcing women to breastfeed than giving women basic, humanitarian support and equal right advocacy. Let’s start with trying to garner support for women to be able to show more than an eyeball and afforded the right to vote, work and speak out, instead of being forced to shame themselves in full-coverage and be without certain basic rights like saying, “No.” As controversial as it may be to actually say it, I believe breastfeeding is really the least of a woman’s problem’s in the middle east. It would be lovely if more women breastfed the world over, but would be even more lovely, is the ability for a woman to do so simply because she want to, and because she can.

From http://home.businesswire.com:

Islam and Breastfeeding: Religious and Cultural Traditions

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 8, 2006–Islamic religious beliefs and cultural practices in Muslim communities guide women’s breastfeeding decisions and are important factors in early infant care and feeding, according to a paper in the recent issue (Volume 1, Number 3) of Breastfeeding Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com) and the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. The paper is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/bfm.

Helping Muslim women adopt good infant feeding practices requires an understanding of the differences between the religious basis of breastfeeding and the cultural practices followed by some Muslims. Clinicians can help differentiate between religious beliefs and cultural norms to promote breastfeeding in Muslim communities. Read the rest…

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