Islamic clerics are no strangers to making unusual claims about everyday things. One believes it is haram for women and men to play PUBG together while another thinks it's un-Islamic to wear colored lenses. And don't get us started on the one who said Snapchat filters are forbidden in Islam. But there's one recent claim that really sits atop the bizarre cake of declarations ... and it didn't even come from a cleric, let alone a male.
It came from a woman, a senior child protection official in Indonesia, to be more specific. She reportedly claimed women could get pregnant from swimming in the same pool as men. And not just any men, but those with an "especially strong type of male sperm."
Her statement is actually one of the world's most popular myths about sex. (It's been debunked hundreds of times.) Even if her claim were true (it obviously is not), why would men even ejaculate sperm in water to begin with? And if they did, shouldn't they be fined and prosecuted for their actions instead of telling women to avoid swimming for that sole reason?
Sitti Hikmawatty, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) official for health, narcotics and addictive substances, made the claims during an interview with local news site Tribun Jakarta last week.
In the interview, Hikmawatty said, "There is an especially strong type of male sperm that may cause pregnancy in a swimming pool. Even without penetration, men may become sexually excited [by women in the pool] and ejaculate, therefore causing a pregnancy."
She then added that the risk is higher for women who are sexually active. The official even perpetuated the regressive view that men sometimes lose control upon seeing a woman, so it's best for a woman to stay protected (in this case, avoid swimming with men entirely).
"No one knows for sure how men react to the sight of women in a swimming pool," she said.
Following heavy mockery on social media, the official released a statement apologizing for her comments.
"I apologize to the public for giving an incorrect statement. It was a personal statement and not from KPAI. I hereby revoke the statement," she said, according to The Independent.
"I plead with all parties not to disseminate it further or even make it available."
Not that we needed confirmation from medical experts but doctors in Indonesia have said it would be impossible for women to get impregnated this way.
Sperm aren't like humans, they cannot swim in a pool ... into a woman's vagina. According to Planned Parenthood, although sperm can - for a short time - live outside the body under certain conditions, it cannot survive in bodies of water.
A popular Indonesian health influencer, known as Blog Dokter, had a few things to tell the official as well.
"I emphasize here, swimming with the opposite sex will not cause pregnancy. Not all men who swim ejaculate and sperm cannot live in chlorinated pool water, let alone swim into the vagina," the blogger wrote.
