At Least No One Can Accuse Sharia Of Being Sterile

It seems that England is up to its elbows in Islamic law:

Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules'

Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.

Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

...The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

This is reminiscent--though not as obviously deadly--of the incident in Mecca in March 2002 when over a dozen schoolgirls died when they were prevented from fleeing a school that was on fire because they were dressed immodestly.

In any case, why has this become a problem only now?

There have been incidents in the US of Muslims who have refused to drive particular people or check out people's food because of alleged conflicts with Islamic law--incidents that were likely due to exaggerated interpretations of Sharia (see here and here), but apparently this is supposed to be different:

But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

"No practising Muslim woman - doctor, medical student, nurse or patient - should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow," it said.

Dr Majid Katme, the association spokesman, said: "Exposed arms can pick up germs and there is a lot of evidence to suggest skin is safer to the patient if covered. One idea might be to produce long, sterile, disposable gloves which go up to the elbows."

This of course raises the question of what happens in Muslim countries when the patient is a women and there is no female doctor available to take care of her and the procedure requires uncovering a part of her body.

Katme's suggestion sounds exactly like that--a suggestion, as opposed to a procedure that he knows is done elsewhere--and does the Islamic Medical Association really mean it when it says that covering the face is not a basic tenet of Islam?

Just who is making the rules?

Technorati Tag: Islam.