Breastfeeding in public

[kakee]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

lol @Southie

[Southie]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@kakee

It’s a person’s choice. If they want to cover if they want to wear minimum to maximum amount of clothing. If they want to wear a Hijab or not. It’s a person’s choice.

Why should other’s have a say in it? If the mother feels comfortable breastfeeding in public without a cover so what? And some of you mentioned, well, people look! So? If the mother cared about what other people thought then she wouldn’t do it in the first place and that is partially why a lot of women don’t.

I know people who find Hijabs uncomfortable so will Hijabis stop wearing Hijab? No, right?

So, you are an advocate for breastfeeding as long as the mother abides by the rules set by you? There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding. A woman shouldn’t be shamed into not doing wherever/whenever she wants to. If she doesn’t want to cover herself then it’s her choice. Why is that so hard to understand?

@kakee

lol… just because I haven’t gotten tired of responding doesn’t mean that I’m the only supporter… not really sure why you are painting me as the bad/odd one here.

As I said, it’s their choice. Breastfeeding is natural. You can do it as long as you want wherever you want.

I’m terrible at googling statistics and I agree that not many people breastfeed in public, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen. I mean just recently there was an incident between a Caucasian American and an African American breastfeeding in public at a university graduation. The responses to the individuals were vastly different, though.

For me personally, it’s not a problem. I won’t watch them nor will I stop them or tell them to go somewhere else.

I don’t know what I will do in the future, but I’m grateful that the law and society in my country makes sure that the women who choose to breastfeed without a cover are protected.

@kakee

Because it’s not right to make the other person uncomfortable when it’s perfectly natural. They aren’t there putting on a show. They are just feeding their baby.

Something I pulled from a website

1. It actually is hard to cover up and feed a baby at the same time. Especially when you’re a new mom, and you’re trying to wrangle a squishy baby into a comfortable position where they can latch on correctly. Even with my third baby, keeping a cover over my shoulder while latching on wasn’t easy. And really, the only time one would “need” to cover up due to possible nipple exposure (if that’s the reason you think moms should cover up) is during the latch-on. And balancing a blanket on your shoulder while trying to see what you’re doing to get the baby latched is a big pain in the butt. Truly.
**2. Some babies hate being covered. **Most of the time, my babies would try to pull the cover off. I wouldn’t want to eat with a blanket over my head, would you? Especially when it’s hot. Ugh, it makes me claustrophobic just thinking about it.
3. One of the benefits of breastfeeding is the eye contact between mom and baby. The location of the breast is designed to put the baby within the vision range of mom’s face. Yes, you can have the same eye contact when you’re bottle feeding, which begs the question – would you cover up your baby’s face while cradling and bottle feeding, rather than looking at your baby and smiling at him/her at regular intervals? That would be silly.
**4. When I was nursing, I actually felt like using a cover drew more attention to what I was doing. **Uncovered, most of the time, it just looked like I had a baby cradled in my arms, sleeping. No breast could be seen once baby was latched. Nothing screams, “Hey, I’m breastfeeding over here!” like a draping a blanket over your shoulder while awkwardly trying to get your baby into a comfortable breastfeeding position.
**5. Covering up implies that there’s something inappropriate about feeding a baby. **There’s not. It’s feeding a baby. That’s it.
“I breastfed all my babies, but I never did it in public. Why don’t women just pump if they’re going out?”
That’s great that you breastfed all your babies. That’s also great if you were able to pump and that your baby took a bottle. Not all moms can pump successfully. Not all babies will take a bottle. After working at it for a while, I could pump, but my babies never took a bottle. That wasn’t for lack of trying – they just wouldn’t. I’m sure if their lives depended on it, and if I wasn’t around for a long time, they would eventually take one, but having a baby is hard enough. I wasn’t about to go through that much unnecessary effort so that I could bottle feed in public.
I’ve known some women who couldn’t get anything from pumping. Some women can’t relax enough with a machine hooked up to their body to get a letdown. Totally understandable.
But the real answer to this question is, they shouldn’t have to. Think about what you’re suggesting: that a mother skip a feeding to pump, or pump regularly enough to have the extra milk to pump outside of a feeding, then find a way to keep the milk cold in transport, then find a way to warm up the milk once she is where she’s going, then feed the baby with the bottled milk, then deal with the leakage or discomfort of the full breasts she has from feeding with the bottle instead of the breast for that feeding, and then wash and sterilize the bottle afterward–all instead of just taking her baby with her and feeding the ready-to-go milk she has on hand in her own body?
Doesn’t that seem a little ridiculous?
Most women who successfully pump have a system and a routine for it, and usually it’s because they’re away from their babies for a certain amount of time on a regular basis. More power to them. I’ve known lot of working, pumping moms, and I think they’re amazing.
But the idea of pumping just to go out in public with your baby, when your breasts are right there with you, is goofy to me. How long have breast pumps been around? How long have humans been feeding babies? When did we get to the mindset that feeding babies in public is better done with machinery and accessories than with mom?
“I don’t mind if moms breastfeed in public, as long as they do it modestly. Especially if there are kids or teens around.”
That’s great that you don’t mind if moms breastfeed in public. But let’s discuss the modesty idea. I hope you have the same feelings about modesty when you see a woman in a bathing suit, or a low-cut top, because 99% of the time, that’s all you can see of a woman’s breast when she breastfeeds.
Granted, there might be a couple of seconds of nipple showing. If you really don’t want to see that, pay close attention to moms with babies. Here are the cues that a mom is getting ready to breastfeed:
**1. She starts to lift her shirt or adjust her bra. **There you go. As soon as you see that starting to happen, look away. If you’re really concerned about your children seeing a woman breastfeeding, take that cue to show them something in the other direction.
But really, if kids are going to have any exposure to breasts (and they already have, if you have ever taken them to the grocery store and waited at the checkout stand where they keep the magazines), isn’t that the kind of exposure they should have? Don’t you want your children to see what breasts are primarily for? They’re getting plenty of messages on billboards, television, and other media that breasts are sexual. Seeing them used in a decidedly and awesomely unsexual way can only be good, in my opinion.

“Can’t you just go to the bathroom to breastfeed?”
1. Bathrooms are gross. Would you want to eat in there?
2. Many bathrooms don’t have a chair to sit in. This leaves Mom with the option of sitting on the floor (yuck) or on the toilet (double yuck).
3. If a mom wants privacy to nurse because she feels more comfortable that way, that’s great. I’m a big fan of having lounge areas for nursing moms. But it should be for her comfort, not for yours. When I was nursing, I occasionally removed myself to nurse because it was too loud or I wanted a little space, but the times I removed myself because of my worries about other people, I felt exiled. When a mom feels that she needs to hide to breastfeed, the message is that there’s something shameful or wrong with what she’s doing. And that’s not right.
Along with the presumably well-meaning comments, I’ve also seen a few more, ahem, “strongly-worded” sentiments I’d like to address:
“Breastfeeding is totally natural, but so is going to the bathroom / having sex, and people don’t do that in public.”
Going to the bathroom is gross, stinky, and unsanitary to do in public, which is why we don’t do it. Feeding a baby is none of those things. Sex is an incredibly private, intimate act. Feeding a baby can be intimate in that it’s a bonding experience between baby and mom, but it’s more of a holding hands kind of intimacy–not something that needs to be confined to the privacy of a bedroom or home. The comparisons are apples and oranges.
“If you want to breastfeed, that’s fine, but I don’t want to / shouldn’t have to see it.”
Then don’t look. And I don’t mean that in a snarky way. You really don’t have to watch a mom breastfeed. (See cues in third question above.) Just look the other way and move on.
“Women who breastfeed in public are just trying to get attention / make a statement.”
Actually, 99% of women who feed their babies in public are just trying to feed their babies. Having been around hundreds of women who breastfeed, including dozens at a recent La Leche League conference, I can attest to the fact that most women are very matter-of-fact about feeding their babies.
I’ve known one mom who exposed much more breast for much longer than any other moms I’ve known, but she was raised in Africa, so that explains it. I’ve known of one other mom (don’t know her personally) who sounds like she has some exhibition issues and takes the opportunity to show more breast than necessary any old time she can. That’s by far an exception, and not the norm. Most breastfeeding mothers don’t “let it all hang out.” They do what they need to do to feed their babies, no more, no less.
“This isn’t a village in Africa. It’s culturally inappropriate to bare your breasts in public here.”
I’m curious about what this says about villages in Africa, or other places where breasts are common sights. Why is it culturally inappropriate here? I don’t necessarily think it should be, I just want to walk through the reasoning for our cultural views of breasts. Is it because our society views breasts as primarily sexual in nature? Are African breasts not sexual in nature as well? Would you shield your eyes from a National Geographic magazine showing bare-breasted women in Africa? Would you hide that from your children? If so, why? Are African women inappropriate? Is there some kind of fear that if we start accepting breastfeeding in public without freaking out about covering up, women will eventually start walking around bare-breasted all the time? Lots of questions pop up from this statement that are worth examining.

I personally think it should be culturally appropriate for women to bare a breast for a brief second in order to latch a baby on, no matter where in the world they are. There’s nothing sexual or inappropriate in that act. I think it should be way more culturally appropriate than, say, going to Hooters. Our priorities are a tad bit skewed when it comes to what’s culturally appropriate regarding breasts. If we want to get all righteous about the appropriateness of breast exposure, let’s direct our energies at movies, music videos, billboards, magazines, and other popular media. Leave moms who are trying to feed their babies out of it.
And if you really don’t want to see a woman feed her baby in public, don’t look. Don’t make her feel ashamed, don’t exile her to the bathroom, don’t make erroneous assumptions about her motives, don’t compare feeding her baby to defecating, don’t make hypocritical cultural statements, don’t make it harder to do than it already is. Just don’t look. It really is that simple.

Nice post. Things are not black and white. I es per liked the first 3 sentences of ur post in ur own words. Can’t understand why this is so difficult to understand.

Oh well.

[Sara516]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

So…this is pretty interesting.

Do you guys think all this judgment and hayaa and modesty and immoral talk changes when someone’s bf-ing at home in front of ther people? (like with friends or family around and the woman wont’ cover or go away)?

I think once, I came across this in public when a lady (Mexican) just lifted her tank top and the toddler (yes toddler) was feeding…no shame, no self consciousness, nothing. This was at a Subway restaurant. I had finished up and had to leave any way, so I’m not sure if anyone made a big stink or not. A second time at a desi restaurant with a Pakistani couple, the mother wrapped a light shawl around her so you couldn’t tell from afar unless you knew it was happening.

But otherwise, I’ve been with friends and acquaintances who did it openly at home. Just take the boob out, start feeding, no big deal. Some are still discreet some are open about it.
Now…I don’t think anyone is immoral and immodest for doing that.
I don’t have a problem with someone being comfortable in their own skin, their own damn home, I’m certainly not judging anyone for that.

But I’m still not gonna sit there and carry on like normal…it’s like, when I’m sitting with friends and eating, we will pause for a few minutes to actually EAT and then commence talking after the first few bites and throughout the meal…no one’s directly looking at each other eat…I kind of feel the same way with bf-ing.

[redvelvet]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@kakee

I wouldn’t cover, but I haven’t really done much research. I don’t have that much fat so I don’t know how it’ll work out, but I know that I don’t really like excess stuff on me. So, personally I wouldn’t cover. I don’t have problems with women who do cover however.

So, your natural inclination is to expose? That’s interesting. Had you said that your first preference would be to cover, I would have said that even you are naturally inclined to cover despite your stance. Now Allah knows best if your response is an honest one or it was to avoid falling into the trap of question I had set up. The human body is a “natural” thing just like breadtfeeding, Kakee. If you were to step out of the shower and a stranger came upon you, would your automatic reflex not be to quickly reach for a towel or to at least cover parts of your body with your hands…or would you be as cool as a cucumber? Bathing is natural too. And if you’ve ever been in such a situation and you immediately attempted to cover yourself, why is it hard for you to grasp that uncovered breastfeeding makes many uncomfortable? I’m not asking you these questions to be rude, I’m genuinely curious.

I may be wrong, but I do not believe your husband would feel comfortable with it. And if he isn’t, I think it’s sad that you’d put your ego before his discomfort and those of others…especially when it won’t kill you to cover nor is it a major hindrance. The “he can carry a baby for 9 months” before his opinion is considered valid…is just an emotional rant at best.

[Hmmna]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

My baby hates that cover. I used it initially but now that I am confident I can feed without it. you can hardly see anything. I still try to find a quiet place but if I can’t then my baby’s right to feed comes first.

[redvelvet]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@Hmmna

My baby hates that cover. I used it initially but now that I am confident I can feed without it. you can hardly see anything. I still try to find a quiet place but if I can’t then my baby’s right to feed comes first.

You say that one can hardly see anything. And that’s an important point because you have used this detail to justify the public nursing. If things were more visible, you’d still make an attempt to cover, right? Nobody is suggesting that the baby’s rights be ignored. But your post seems to reflect that while fulfilling this right, you also pay attention to decency.

[Pisiform]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

lol so much argument. If you show this thread to a baby, he would say mama I ain’t hungry anymore

[Deeba1234]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@redvelvet

**So, your natural inclination is to expose? That’s interesting. Had you said that your first preference would be to cover, I would have said that even you are naturally inclined to cover despite your stance. Now Allah knows best if your response is an honest one or it was to avoid falling into the trap of question I had set up. The human body is a “natural” thing just like breadtfeeding, Kakee. If you were to step out of the shower and a stranger came upon you, would your automatic reflex not be to quickly reach for a towel or to at least cover parts of your body with your hands…or would you be as cool as a cucumber? Bathing is natural too. And if you’ve ever been in such a situation and you immediately attempted to cover yourself, why is it hard for you to grasp that uncovered breastfeeding makes many uncomfortable? I’m not asking you these questions to be rude, I’m genuinely curious.
**
I may be wrong, but I do not believe your husband would feel comfortable with it. And if he isn’t, I think it’s sad that you’d put your ego before his discomfort and those of others…especially when it won’t kill you to cover nor is it a major hindrance. The “he can carry a baby for 9 months” before his opinion is considered valid…is just an emotional rant at best.

**A stranger catching you in the shower isn’t the same as choosing to uncover yourself to breastfeed or some other reason.. **

I’ve been in situations where I’ve been topless/bottomless in front of my male doctor.. I could have opted to see someone else but the truth is that I didn’t feel particularly embarrassed or ashamed and I certainly didn’t see it in any sexual way.. I’m mentioning this because it simply isn’t true that all women (or perhaps not even most in the West) feel a natural urgency to cover up if someone sees them unclothed.. If that were the case people wouldn’t be going topless at the beach yet your wording implies otherwise..

Even if Kakee had said she’d personally cover I still wouldn’t think that indicates she thinks it’s somehow wrong.. I’d think it’s just as likely to be a personal preference..

[psyah]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

Peace All

I think kakee is making a strong case in defence of her position. In order to dismantle this subject more one has to include several factors:

a) The norm of the society you are in
b) The specific company you are in
c) The intention
d) The circumstances that lead to the state or condition
e) The state, condition or act itself

An immoral act must be** for the intent of doing something which has been classed as sinful** … Exposure in itself is not sinful … If I was naked in the street - I would not be sinning … The reason is someone could have kidnapped me, taken my clothes off and left me in a public place without clothes. To remain like that proud of my nakedness would be immoral. I would be better off, if I hid or crouched down or used my hands to cover the most private parts of my body.

The breasts are among the least of the private parts and this is because different cultures have differing views and perceptions regarding them. Especially from the point of view of breastfeeding. Different environments create the ground for differing levels of acceptable exposure … Then there is the personal sentiment - some women are more shy and some are less shy … For those who are very shy they should not cast their judgements on to women who are less worried about exposure so long as they fit in to a comfortable and acceptable mode of the society they are in … As a man I can be shy of such things so I should look away with shyness - and a shy woman seeing another breastfeeding should do the same. Conversely if the person exposing the breast sees this happening to affect the company she is in then it is better for her to turn around, cover or just excuse herself for a few minutes … so it is more a matter of courtesy than immodesty or immorality when it comes to breastfeeding.

Culture plays a huge part of this …

Remember the controversy of these ahadith well without going in to that discussion look carefully at the hadith at the bottom of the post:

To Summarise

Now I am not going to argue that it is permissible for men to drink the milk of breastfeeding women … that is wrong by consensus … Weaning is for two years and this hadith was a very specific instruction to remove something in the heart of the child that was verging adulthood.

However, what else can we see from this hadith. We can that there is a clear setting in the early Arab culture where women would breastfeed in their homes and their families would be exposed to that … Secondly, there was no instruction to be more private or covering up, but rather the instruction was based around another solution and this was regarding a person who was non-mahram.

It can be determined that early Arab culture saw breastfeeding as a non-sexual activity. Modernity has done strange things to it … as Islamic culture grew more advanced the level of privacy and shyness became more and more higher … so niqab and full covering became more and more the standard to be … then came the modern life from the West which started to undress people and objectify us in to sexual things … A slight bit of exposure is now connected with the sexualised form of western modernity rather than being something from ancient culture and necessity. And another layer of modernity is the “Earth Mother” type of modernity that is saying we should be more natural with everything … So there are three layers of modernity applied to us today that differentiate us from that time …

Strict shyness - layer 1
Sexual revelation - layer 2
Earth Mother - layer 3

No wonder there is so much diversity regarding this topic … my rule of thumb is to go back to the time of the Prophet (SAW) as our best model for humanity and society … so on that basis kakee has a very strong argument.

The point is when judging others it should be with leniency and when applying on oneself we should be as prudent as possible.

***A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hadhaifa, lived with him and his family in their house. She (i. e. the daughter of Suhail came to Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Salim has attained (purbety) as men attain, and he understands what they understand, and he enters our house freely, I, however, perceive that something (rankles) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa, whereupon Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) said to her: suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the rankling) which Abu Hudhaifa feels in his heart will disappear. She returned and said: So I suckled him, and what (was there) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa disappeared. (Sahih Muslim Book #008, Hadith #3425)

Umm Salama said to 'A’isha (Allah be pleased with her): A young boy who is at the threshold of puberty comes to you. I, however, do not like that he should come to me, whereupon 'A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) said: Don’t you see in Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) a model for you? She also said: The wife of Abu Hudhaifa said: Messenger of Allah, Salim comes to me and now he is a (grown-up) person, and there is something that (rankles) in the mind of Abu Hudhaifa about him, whereupon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: suckle him (so that he may become your foster-child), and thus he may be able to come to you (freely). (Sahih Muslim Book #008, Hadith #3427)***

[Southie]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

.

[madz124]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@kakee

You still don’t get it. I’m talking about **choice **here… who are you to judge someone for not covering? If you don’t like it you can just simply look away. I don’t agree with people passing judgement on this issue.

and that’s it.

I’m so going to regret this. lol

I find it really hypocritical that just a short while back, you vehemently argued (in a blog) in favour of school policy re hijab coverings. You said that:

• her choice of “dress code” makes other people uncomfortable
• if she knowingly went to a school with these limitations, she should follow the school’s policies and guidelines (above her own religious belief or personal comfort)
• if she had a problem with this school’s policy, she could have gone to a different school

Interesting how you didn’t advocate personal choice then. You didn’t once argue that wearing a head covering doesn’t harm anyone at all, or that others shouldn’t judge her for the way she chooses to dress and perhaps these people need to be educated on a woman’s right to cover or expose her own body. Instead, you dictated that the woman should follow the norms of the place she finds herself in. Yet the same doesn’t apply to breastfeeding (without a cover) in front of others in places where it isn’t the norm by any means.

Interesting indeed. lol

[hareem01]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@psyah

It can be determined that early Arab culture saw breastfeeding as a non-sexual activity. Modernity has done strange things to it … as Islamic culture grew more advanced the level of privacy and shyness became more and more higher … so niqab and full covering became more and more the standard to be … then came the modern life from the West which started to undress people and objectify us in to sexual things … A slight bit of exposure is now connected with the sexualised form of western modernity rather than being something from ancient culture and necessity. And another layer of modernity is the “Earth Mother” type of modernity that is saying we should be more natural with everything … So there are three layers of modernity applied to us today that differentiate us from that time …

Strict shyness - layer 1
Sexual revelation - layer 2
Earth Mother - layer 3

No wonder there is so much diversity regarding this topic … my rule of thumb is to go back to the time of the Prophet (SAW) as our best model for humanity and society …** so on that basis kakee has a very strong argument.**

The point is when judging others it should be with leniency and when applying on oneself we should be as prudent as possible.

Thank you. :k:

[psyah]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@madz124

I’m so going to regret this. lol

I find it really hypocritical that just a short while back, you vehemently argued (in a blog) in favour of school policy re hijab coverings. You said that:

• her choice of “dress code” makes other people uncomfortable
• if she knowingly went to a school with these limitations, she should follow the school’s policies and guidelines (above her own religious belief or personal comfort)
• if she had a problem with this school’s policy, she could have gone to a different school

Interesting how you didn’t advocate personal choice then. You didn’t once argue that wearing a head covering doesn’t harm anyone at all, or that others shouldn’t judge her for the way she chooses to dress and perhaps these people need to be educated on a woman’s right to cover or expose her own body. Instead, you dictated that the woman should follow the norms of the place she finds herself in. Yet the same doesn’t apply to breastfeeding (without a cover) in front of others in places where it isn’t the norm by any means.

Interesting indeed. lol

The school setting is one you opt in for … Society is not something you opt in to … You can affect society and to a certain degree you can affect school policy … But at least from the onset if the policy is a major deal breaker any sensible person would not send their kids there, the same cannot apply on society.

You also need to understand that different people are living in accordance with different lifestyles and social standards … It is fashionable these days to breast feed publicly in the West … It is like a protest, to the previous few decades … Those of us who are dwelling in the shy layer of society will view this behaviour as immodest and possibly intentionally arousing … However, that is not the intent of the modern wave … Rather the modern wave wants to remove such things … And if we go back more to the time of early Islam these things mattered little. It was more important to be concerned with what we were doing and tolerating what others did …

I think the mark of modernity should be how tolerant we are … Things are going wrong because we can’t tolerate anything these days.

[kakee]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@psyah

The school setting is one you opt in for … Society is not something you opt in to … You can affect society and to a certain degree you can affect school policy … But at least from the onset if the policy is a major deal breaker any sensible person would not send their kids there, the same cannot apply on society.

You also need to understand that different people are living in accordance with different lifestyles and social standards … It is fashionable these days to breast feed publicly in the West … It is like a protest, to the previous few decades … Those of us who are dwelling in the shy layer of society will view this behaviour as immodest and possibly intentionally arousing … However, that is not the intent of the modern wave … Rather the modern wave wants to remove such things … And if we go back more to the time of early Islam these things mattered little. It was more important to be concerned with what we were doing and tolerating what others did …

I think the mark of modernity should be how tolerant we are … Things are going wrong because we can’t tolerate anything these days.

You said it much more eloquently than I would have.
Thank you.

[sarad]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@psyah

Peace All

However, what else can we see from this hadith. We can that there is a clear setting in the early Arab culture where women would breastfeed in their homes and their families would be exposed to that … Secondly, there was no instruction to be more private or covering up, but rather the instruction was based around another solution and this was regarding a person who was non-mahram.

It can be determined that early Arab culture saw breastfeeding as a non-sexual activity. Modernity has done strange things to it … as Islamic culture grew more advanced the level of privacy and shyness became more and more higher … so niqab and full covering became more and more the standard to be … then came the modern life from the West which started to undress people and objectify us in to sexual things … A slight bit of exposure is now connected with the sexualised form of western modernity rather than being something from ancient culture and necessity. And another layer of modernity is the “Earth Mother” type of modernity that is saying we should be more natural with everything … So there are three layers of modernity applied to us today that differentiate us from that time …

Strict shyness - layer 1
Sexual revelation - layer 2
Earth Mother - layer 3

No wonder there is so much diversity regarding this topic … my rule of thumb is to go back to the time of the Prophet (SAW) as our best model for humanity and society … so on that basis kakee has a very strong argument.

The point is when judging others it should be with leniency and when applying on oneself we should be as prudent as possible.

***A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hadhaifa, lived with him and his family in their house. She (i. e. the daughter of Suhail came to Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Salim has attained (purbety) as men attain, and he understands what they understand, and he enters our house freely, I, however, perceive that something (rankles) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa, whereupon Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) said to her: suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the rankling) which Abu Hudhaifa feels in his heart will disappear. She returned and said: So I suckled him, and what (was there) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa disappeared. (Sahih Muslim Book #008, Hadith #3425)

Umm Salama said to 'A’isha (Allah be pleased with her): A young boy who is at the threshold of puberty comes to you. I, however, do not like that he should come to me, whereupon 'A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) said: Don’t you see in Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) a model for you? She also said: The wife of Abu Hudhaifa said: Messenger of Allah, Salim comes to me and now he is a (grown-up) person, and there is something that (rankles) in the mind of Abu Hudhaifa about him, whereupon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: suckle him (so that he may become your foster-child), and thus he may be able to come to you (freely). (Sahih Muslim Book #008, Hadith #3427)***

But does not Islam teaches purdah?
What happens inside a home (as in the ahadith you quoted) is different than what happens outside in a public setting.

[kakee]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@sarad

But does not Islam teaches purdah?
What happens inside a home (as in the ahadith you quoted) is different than what happens outside in a public setting.

So, you’ll only have problem with it if the women are Muslim, right?

[sarad]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@kakee

So, you’ll only have problem with it if the women are Muslim, right?

No I quoted the post because psyah said ‘looking back at Prophet’s time’.

If we talk about Islam and muslim women then yes I think even if it is a very non sexual act, a muslim woman should cover if she is bf outside in public where there are other men.

In general though, I agree with what psyah said, we should be tolerant of others’ choice but at the same time we/others should be courteous.

[psyah]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@sarad

But does not Islam teaches purdah?
What happens inside a home (as in the ahadith you quoted) is different than what happens outside in a public setting.

Peace sarad

If you knew what was happening in a public setting at the time of the Prophet (SAW) you would be surprised … purdah as a social and community phenomenon happened many years later.

[sarad]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

@psyah

Peace sarad

If you knew what was happening in a public setting at the time of the Prophet (SAW) you would be surprised … purdah as a social and community phenomenon happened many years later.

Peace psyah

I know the hukum for pardah came later but what happened before that hukum should not be used as an example then.
You said “looking at Prophet’s time”, then we should look at the final state of ihkam as well, not what was prevalent in Arab culture. By that token drinking was prevalent in Arab culture too and the order to not drink and come for namaz came later!!!

Honestly I do not understand your interpretation here.

It may be culturally acceptable in Europe and you can argue saying that but to say it was culturally acceptable in Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) time just gives a wrong sense IMHO when the final hukum for women is to cover their bosom.

[Pakistani_Prince]

Re: Breastfeeding in public

^You are right. Psyah is on wrong track,