James Taranto, "Breast Best of the Web," Wall Street Journal
This is quite a story, from the Associated Press in Cairo:
Al-Azhar University, one of Sunni Islam's most prestigious institutions, ordered one of its clerics Monday to face a disciplinary panel after he issued a controversial decree allowing adults to breast-feed.
"You're busted!"
Ezzat Attiya had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, saying adult men could breast-feed from female work colleagues as a way to avoid breaking Islamic rules that forbid men and women from being alone together.
"What a boob!"
In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers. It means the child could not marry the nursing woman's biological children.
Attiya--the head of Al-Azhar's Department of Hadith, or teachings of the Prophet Muhammad--insisted the same would apply with adults. He argued that if a man nursed from a co-worker, it would establish a family bond between them and allow the two to work side-by-side without raising suspicion of an illicit sexual relation.
"Plus, it'd be fun!"
Well, it's certainly a creative attempt to resolve a conundrum that must bedevil many a jihadi human-resources manager. One wonders if a similar approach could help shield American employers against sexual-harassment lawsuits. Nah, one realizes, probably not. |