Saudi women use ‘breastfeed the driver’ fatwa in driving bid

Saudi women plan to turn a controversial fatwa (religious ruling) to their advantage and launch a campaign to achieve their long-standing demand to drive in this conservative kingdom.

If the demand is not met, the women threatened to follow through the fatwa which allows them to breastfeed their drivers and turn them into their sons.

The campaign will be launched under the slogan: “We either be allowed to drive or breastfeed foreigners,” a journalist told Gulf News.

Amal Zahid said that their decision follows a fatwa issued by a renowned scholar which said that Saudi women can breastfeed their foreign drivers for them to become their sons.

“As every Saudi family needs a driver, our campaign will focus on women’s right to drive,” she said.

The controversial fatwa, which was regarded as both funny and weird, issued recently by Shaikh Abdul Mohsin Bin Nasser Al Obaikan, member of Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and adviser to the king, has sparked a debate in society.

The renowned scholar said Saudi women can breastfeed their foreign drivers for them to be become their sons and brothers to their daughters.

Under this relationship, foreign drivers can mix freely with all members of the family without breaking the Islamic rule which does not allow mixing of genders.

Breast milk kinship is considered to be as good as a blood relationship in Islam.

“A woman can breastfeed a mature man so that he becomes her son. In this way, he can mix with her and her daughters without violating the teachings of Islam,” the scholar said.

‘Ridiculous and weird’

Al Obaikan based his fatwa on a Hadith (saying) of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) which was narrated by Salim, the servant of Abu Huzaifa.

Later, Al Obaikan clarified that his fatwa was being distorted by the local media which ignored the condition that the milk should be drawn out of the woman and given to the man in a cup to drink.

Speaking to Gulf News, a number of Saudi women condemned the fatwa. Fatima Al Shammary was quoted by the local Arabic daily Al Watan as saying the fatwa was “ridiculous and weird”.

“This fatwa has become a hot topic of debate among women. Is this is all that is left to us to do: to give our breasts to the foreign drivers?” she said.

Another Saudi woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned: “Does Islam allow me to breastfeed a foreign man and prevent me from driving my own car?

“I have not breastfed my own children. How do you expect me to do this with a foreign man? What is this nonsense?” she said.

Another woman said the fatwa should also apply to the husbands who should be breastfed by housemaids. By doing so, all will be brothers and sisters,” she said.

Hamid Al Ali, a journalist for an electronic newspaper, recalled that an Egyptian driver who had a crush on a female teacher he drives to school asked her to breastfeed him. When she retorted angrily, he said: “I want to be your son.”

Saudi writer Suzan Al Mashhadi sarcastically asked Al Obaikan: “Do the women have to breastfeed the driver in the presence of their husbands or can they do this alone?”

“Who will protect the wife if the husband entered the house unexpectedly and found his wife breastfeeding the driver?” she asked.

Source : http://1426.blogspot.com/2010/06/saudi-women-use-breasfeed-driver-fatwa.html

Of all the baloney spewed out by politicians and religious ‘experts’, this really takes the cake. What is this nonsense??

Ok, here’s the thing. I remember RPK posting some articles about Islam and the many wonderful fatwas that religious scholars come up with. He was in turn being shoot left right top and bottom by some people who said that he have no write to comment or write anything because he is no a ‘religious expert’.

So, referring back to the above article – the one who came up with this ‘delightful’ fatwa is a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and adviser to the king. This means, he must possess some sort of religious credentials, ya? To the critics of RPK’s Islam articles, what say you about this fatwa? I would dearly love to see what you guys have to say about this nonsensical fatwa.

Later, Al Obaikan clarified that his fatwa was being distorted by the local media which ignored the condition that the milk should be drawn out of the woman and given to the man in a cup to drink.

Someone seems to be missing the point here. Even if the women are not breastfeeding directly, who on earth would want to pump their breast milk for their drivers to drink? This coming from a country where women are whipped and punished for showing their skin? I bet a lot of women will start having affairs from now on. If they are caught by those religious police or khalwat officers, they can pull their lover to their breast and say they are breastfeeding their ’son’.

I’ll just sit down and wait and see what the local Islamic scholars gotta say.