Rahimah Embong

Breastfeeding Practices among Malay Academicians in Malaysia

Breastfeeding is essential to the life of a child. Through it, a child becomes healthier and smarter because of the nutrients in breastmilk provide the best source for a baby’s proper growth and development. Unfortunately, not many babies are fully breastfed despite the recommendations from Islam and the Ministry of Health Malaysia. A major factor to this hindrance is the mother’s employment outside the home. This study investigates the extent to which female academics are able to provide breastmilk to their children. This study is quantitative and utilises SPSS 18.00 software to analyse the data. The method for collecting the data is survey and interviews with experts in relevant fields. A total of 140 of the 180 respondents were chosen from three local universities in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The findings reveal that the respondents were willing to give breastmilk up to one year. The findings also show that there is an increased awareness among mothers to breastfeed. These changes may occur due to the mother’s maturity, experience and knowledge. A positive environment that encourages breastfeeding and the technological advancements may also be contributing factors to the improved statistics of breastfeeding.

Islamic Belief and Practices: An Integrative Coping Approach to Life Problems

This article provides an overview of related literature covering the wide range of issues pertaining to the problems and coping strategies in general from the Islamic worldview. There are many integrative methods and means provided in the Islamic authentic sources of the Holy Qur’an, Sunnah and the Islamic heritage as well as the modern methods. The novel aspect of this article is that apart from drawing theoretical conclusion from the existing work of coping mechanism, it is to integrate the Islamic principle pertaining to helping others in a way to address obvious inadequacies in the existing services offered to the Muslims. Therefore, it is appropriate to unearth the influence of Islamic belief and practices on man’s relationship with Allah and his relationship with mankind, on his ways of coping with the challenges and problems in his daily lives. From a review of literature, faith or belief influences the way individuals view and relate to God; and how religion in general is used to cope with difficult life circumstances. Besides that, the collaborative religious coping strategies balance an individual’s own efforts for managing stress with seeking help and support from others. Therefore, coping strategies of Muslims are approached from integrated and holistic perspective based on the understanding that man is created not from mere physical entity but also spiritual,psychological and intellectual entities. In conclusion, the Islamic coping mechanism should be planned in a way that all these dimensions of man can be better served.

The Development of Milk Bank According to Islamic Law for Preserving the Progeny of Baby

Milk bank has become a common phenomenon in the Western countries in the USA, UK, and other developed countries. The main purpose of the establishment of milk banks in such countries is to save the babies’ lives and to ensure that the newborn babies’ rights to breast milk are fulfilled. The problem, however, is that milk bank practices in the Western countries contradict with the Islamic law whereby it may result in the possibility of overlapping of the progeny (nasab). Consequently, the 97th Muzakarah of National Fatwa Council for Islamic Affairs Committee, which convened in 15–17 December 2011, had prohibited the implementation of the milk bank. However, due to a critical need of breast milk in hospitals, this study suggests ways to formulate a proper model of milk bank that is compatible with the Islamic law and simultaneously able to avoid further problems of nasab. This is a qualitative study that utilises the content analysis method and has two main objectives: firstly, to review some authoritative legal scholars’ opinions on the issue of milk bank and secondly, to recommend a proposal on how to develop a milk bank in accordance with the Islamic law in Malaysia. The study is expected to be able to draft a proposal to establish a milk bank run by Muslims and to guide its implementation by fulfilling all prerequisites of Islamic law. This recommendation will give some implications to the authorities of the National Fatwa Council to review the prohibition declared in the previous muzakarah. It is recommended that the Ministry of Health provides adequate preparations in terms of expertise, facilities, and equipments to ensure the proper facilitation of the milk bank.

Analysis on Methods of Determining Halal or Haram of Animals to Be Eaten According to Syeikh Abdul Malik Bin Abdullah in His Kitab al-Kifayah

Kitab al-Kifayah is a Malay manuscript written in the seventeenth century or early eighteenth century by Syeikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah who is also known as Tok Pulau Manis. It contains important discussion on Islamic doctrines (aqidah) and Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). In one of the chapters, it emphasises haram and halal matters with regard to animal meats for consumption. The issue of halal or haram regarding an animal has been debated by Muslim jurists (Fuqaha’), and because the Qur’an and the Hadith do not have full explication regarding the rulings of consuming certain types of animals, it has allowed the scholars to explore the issue at hand and derive general principles from it. Based on this premise, this paper identifies the methods used by Syeikh Abdul Malik in determining halal or haram of consuming animal meats and the methods proposed in his book Kitab al-Kifayah. In order to meet these objectives, the documentation method is used by examining three copies of the Kitab. The results from this study reveal that the methods proposed by Syeikh Abdul Malik is compatible with those outlined by the legal scholars in the authoritative al-Shafi’i books. However he has not simply cited or translated the content of the scriptures, he was also able to develop his own method for the categories of birds’ meat. The categories include birds with talons, birds that hold food in their mouths, birds with ingrown nails, birds that breathe whilst drinking water and birds with marks on their necks.