"Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)" -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3
We're constantly told that female genital mutilation is a cultural practice that has nothing to do with Islam, and are warned that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. Yet here is an Egyptian Parliamentarian saying that Islamic scholars say it is part of the prophetic Sunnah -- that is, practices sanctioned and validated by Muhammad himself.
"Salafi MP advocates female circumcision, says Suzanne Mubarak banned it," from Egypt Independent, May 14 (thanks to Wimpy):
Female circumcision is part of the prophetic Sunnah, said MP Nasser al-Shaker of the Salafi-led Nour Party, who previously proposed a bill that would allow the practice.On a morning show on Mehwar satellite TV station, Shaker said notable Egyptian scholars have said the practice is part of the Sunnah.
Imam Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Abdel Halim Mahmoud, former Islamic Research Academy member Sheikh Attiya Saqr and former Egyptian Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel — all prominent Egyptian religious figures, the first three of whom have died — had all authorized the practice, also known as female genital mutilation, Shaker said.
Shaker said former first lady Suzanne Mubarak was the driving force behind banning it.
Randa Fakhr Eddin of the Cairo Coalition Against Female Genital Mutilation replied to Shaker’s statements, saying there is no consensus on the law by senior scholars or Islamists, and that Sayed Tantawi rejected the law in the 1990s, saying it was considered a cultural habit rather than a religious practice.
The issue surfaced after some people accused the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party of launching a charity medical campaign last month in Minya, during which they had performed the practice on some girls.
FJP has denied the reports, and Hussein Ibrahim, head of the party’s parliamentary bloc, told the People’s Assembly Sunday that the party didn’t sponsor any such campaigns.
Female genital mutilation is widely practiced in Egypt and Sudan, along with some other African countries. Most Arab and Islamic countries view it as a crime, but some people believe it was approved by the Prophet Mohamed.
Al-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research, the highest religious authority in Egypt, has condemned the practice, calling it harmful and saying it’s not based in Islamic law. Dar al-Ifta, the authority for issuing legal opinions, also condemned it.
The prevalence of the practice among women aged 15 to 49, who are or have ever been married, is 91 percent, according to the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey....
RSS Feed
Ha ha. Islamic logic is, as always, seriously lacking. Supposing one believed, as they do, that an all seeing, all knowing, all powerful God (Allaaaarrh) would create mankind and then immediately determine that the woman had to be mutililated.
Why, exactly, has he not demanded the same for bitches, mares,cows, and all the females of all species - only humankind?
This God, after all, created woman. IF he thought he'd made a physiological mistake then surely, as the most powerful, he would have destroyed his first creation and started again. God cannot accept failure!! OR is this God a sadist?
Seems so. Then again, shortly after birth in 1945 I, a Christian, was circumcised and this was claimed as "hygiene" reasons. God got it wrong and I've never suffered - or had hygiene problems in that area. The "god created" medics decided and probably correctly