“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 a party dedicated to upholding Islamic law, the Muslim Brotherhood, is making it easily available in Egypt; and it is clear even from the whitewashed translation from ‘Umdat al-Salik above that it is justified in Islamic law. That’s why the practice persists, even though it is technically illegal in Egypt.
“Egypt’s Brotherhood mobile FGM convoys condemned by women’s group,” by Mohamed Abdel Salam for Bikya Masr, May 14 (thanks to Wimpy):
CAIRO: A number of Egyptian human rights groups have submitted a communication to the Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud against the Muslim Brotherhood`s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) to investigate the complaints of people in the village of Abu Aziz in the Minya governorate, south of Cairo, over the existence of a large medical convoy organized by the party that wanders streets and does medical examination on people, including female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, in violation of Egyptian law, conventions and treaties signed by Egypt.
In Egypt’s legal code, Female Genital Mutilation is criminalized, as well as the inciting by doctors to convince families of the young girls of the need to agree to circumcise their daughters, “as a matter of preserving chastity.”
The communication demanded Mervat Tallawy, the head of the National Council for Women (NCW) and Major General Seraj EL Din El Rouby, the Governor of Minya, and Nasr El Sayed , Assistant Minister for primary health care, and preventive medicine, and family planning, to intervene to stop what it called “a farce propaganda for free circumcision, which was organized by one of the political parties, in Minya governorate to promote circumcision.”
The communication came after reports were circulated on news websites and social networking websites, including Facebook and Twitter about a convoy organized by the FJP to promote circumcision among girls in Minya.
Tallawy, on Sunday, held a meeting with the governor of Minya to discuss the mechanisms of organizing awareness campaigns and seminars for women in the governorate, on how to address and fight against female genital mutilation, “which is being carried out by the FJP in the governorate.”
Tallawy called on the Governor of Minya to combat such operations, and to spread awareness in the governorate, and to “coordinate with the Council in any issue related to women.”…