World Breastfeeding Week 2007

As many of you know the week of Aug. 1st to the 7^th is world breastfeeding week. There are many arguments favoring breastfeeding, among them are: Mother's milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is needed for a baby's growth and development. Most babies find it easier to digest breast milk than they do formula. Breast milk has antibodies in it to help protect infants from bacteria and viruses and to help them fight off infection and disease. Human milk straight from the breast is always sterile. Breastfeeding saves times and money. You do not have to purchase, measure, and mix formula, and there are no bottles to warm in the middle of the night. Breastfeeding also helps a mother bond with her baby. Physical contact is important to newborns and can help them feel more secure, warm and comforted. Nursing uses up extra calories, making it easier to lose the pounds gained from pregnancy. It also helps the uterus to get back to its original size more quickly and lessens any bleeding a woman may have after giving birth. Breastfeeding also may lower the risk of breast and ovarian cancers…etc.

The Atheologist has always been an advocate of breastfeeding and now a brave Muslim leader has had the courage to come out and issue a fatwa on adult breastfeeding.

In his fatwa, Dr Atiya, the head of al-Azhar's Department of Hadith, said such teachings could equally apply to adults. He said:

“…if a woman fed a male colleague directly from her breast at least five times they would establish a family bond and thus be allowed to be alone together at work. Breast feeding an adult puts an end to the problem of the private meeting, and does not ban marriage, a woman at work can take off the veil or reveal her hair in front of someone whom she breastfed."

How cool is that!! I don’t know of many men who would have a problem with that, do you? (Of course the lesbian community is up in arms, but pay them no mind.)

It’s no wonder that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today, (not counting Key West, San Francisco and New York’s Fire Island of course).

Sign me up!

The Atheologist