www.stand4islam.blogspot.com: Pregorexia

About this blog

In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.

This blog is dedicated:-

1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.

3 Oct 2008

Pregorexia

Eating disorders have become increasingly common conditions among women in the Western world. However, in recent months, many media agencies have reported the growing phenomenon of "Pregorexia" – eating disorders during pregnancy - in Western societies.

This rise of “pregorexia” highlights the very shocking and dangerous extent of women obsessed with their appearance. Women who develop eating disorders whilst pregnant not only putting their own health at risk but the health, welfare and life of their unborn baby. The concept of “body beautiful” and the perfect figure has reached new heights and the recent phenomenon of pregorexia is testament to this. It is estimated that 7 million women in the US suffer from eating disorders, and 1 in 100 women aged between 15 and 30, suffer from anorexia in the UK. The result of such eating disorders can be dire for women; the obvious symptom of eating disorders is severe weight loss. More severe symptoms include irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, diabetes, anaemia, and malnutrition. To combine these symptoms with pregnancy is a recipe for disaster and can only result in serious problems for mother and baby.

Pregorexia is often combined with a vigorous exercising regime to ensure a certain weight and figure is maintained during the pregnancy which can increase the risk of having a low birthweight baby. This is linked to a host of problems later in life, including heart disease, depression, poor growth and cognitive development of the child.

The rise in eating disorders and pregorexia leads one to the obvious question of why women go to such extreme and extraordinary lengths to maintain a certain weight and size. However, when taking a look at the portrayal of women in society the answer is also an obvious one. These conditions are hardly surprising when society’s view of the women is based on unrealistic media images and advertising of size 8, weightless, young, “fat-vacuumed” models. Images of this acceptable beauty are broadcast via almost every media outlet. Not only are women bombarded with these unachievable images but physical appearances are often equated with success - the more beautiful a woman is the more successful she is likely to be. It can be no wonder that women feel so insecure and consumed with their bodies, sometimes to such an extent that they put their health and life at risk.

The cause of such disorders is often ignored by the West and instead the Muslim woman is constantly in the media spotlight, labelled as oppressed and repressed - constantly under scrutiny and attacked for the way she dresses. The hijab and jilbab are viewed and portrayed as oppressive and tyrannical to the Muslim woman and she is continually under a barrage of attacks to explain her dress and justify her “self inflicted coercion”. She is subjugated to accusations that Islam perpetrates excessive crimes and injustices on women to subdue and oppress them.

Is it not time for the Western world to question the reasons and causes for the rise in a multitude of problems related to women within their secular societies? Is it not oppressive for women to determine their worth by appearances? Is it not oppressive for women to put their lives at risk to achieve an unrealistic image of beauty? Surely the idea of women squeezing themselves into abnormal sizes and taking unbelievable risks to do so is oppressive.

Islam does not attribute the success or achievement of women based on her appearance - the Muslim woman is recognized for her piety and preserving her faith. It does not define what type of body shape constitutes beauty but rather prescribes a simple, realistic dress code aimed at ensuring respect for the woman in society, taking attention away from her looks and therefore focussing society upon her thinking, behaviour and skills. All this facilitates her active involvement but also simultaneous protection in public life rather than crippling her confidence to step out of her house due to insecurities with regards to her appearance.

The Muslim dress code is one adopted by Muslim women demonstrating their faith and commitment to their belief. It is a part of her worship to Allah (swt) and undertaken as part of submitting to the laws of Allah rather than submitting to the expectations of a fickle society.

Islam frees women from living up to unrealistic ideals and honours her for the fact that she is a woman. She is not under pressure to pursue superficial goals but elevates her status beyond her physical appearance. Allah(swt) says, ‘The most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has more Taqwa.’ [Surah Al-Hujurat (49): Ayah (13)]

It is not high time that the secular societies take a good look at the view of the woman that they have propagated across the globe that has reduced her value to her appearance and size, rather than deflecting attention to the Muslim woman? Reality clearly shows that it is the values of secular society that has oppressed women in the true sense of the word rather than dress codes worn overwhelmingly through the choice of Muslim women the world over.

[Article written by Asma Saleem]

1 comment:

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oho good dear !!!! very interesting blog and a good posting !!! you must maintain your blog, its interesting !!! Nice Buddy
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Help With Research Paper; 12 January 2010 at 06:19

What they said...

“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”

[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]

"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"

[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]

"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."

[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]

"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."

[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]

"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."

[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]

“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”

[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]

"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."

[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]

"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."

[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]

“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”

[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]

"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"

[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]

"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."

[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]

"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."

[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']

"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"

[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']

"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.

[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]

"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"

[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]

"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"

[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]

“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”

[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]

“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”

[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]