Al-Azhar fatwa on adult suckling
From WikiIslam
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A spectre is haunting the Islamic world — the spectre of adult suckling. All the powers of Islam have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: scholars and politicians, mullahs and intellectuals. They are all struggling to get rid of this spectre which increasingly causes headaches to more and more muslims by exposing some astonishing contradictions in their religion.
Is it halal (allowed) for a Muslim woman to suckle strange men? Moreover, could suckling of adult men help to improve the communication between not related men and woman within a company? A highly recognised holy text of Islam seems to confirm this - according to a scholar from Al-Azhar University, one of the most repudiated universities of the Islamic world!
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[edit] Background
In Islamic societies gender segregation is a common practice to avoid any form of adultery. Thus men and women are not advised to stay in the same room if they are alone, and any adult woman is required to wear a veil in public.
Though there are also some Islamic scholars who deny the need to wear a veil in public, it has become common sense in many Islamic countries and societies. In many cases scholars refer to the Surah of the Light:
Thus, only if men and women are closely related or married there is no need for gender segregation and hijab. However, it is obvious that the strict application of Islamic law may cause some trouble and difficulties to daily life, particularly concerning business.
For example, if there is a small company employing a man and two women there maybe nothing wrong if they all work in the same room (in some countries, however, such as Saudi Arabia, even this would be strictly prohibited). However, if one of the woman becomes ill for a while, the remaining man and woman cannot work together any more!
In many Islamic societies this would be strictly forbidden, and even if not, man and woman could both face severe criticism, rumours and tittle-tattles. But how can this be avoided?
[edit] The Fatwa of an Al-Azhar scholar
Here comes the head of the Hadith Department in Al-Azhar University, Dr. Izzat Atiyya into play. It has to be noticed, that the Al-Azhar University in Kairo is considered to be the world´s most renowned islamic university for all Sunni muslims.
Only a few months ago, Dr. Atiyya published a fatwa. According to this verdict the Islamic rules of gender segregation and veiling can be circumvented if the woman suckles the man. Alternatively, the man could also become breastfed by a sister or the mother of the woman.
The idea behind this ruling is that there is no law for adoption in many Islamic societies. However, a mother-son-relationship can be established by breast-feeding.
The scholar of Al-Azhar University explained his ruling in an interview given to Al-Watani Al-Yawm, a weekly newspaper published by Egypt's ruling National Democratic Front party.
According to this interview it was the prophet himself who confirmed that a man and a woman are allowed to be together in private if the man has been breastfed by the woman before.
Then, it must be added that Dr. Abd Al-Mahdi Abd Al-Qadir, just another Al-Azhar scholar, wrote and published a book rendering similar ideas referring on the same Islamic sources.
[edit] The holy text in question
Here is a part of the holy text Dr. Atiyya referred to in an English translation:
It should be added that Dr. Atiyya repeatedly declared that the sources he quoted belonged to the Islamic holy texts with the highest possible authority. According to him no less than 90 000 contemporary scholars confirmed that the hadith referred to is authentic.
[edit] Waves in the Islamic World - and in the Rest of the World
The fatwa released by Dr. Atiyya and the book of Dr. Abd Al-Mahdi Abd Al-Qadir raised many questions and caused harsh reactions by many muslims:
Is it really an appropriate solution to suckle an adult to avoid the veil and gender segregation in islamic companies?
Can muslims throughout the world still rely on the knowledge of Al-Azhar scholars?
Can muslims throughout the world still rely on the holy texts of Islam - and even on the wisdom of their prophet?
According to the Institut für Islamfragen in Germany there have been 60 books about that subject published in Egypt alone. They are also stating that there were already foreign women renouncing from Islam because of the discussion.
Obviously many women who work are scared that they might become harassed. Others regard it as disgusting to breastfed strange men in order to get the permission to work with him.
The Muslim Brotherhood criticised the fatwa harshly and brought the matter even to the parliament, thus putting pressure on the Egyptian government also.
The leaders of Al-Azhar University rejected the fatwa as well and suspended Dr. Atiyya.
There are also discussions about the hadith quoted by Dr. Atiyya. Most scholars still regard it as authentic, but there are also voices that it may be a fake.
There are now many efforts by political and religious authorities to stop the debate. However, this is not an easy task since the quoted sources belong to the holiest texts of Islam.
Therefore most political and religious leaders call for a thoughtful approach to the holy texts. Fatwas should agree with logic and common sense and ancient texts should not be misused for thrilling headlines.
[edit] Conclusions
The issue clearly exposes many doubts and questions concerning Islam. Are the holy texts of Islam really as reliable as considered by the Muslim world?
We must ask this question since the Islam is the main source for law in many Muslim countries and there are many muslims who still believe that their Islamic law is derived from god and therefore it is supposed to be superior to any law made by humans.
However, if we take a look at the fatwa of Dr. Atiyya and the hadith quoted by him, we can clearly see that there is no divine logic behind it. For many people, it just looks like twisted logic - if there is any logic at all.
A woman is forced to wear a veil to prevent herself from becoming harassed. To avoid the veil, she has to breastfeed a strange man.
Does this improve the life of anybody?
