Recently in female genital mutilation Category

Western news articles about female genital mutilation routinely assert that it is solely a cultural practice, not justified by any religion. Yet again and again we see Muslim clerics justifying it, and it is sanctioned in Islamic law.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic law permits by definition, by prophetic statement and by practice female circumcision" -- Australian Imam Afroz Ali

"Female genital mutilation on the rise in the United States-report," by Lisa Anderson for TrustLaw, March 11 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

NEW YORK (TrustLaw) - The ancient, brutal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), once considered primarily a problem of the developing world, is a growing threat to girls and women in the United States, according to a new report.

The United States has longstanding laws against the practice of FGM on U.S. soil and in January, passed a federal law against sending young women outside the country for so-called "vacation cutting". However, girls living in America increasingly are at risk of the procedure both at home and abroad, according to research by Sanctuary for Families.

The New York City-based non-profit organisation, which specialises in gender-based violence, said up to 200,000 girls and women in the United States are at risk of FGM and that the number is growing.

"People in the United States think that FGM only happens to people outside of the United States, but in all actuality, people here all over the country have been through FGM," said Jaha, 23, formerly from Gambia and now a survivor and advocate against FGM.

"Kids that were born in this country are taken back home every summer and undergo this procedure," she was quoted as saying in the report.

The study cited analysis of data from the 2000 census that found between 1990 and 2000 the number of girls and women in the United States at risk of the procedure - which involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia - increased by 35 percent.

SADNESS, EMPTINESS

Most prevalent in immigrant African and Middle Eastern communities, FGM generally originates in the belief by some cultures that it preserves a girl's virginity before marriage and discourages her from promiscuity after she is wed. In many communities, a girl is deemed unfit for marriage if she has not undergone FGM.

The report said FGM has been performed in the United States by health care providers who support FGM or do not want to question families' cultural practices.  

Whether performed covertly on U.S. soil or in ceremonies held in ancestral homelands during school vacations, the procedure often is done by traditional practitioners using crude implements, such as razor blades and broken glass. They often operate in unsanitary conditions, far from medical facilities, without anaesthesia, antiseptics or antibiotics.

The physical and psychological effects can be devastating and even fatal. FGM can cause severe pain during sexual intercourse, haemorrhage, shock, complications in childbirth and fistula. It can also lead to depression and anxiety.

"FGM has affected me emotionally throughout my entire life. Those terrible moments stay with me and I just cannot forget them," a 53-year-old woman named Nafissatou, originally from Guinea, told researchers.

"When I went to the hospital to give birth to my children, my experience with FGM was what I remembered most. Every time I shower, I think about it. There is a sadness and emptiness I fell every day because of what FGM took from me," she said.

LACK OF PROSECUTIONS

The United Nations last December called for a global ban on FGM, but, as with laws in the United States, implementation is extremely difficult and, to date, prosecutions have been rare.

The United States has had a law against FGM since 1996 and 20 states have passed their own statutes. But, according to the report, as of 2012, there have been no prosecutions under federal law, and only one criminal case has been brought forward under a state statute.

One problem is that families in the United States, even those who oppose FGM for their daughters, often find themselves under severe pressure from their extended families to subject girls to the procedure.

Another obstacle is a lack of reporting of FGM either by victims, girls at risk or their families. Part of the reason may be due to ignorance of the law, the report found.

"However, reasons for underreporting likely also include reluctance on the part of the girl or her family to come forward, precisely because they know and fear the legal penalties for doing so," it said.

"Many girls fear that innocent family members, especially their mothers, will be considered complicit in their family’s efforts to force them to undergo FGM, or worry that if they report their relatives, they will be arrested, prosecuted, and possibly deported," it added....

Western news articles about female genital mutilation routinely assert that it is solely a cultural practice, not justified by any religion. Yet again and again we see Muslim clerics justifying it, and it is sanctioned in Islamic law.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic law permits by definition, by prophetic statement and by practice female circumcision" -- Australian Imam Afroz Ali

"Please help… I don’t want to be cut like my sister when we go back to Africa," by Martin Bentham for the London Evening Standard, March 5 (thanks to Michael):

Teachers were today told they must report female genital mutilation to police as a heart-rending letter from an 11-year-old London girl whose sister was sent abroad to be cut was published by campaigners.

The letter, sent to London charity Equality Now, tells how the girl’s 12-year-old sister was subjected to the procedure by aunts at her grandmother’s home in Gambia.

The girl — who tells how her sister was warned that “spirits will come and kill her immediately” if she reported the crime — says she is worried the same will happen to her.

The letter also tells how the girl reported her fears, and what had happened to her sister, to a teacher but instead of alerting police the teacher advised the girl to contact the charity.

Efua Dorkenoo, director of Equality Now’s campaign against FGM, today said the failure to alert police was a mistake and warned that teachers and other professionals were allowing girls to remain at risk because of a mistaken belief that mutilation was a cultural practice rather than a crime.

“Practising communities think that the UK doesn’t have the guts to prevent and prosecute for FGM,” she said. “The key reasons for the lack of prosecutions are the young age of those involved and the fact that FGM is a hidden practice within families and affected communities.

“So, as with other forms of child abuse, teachers need to be alert to, and report, all evidence of emotional or physical pain, missed classes from school, or any of the other common indicators of FGM. If they and other frontline professionals do this, we will get prosecutions and come closer to ending this horrific abuse.”

In the letter, the girl, whose identity is being kept secret to protect her, describes how she came to England from Gambia with her mother, sisters and brothers in 2005 when she was six to join her father who was studying here. It then recounts how the family was watching a 2010 programme about African culture “showing girls having their privates cut” when her older sister started crying.

Two days later “she told my dad that she also had her private cut”.

The younger girl is now understood to be safe after the charity contacted police. No prosecution was brought, however, because of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient evidence. One reason is understood to be that the perpetrators of the crime were overseas when police were alerted. Ms Dorkenoo, whose charity estimates that there at least 24,000 girls at risk of mutilation, many of them in London, said that the failure of the girl’s teacher to contact police directly reflected a wider reluctance among professionals, including social workers, midwives and others, to report mutilation or when evidence emerged that girls were at risk.

FGM has been illegal in Britain since 1985, but no prosecutions have been brought so far. The Met revealed recently that it had obtained “clear evidence” of a crime in one case now under investigation, raising hopes that the first charges could be brought soon.
The letter

8th November 2010

Director

Equality Now

6 Buckingham Street

London

WC2N 6BU

Dear Madam

My name is ******* and I am 11 years old. I and my mum, sisters and brother came to England in 2005 when I had just turned 6 years old to join my dad who was at University. We come from Gambia in West Africa.

Three weeks ago we were watching a TV programme on African culture and as they were showing girls having their privates cut, my older sister who is 12 years old started crying. After 2 days she told my dad that she also had her private cut. Mum and Dad never knew about it and she was told if she ever tells anyone the sprits will come and kill her immediately. She said it was done one weekend by my aunties at my nans house. Last Friday mum took her to our GPto have her checked and the doctor said it was done to her.

This morning when I went to school I told one of my teachers about it and together we went on the computer and found your group. The teacher asked me to write to you and ask for your help. I don’t want my private cut by anyone.

My dad loves us very much and he did not like what they done to my sister and he is very confussed. We should be going back to Gambia any time after Eid and he is worried and upset that they would do the same to me. I don’t what that too.

If you reply to this letter I will showe my dad and I am shore that he would be very glad to have your help. He is my best friend and if he knows what to do he would do it, he would not want anything to hurt us – I know that.

Please madam help me, and my dad. If you reply soon he would definately contact you if you can help. I really hope you can help me, not to have my private cut. I am reallye confused expessically seeing my dad so un-happy and not knowing what to do.

Thank you very much for reading my letter.

Western news articles about female genital mutilation routinely assert that it is solely a cultural practice, not justified by any religion. Yet again and again we see Muslim clerics -- such as Kiai Hajj Amin Ma'ruf, who is not an "extremist" but the head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, justifying it, and it is sanctioned in Islamic law.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic law permits by definition, by prophetic statement and by practice female circumcision" -- Australian Imam Afroz Ali

Sharia Alert from modern, moderate Indonesia: "Indonesian Ulema in favour of female circumcision: a 'human right,'" by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, January 24 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) is in favour of female circumcision (and men) that, although it can not be considered mandatory, it is still "morally recommended." This is shown by the words of the leader of the largest Islamic organization in the most populous Muslim country in the world. He warns, however, to avoid "excesses", coming to the removal or cutting of the clitoris. In the meantime, has come under investigation and will be prosecuted by a court "ethical" the judge who, in recent days, he "joked" about sexual violence to women, causing a veritable wave of outrage (see AsiaNews 15/01 / 2013 Ordinary Indonesians against judges and politicians who "justify" sexual violence).

The reference point for Islamic issues (such as the legality of a food and a drink), a "consultor" to the government in matters of faith, the body responsible for issuing fatwas - the answers on Muslim questions of faith and morals - the MUI has taken a position on female circumcision. And by the mouth of his head, Kiai Hajj Amin Ma'ruf, pointed out that it is an "advisable practise on moral grounds", at the same time, he rejects any attempt to declare this practice illegal or contrary to the principles. It comes under the sphere of "human rights," said the Islamist leader, and is "guaranteed by the Constitution."

"Female circumcision - said Amin - is commonly practiced by cutting out parts that cover the clitoris" and, at the same time, he invites believers to refrain from "excessive circumcision" that ends up becoming a real mutilation genital. He recalled that the Mui can not make this practice "mandatory", but "strongly rejects" the possible cancellation of this "tradition" which is performed in a "ritualistic ceremony" and also applies to men....

This report from the UK's Independent never mentions FGM's justification in Islamic law. The Independent wouldn't dare be so "Islamophobic." Islamic apologists in the West maintain that female genital mutilation has nothing to do with Islam, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. But eventually Muslims themselves get around to vindicating every last charge that greasy Islamophobes have ever made about Islamic belief and practice.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic law permits by definition, by prophetic statement and by practice female circumcision" -- Australian Imam Afroz Ali

"Special report: Female genital mutilation - unreported, ignored and unpunished," by Brian Brady and Paul Cahalan in the Independent, January 6 (thanks to Paul):

The failure to punish anyone for carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) in almost a decade since Labour introduced a new law designed to stamp out the practice is forcing prosecutors to seek alternative methods to tackle the problem. The Government was facing growing criticism from campaigners after an Independent on Sunday investigation into the horrifying practice known as "cutting", in which the genitals of women and girls are severed by unqualified people in the belief it will preserve the girl's virginity.

Would it be better if it were done by "qualified people"?

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told The Independent on Sunday last night that he and Justice Department officials are considering plans to use child-protection legislation to prosecute those who mutilate women, girls and babies. The IoS inquiry revealed that hundreds of hospitals, councils and police forces are failing to enforce the law designed to stop the agonising procedure. Only a few authorities have reported evidence of the illegal practice in the past three years; many admitted they did not even have a policy in place to deal with cases. Three government departments said they do not collect statistics on the prevalence of the problem.

The findings confirm campaigners' fears that laws designed to stamp out FGM are failing to protect tens of thousands of British women and girls every year, and have not led to a single conviction. In contrast, France has convicted more than 100 complicit parents and FGM "practitioners" since 1988.

The DPP revealed the change in tactics yesterday as he responded to the criticism and said he will not hesitate to call for a change in the law. He said he feared it would take another quarter of a century for present anti-FGM laws on their own to produce successful prosecutions, as they ultimately depended on girls reporting their own families to the police. "The nub of the problem is that we are talking about girls of 10, 11 or even younger. We can do all we can to make clear that FGM is an offence, but it is unlikely that a girl would come forward and give evidence against her parents and be separated from them. If we hope against hope that a girl will come forward, we'll be waiting 25 years," he said. He added that he was actively exploring ways to use a wider offence where the authorities would not necessarily need a child to be a witness.

The DPP admitted that prosecutors were being hampered by the failure to collect statistics on the numbers of women affected. "We haven't got the full picture. That needs to change." He said his plan of action also included the collection of "more robust data on allegations of FGM, so the scale of the problem can be gauged".

The lack of clear statistics contrasts starkly with Department of Health research carried out in 2007 which estimated that as many as 80,000 women in the UK – more than a quarter of them under the age of 15 – are at risk of having all or part of their external genitals removed, in line with ancient customs. The practice occurs in dozens of countries in Africa, and in some areas of the Middle East and Asia, where it is claimed FGM preserves a girl's virginity until marriage by limiting her sexual behaviour. The ritual has been illegal in Britain since 1985, and the United Nations General Assembly last month approved a resolution to ban FMG internationally following protests over its lasting impact on the physical and mental health of victims.

However, campaigners have warned that many young girls have been taken out of UK primary schools by their parents to be cut overseas, often with razors, knives or broken glass, usually without anaesthetic.

Ann Clwyd, a Labour MP whose 2003 FGM Act bans girls being taken abroad to have the procedure, said teachers, doctors and police had shown "a lack of sufficient will to confront minority ethnic groups on such an issue". She added: "It's very nice to get a law through Parliament, but if it isn't acted upon, it isn't worth the paper it's written on."

Hull MP Karl Turner will use a debate in Parliament this week to challenge ministers to force healthcare staff, teachers and police to work more closely together to ensure anyone suspected of cutting British children is brought to book. He said: "Female genital mutilation needs to be taken as seriously as any other child-protection issue. Hundreds of thousands of voiceless victims have been denied justice and this figure rises year on year."

Mr Starmer said he did not want to repeal existing anti-FGM laws, as that would "send the wrong message", but he conceded "the legislation clearly isn't nearly enough on its own". His FGM "action plan" also pledges to "explore whether evidence to prosecute offences under other legislation is possible and may be easier to support". He targeted the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which creates an offence of "causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to die or suffer serious physical harm", as route to tougher action.

A Freedom of Information request to more than 500 hospitals and local education authorities found that fewer than 50 kept records of women and girls who were found to have suffered FGM, believed to have undergone the procedure or suspected of being at risk. Many police forces refused to release data, citing "confidentiality" and "sensitivity".

However, of those that reported cases, the Whittington Hospital in London and St James's University Hospital, Leeds, both recorded some 450 instances of female genital mutilation during the past three years.

Dudley council revealed that it had received reports involving three children "aged between newborn to four years of age", and four young adults. Newport council reported that a pupil aged eight was prevented from leaving the country as it was suspected that she might be a victim of FGM while abroad. The Metropolitan Police recorded more than 200 reports in which FGM was listed as a concern, including victims who feared they may be at risk, since 2003....

Islamic apologists in the West maintain that female genital mutilation has nothing to do with Islam, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. But eventually Muslims themselves get around to vindicating every last charge that greasy Islamophobes have ever made about Islamic belief and practice.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Female circumcision is a right, says imam," by Rachel Baxendale for The Australian, December 24 (thanks to Block Ness):

A MUSLIM leader and outspoken opponent of female genital mutilation says female circumcision, which he defines as the partial removal of the clitoral hood, is not only an utterly distinct practice, but the "divinely ordained right of a woman" under Islam.

Sydney-based Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences and Human Development founder and president, Imam Afroz Ali, appeared on the ABC's 7:30 program in October, condemning female genital mutilation and saying he had been told by community members of its occurrence in Australia.

But Imam Afroz defines female circumcision and female genital mutilation as "two very different, and unrelated, kinds of acts; the former being permissible and the latter completely forbidden under Islamic law".

The imam, who was yesterday unable to be contacted, made the argument in a paper entitled Mutilating Facts: Setting the Record Straight About Female Circumcision & Genital Mutilation, published this year on his SeekersGuidance website.

"Islamic law permits by definition, by prophetic statement and by practice female circumcision," he wrote. "The definition under Islamic law for female circumcision is exclusively the removal of the uppermost extra skin at the top of the clitoral glans.

"Female circumcision in its legitimate form is a personal and human right of a woman; genital mutilation is a horrible crime."

Imam Afroz indicated he believed the practice should only be performed on post-pubescent women. The imam argued his definition of female circumcision was the same as labiaplasty, or genital cosmetic surgery, which was legal in Australia.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists vice-president Ajay Rane said he had three main concerns about Imam Afroz's paper.

"Firstly, I felt that there was confusion in the article itself. On the one hand, he's saying female circumcision is supposed to be a woman's right in Islam, on the other, he's saying it's a cultural thing," he said. "The second issue is that of consent, and the third is who does these procedures?

"How do you train them to understand the difference between removal of a small and large amount? How do you control that?"...

Indeed.

At FrontPage this morning Jamie Glazov tells truths about FGM that the Western Leftist intelligentsia seems determined to ignore or deny:

Asia News recently reported how the misogynist crime of female genital mutilation (FGM) continues to be a “widespread traditional practice” in “rural areas and more remote areas of Indonesia, particularly the island of Java.” The story makes sure to remind us, naturally, that while this crime is being perpetrated in a Muslim country, the crime “is not a rule set in a rigid manner by the precepts of Islam.” It is only widespread, we are consoled, because of the actions of “the more extreme and integral fringe.”

In her coverage of this news report, freedom fighter Pamela Geller shrewdly asks the key question that somehow mysteriously eludes the minds of every breathing human being in our mainstream media: “The fringe made it widespread?”

Indeed, if only the “extreme and integral fringe” supports this sadistic and vicious crime against women, and if it is “not a rule set in a rigid manner by the precepts of Islam,” then where are all the Muslim imams, muftis and clerics in the world, and in Indonesia in particular, vociferously denouncing and repudiating this crime as un-Islamic and coming to the defense of Muslim women?

Why haven’t they shut down this crime against women, since it is, after all, so un-Islamic? Where are all the tens of thousands of Muslims gathering in mass demonstrations around the world shouting in moral indignation and fury about their young little Muslim girls having their clitorises cut out with broken glass and being maimed for life, as they do about Danish cartoons and American movies? Why do cartoons and films mean more to them than the brutal maiming of their women?

Hmmm. What a great mystery this continues to be.

One can’t help from wondering: could it all have something possibly to do with the fact that female genital mutilation is rooted in Islam and integral to its misogynist structures?

Pamela Geller gives us the easy answer – an answer you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting to hear on Anderson Cooper, Geraldo or Pierce Morgan, since uncomfortable answers can’t be given when pertinent questions are never asked in our mainstream media. Geller affirms that this Islam-denial coverage of FGM in Asia News “is just more whitewashing of Islam’s human rights abuses.” She points out that FGM is “fundamentally Islamic” and cites its foundation in Islamic texts such as Umdat al-Salik:

“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.” Sacred Islamic Reliance: page 59, Umdat al-Salik  (“Reliance of the Traveler”), a manual of the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence, endorsed by Egypt’s very own Al-Azhar University of Cairo — the oldest and most prestigious university in the Islamic world.

FGM is indeed fundamentally Islamic. Why would it not be when one of Sunni Islam’s “Four Great Imams,” Ahmad ibn Hanbal, quotes Muhammed as saying: “Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women?” Perhaps this is why Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University has called circumcision “a laudable practice that did honor to women.”

And so perhaps it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why in Muslim Egypt, like in Indonesia, the crime of FGM is perpetrated on a massive level. Even when the Egyptian government tried to ban FGM back in 1996, an Egyptian court overturned the ban in July 1997 because of the ferocious uprising it sparked among Islamic clerics, who fervently pointed to Islamic teachings to make sure this crime against women remained firm in place.

And it is clear, of course, why FGM is so important and crucial to Islam; crippling women’s sexuality solidifies the misogynist structures of Islamic gender apartheid. Keeping FGM legitimized and institutionalized helps keep women subjugated and caged. By amputating the clitoris, Islam’s mutilators succeed in maiming the woman’s sexual desire and pleasure, which, in the morbid Islamic mindset, reduces the chances that she will ever toy with the horrifying notions (for Islam) of autonomy, equality and self-determination.

But how can we possibly help Muslim girls if our society forbids us to confront this Islamic crime and the theology in which it is rooted? And that’s where we tragically stand: while millions of young Muslim girls suffer the mutilating barbarity of female genital mutilation in the Islamic world every year, our mainstream media and higher literary culture remains completely silent about it – and slanders the truth tellers like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer who want to come to the aid of Muslim women.

Read it all.

Pamela Geller is spot on when she says:

We're constantly admonished that female genital mutilation is a "cultural" practice that has nothing to do with Islam. It's just another lie. Even the story below, while telling us that the practice is widespread, tells us that it "is not a rule set in a rigid manner by the precepts of Islam," and that it is only widespread because of the actions of "the more extreme and integral fringe." The fringe made it widespread? This is just more whitewashing of Islam's human rights abuses. The practice is fundamentally Islamic...

Indeed. Islamic apologists in the West maintain that female genital mutilation has nothing to do with Islam, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. But eventually Muslims themselves get around to vindicating every last charge that greasy Islamophobes have ever made about Islamic belief and practice.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Java, radical Islam in favor of female genital mutilation," by Mathias Hariyadi in Asia News, December 7 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - In rural areas and more remote areas of Indonesia, particularly the island of Java, female circumcision is still a widespread traditional practice. Although it is not a rule set in a rigid manner by the precepts of Islam, it resists in the most populous Muslim country in the world thanks to the favorable opinion of a large part of society, due to the more extreme and integral fringe. Over the years, activists and politicians have launched campaigns and appeals in an attempt to eradicate the popular custom, which puts the physical health of girls at risk. However, efforts to stem the "tetesan" - as it is called in the country - have so far been a vain war fought on "two different fronts", at a governmental level and on a purely religious level. Renowned experts of Islamic law in Indonesia, interviewed by AsiaNews, stigmatize the practice of female circumcision as "damaging", even if it continues the comparison - which in many cases results in open clashes - between the fuqaha extremists and moderate Muslims leaders. With the first in favor of mutilation, while the latter engaged in campaigns to put an end to the phenomenon.

The the Muslim intellectual Sumanto Al Qurtuby says the faction that supports tetesan is linked to the Salafi and Wahhabi community, which together with other fundamentalist groups are concentrated in Bandung and Aceh. They believe that circumcision is "morally" encouraged by Sharia, or Islamic law, and reiterated in the hadith, in anecdotes related to the life of the Prophet Muhammad. However, the expert adds, while the practice is "suggested" it is not "mandatory" and there are no moral foundations of Islamic law that state it should be perpetrated. There are in fact six different drafts of the hadith - better known as "Kutub as-Sittah" - and only one of these "calls for" the spread of female circumcision.

Together with the moral issue, there is also a health and a pyscological aspect. The practice of FGM, in fact, results in the loss of sexual pleasure and is often practiced in contexts far from sterile, in which there is a clear risk of infection or post-operative consequences. This is why human rights activists, citizens and a large part of civil society have fought for and end to this practice - especially in rural areas. An act, they describe as "dangerous" and "contrary to the health care."

The author of this article in his youth, when he was about eight years old, witnessed firsthand circumcision practiced on a young girl, forced by her parents (Muslims) to submit to the "Islamic ritual." Rather than doing it in a private and appropriately sterilized room - as I recall - the act of female circumcision was carried out in the open air, her feet on the ground, while the genital organ was removed with a razor blade. The little girl began to scream in pain, as a stream of blood oozed from the wound. At the end of the rite, I remember that the family offered a kind of celebration of the "thank you" to neighbors, for taking part in the "Islamic ritual."

An opinion poll carried out by the government in 2003 confirmed that the practice of female genital mutilation is still widespread in rural areas. In 2006, the Ministry of Health tried to intervene to stem the tide, without any substantive results regarding what is defined by a number of fronts, especially among female movements as, "an example of domestic violence." Throughout Indonesia at least 400 non-governmental organizations have arisen that are fighting against the practice. The movements in unison, recall that Jakarta is one of the signatories of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Convention) and is called to make every effort to reduce the social impact of this practise.

Islamic apologists in the West maintain that female genital mutilation has nothing to do with Islam, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. But eventually Muslims themselves get around to vindicating every last charge that greasy Islamophobes have ever made about Islamic belief and practice.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"It happens at night: Genital mutilation in Egypt," by Cornelia Wegerhoff for Deutsche Welle, November 22 (thanks to Lachlan):

Despite being legally banned, female genital mutilation in Egypt is on the rise, causing lifelong pains, health problems and even death for the women who undergo it. Islamists are pushing to legalize the procedure again.

Umm Mohamed lives in a part of Cairo where others dump their garbage. The 47-year-old Muslim woman has experienced many hardships in her life. Putting on a brave face, she says she is used to being daily surrounded by dirt and misery. But what really hurts, she admits, is the pain she personally had to endure 35 years ago.

When Mohamed was 12, nearly all parents from the quarter where she lived brought their daughters of the same age to a hair dresser. "We didn't know why," she says, "but we were all very excited, as each girl had just been given a new, white dress."

In celebration of the day, the girls' hands had been painted with henna. They were ever so proud. But then came the moment of shock: "Suddenly this man, who was really a stranger to us, started to undress us," she recalls. "Then he got out his razor blade." All the girls underwent the procedure which mutilated them for life - without narcotics and without even minimal hygene standards.

'How can my family do this to me?'

Mohamed bled for three days. When it didn't stop, her father went to the local baker for some ashes to cover up the wound. But the dirt only made everything worse. "I still remember asking myself how my family could do this to me," Mohamed says, tears clouding her eyes. Another girl from her neighbourhood, she adds, even died after the procedure.

And that girl was hardly alone. As the number of deaths rose, Egypt banned female genital mutilation (FGM) by law in 2008. Medical practitioners and midwives, who traditionally perform the procedure in the countryside, now do so at the risk of imprisonment. Issuing an Islamic legal opinion, a so-called fatwa, Egypt's Grand Mufti has also clarified that female genital mutilation is against the Islamic value system.

Yet in doing so he has contradicted legal rulings endorsed by al-Azhar (quoted above) and the words of Muhammad himself. Muhammad is depicted in the Hadith as not condemning it, but merely cautioning against going overboard: "A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband." - Sunan Abu Dawud 41.5251

This raises the question of whether the Grand Mufti's condemnation was honest, or was for Western consumption.

But since the revolution, Umm Mohamed says she has seen a new increase in female genital mutilations.

During the Mubarak regime people used to fear punishment, but these days the medical practitioners in her quarter don't even bother to hide their actions any more: "During the day, they circumcise little boys, and the girls they do at night for twice the money," Mohamed says angrily. "Everybody knows this."

Mustering her courage as a simple woman, Mohamed went to the police station to make a report. "But the officers told me that they had other things to worry about," says the mother of three, who was able to save her own daughter the painful mutilation.

Umm Mohamed openly addresses what for most Egyptian woman is a taboo: Most victims live in chronic pain and have problems with their sexuality, and they also face serious health problems both during pregnancy and giving birth.

Omayma Idris, a Cairo-based gynaecologist, says that more than 90 percent of all married Egyptians today are thought to have undergone mutilation. After the prohibition, she says, one could see a decline, "but since the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists are in power in Egypt, the numbers are on the rise again; they encourage families to do it again."

Not even the deeply religious Muslims in Saudi Arabia mutilate girls and women, she adds.

Islamists push for legalization

Salafists and representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood - the political home of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi - want to see female genital mutilation legalized again. Their push for legalization alerted the German advocacy group for women's rights, Terre des Femmes, which collected 12,000 signatures against the practice in Egypt.

The group presented the signatures together with a petition to the Egyptian ambassador in Berlin at the beginning of November.

In several places around the country, Islamists have already created precedents, according to Mervat Tallawy, president of the National Women's Council for Egypt. A few weeks ago, she learned about the Muslim Brotherhood using buses as mobile clinics in the rural Minia province.

"The mutilation of girls had been offered as a sort of health service, free of charge," Tallawy says. And the buses, she adds, had stickers with the logo of the "Party for Freedom and Justice" - the political branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (c) Spencer Platt/Getty Images Pressure groups ask President Mursi to explicitly condemn FGM

Following the incident, the National Women's Council contacted the local governor and the Ministry of Health in Cairo. But a spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood flatly denied all charges and, in turn, accused the villagers of misusing the logo.

Tallawy laughs bitterly laugh about that. Villagers, she says, lead very simple lives and many can barely read. She doesn't think they're capable of such forgery. But what she does believe to be more likely is that the Muslim Brotherhood is funding illegal mutilation procedures in the countryside.

"That's child abuse and a barbaric act," Tallawy says with disgust. "But as long as the Egyptian president doesn't explicitly condemn such actions, the fundamentalists are going to carry on and lead us back into the Middle Ages. I have no idea where their hatred for women comes from."

Really?

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"WA couple on child genital mutilation charges," from WA Today, September 7 (thanks to Gordon):

A WA couple will face court early next month after it was alleged they took a baby girl overseas with the intention of having the child undergo genital mutilation.

The 44-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were charged after an investigation by the Child Abuse Squad, which found the couple had arranged a female circumcision and took the one-year-old overseas in late August - reportedly to Bali - where the procedure took place....

Female circumcision is generally practiced in western, eastern and north-eastern Africa and parts of the Middle East and the World Health Organisation has estimated up to 140 million women and girls globally may have undergone the procedure....

Earlier this week, Egypt’s Tahrir News conducted an interview with Dr. Amina Kamal, advisor to President Morsi on Women’s Affairs, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, and a member of the Constituent Assembly.

The discussion about female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, is causing some controversy. When asked what advice she would give to President Morsi concerning this practice, she said she would tell him that it should only be performed when the girl reaches puberty, and that it is wrong to perform it, as sometimes happens, when the girl is only seven or eight years old.

Despite coming off somewhat neutral at times, saying for instance that the practice is not strictly Islamic, although it is permissible, at one point she asserted that those girls who do not have the operation performed are “lacking in faith [iman].”

Criticism naturally followed—including from Egypt’s National Council for Women, which condemned Kamal’s remarks as “against the dignity of Egyptian women”—and Kamal now denies making the comment.

Egyptian female politicians talking about how women are “lacking” is becoming commonplace. Earlier, for example, another female political candidate associated with the Salafi party said that women are lacking in “intelligence.”

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Even the sanitized translation of this Islamic legal manual makes it clear that Islamic law calls for female genital mutilation:

"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

Here is the actual translation:

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic holy man and his wife are jailed for mutilating the genitals of their four daughters," by Craig Mackenzie for the Daily Mail, June 3 (thanks to Alan of England):

An Islamic holy man and his wife have been jailed for the genital mutilation of their four daughters.

The case has shocked France and was branded by a female government minister as a 'grave crime' and an 'intolerable affront to women's dignity.'

All four of the victims, now aged between 11 and 20, were in court to hear the sentence and wept and cried out as their parents were led away from the dock.

The unnamed father was sentenced to two years and his wife got 18 months for allowing a 'doctor' to remove parts of their vaginas.

They were charged with ‘complicity in voluntary violence having led to mutilation by an older person of a minor under the age of 15 years’ , a crime punishable by a maximum of 20 years jail.

The father was said to be a ‘ marabout’ - an Arabic word for an Islamic ascetic holy man alleged to be endowed with magical powers.

The couple originally came from the west African state of Guinea where according to a 2007 study, 96 per cent of young girls have their genitals mutilated in the name of religion....

At the trial in Nevers, central France, the two youngest victims had declared themselves plaintiffs under French law but the elder girls withdrew their complaint and sided with their parents....

The two eldest girls defended their parents action, saying that they did not understand why they were appearing in court.

Sobbing in the witness box , the mother told the court that she now regretted what had happened .

‘Now I would be less passive, ' she said. 'Circumcision is not good.'

The former holy man, said to have been severely handicapped by a stroke, told the judge ,’ What is the most important thing for me is the wellbeing of my family. I am sorry for what happened.'

Moroccan- born Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, 35, Minister of Women’s Rights in the new government of François Hollande, has now pledged a crackdown on the illegal practice.

She vowed to track down what she called ‘ executioners’ who have performed covert surgery on an estimated 50,000 young girls in France....

Dr. Hatem Elhagaly, aka Dr. Hatem al-Haj, is a Muslim jurist who has stated this:

The ruling on circumcision: Scholars have differed on the ruling on circumcision. They have agreed on its legitimacy for both sexes, but beyond that they have differed. Some--most famously the Shafi’ites--believe that it is obligatory for both sexes. Some believe it is obligatory for men only, and some believe it is recommended for both. At the very least it can be said that for women it is an honor, and for men it is sunnah [i.e. it is in accord with the tradition of Muhammad].

Longtime Jihad Watch reader CGW saw that report on Jihad Watch and sprang into action, contacting the Mayo Clinic, where Elhagaly was employed, and starting a petition. The Mayo Clinic sent this email out yesterday:

From: Public Affairs
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 2:16 PM
Subject: RE: Dr. Hatem Elhagaly

Dr. Elhagaly is no longer employed or caring for patients at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea. We are working with his patients to transition their care to another physician. Because this is a personnel issue, we cannot comment further on Dr. Elhagaly's employment status.

Female circumcision in children, referred to as female genital mutilation in U.S. legal statutes, is a felony-level child abuse crime. Mayo Clinic strongly opposes the procedure and it has never been performed at any Mayo Clinic facility.

This is a huge victory for human rights and women's rights. Huge kudos and thanks to CGW, who spearheaded this effort single-handedly and is not stopping with this: see the latest petition here.

"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....

"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.”...

"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 we just recently saw a Muslim leader in Britain, Mohammed Abdul, advocating it, and it is clear even from the whitewashed translation from 'Umdat al-Salik above that it is justified in Islamic law.

"Two held over 'genital mutilation,'" from the Lancashire Evening Post, May 3 (thanks to Paul):

Two men have been arrested in Birmingham by police investigating claims that female genital mutilation is being offered in the UK.

West Midlands Police said a 55-year-old and a 61-year-old were arrested after officers from the force's public protection unit attended three separate addresses....

The men were arrested on suspicion of offences contrary to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.

Officers went to properties on Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Trafalgar Road, Moseley and Kingstanding Road, Kingstanding....

How is it that Dr. Hatem al-Haj, a fellow at the American Academy of Pediatrics and a leading Muslim jurist, misunderstands Islamic law so severely as to think that this purely cultural practice has something to do with Islam? Surely it can't be that the mainstream media and Islamic leaders in the U.S. have been lying to us, and FGM really is justified in Islam, could it? Naaah.

"AMJA Senior Committee Member: Female Genital Mutilation Is 'an Honor' per Islam," from Translating Jihad, April 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A couple of weeks ago I posted a translation of a paper by Association of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA) senior committee member Dr. Hatem al-Haj, PhD, MD, in which he warned American Muslims against working in law enforcement in our 'infidel' nation (see here for more details). Now in my latest translation, Dr. al-Haj explains why female circumcision is recommended and even 'an honor' for women....

Below is my excerpted translation of the 41-page Arabic-language paper by Dr. Hatem al-Haj entitled "Circumcision of Girls: Jurisprudence and Medicine" (see the original here and here):

The ruling on circumcision: Scholars have differed on the ruling on circumcision. They have agreed on its legitimacy for both sexes, but beyond that they have differed. Some--most famously the Shafi’ites--believe that it is obligatory for both sexes. Some believe it is obligatory for men only, and some believe it is recommended for both. At the very least it can be said that for women it is an honor, and for men it is sunnah [i.e. it is in accord with the tradition of Muhammad].

There are many hadiths on circumcision, some of which will be presented here along with the commentary of some scholars:

From Abi-Hurayra, who attributed it to the Prophet: “Five (acts of) al-fitrah [Islamic law or way of nature] are circumcision, shaving pubic hair, plucking armpit hair, trimming fingernails, and clipping the mustache.” Also from Abi-Hurayra: “The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Abraham was circumcised when he was 80 years old’.”’ Allah said: “So We have taught thee the inspired (Message), Follow the ways of Abraham the True in Faith” [Qur’an 16:123]. Also recorded in a hadith is the saying of (Muhammad) to a man who converted to Islam: “Remove your infidel hair and be circumcised.”

Muhammad also said regarding circumcision: “If you touch the two circumcisions, you must wash.” Here is evidence that women were circumcised, and therefore any of the hadiths on circumcision which do not specify men or women, can be assumed to apply to both.

From Sa’id bin Jabir: “Ibn ‘Abbas was asked, “How old were you when the Prophet (PBUH) died?" He replied, "At that time I had been circumcised. People (in those days) did not circumcise men until they reached puberty.” From the hadith of Umm ‘Atiyah--who used to circumcise girls--the Messenger of Allah said to her, “Reduce it, but do not remove too much, because it is more beautiful to behold and better for her husband.” This is the most explicit evidence in the hadiths of Muhammad for female circumcision being legitimate and even recommended. From Ibn ‘Abbas, attributing it to the Prophet: “Circumcision is sunnah for men and an honor for women.” This was narrated by al-Bayhaqi, and its attribution is weak.

Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Abi-Barza: “We asked the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) about an uncircumcised man making pilgrimage to the Ka’aba. He replied, ‘No, not until he’s circumcised’.” This was considered a weak hadith by Ibn al-Mundhir and others.

There’s no doubt that among these hadiths there are those which are sound but do not explicitly command or urge women to become circumcised. There are also those which are met with disagreement by scholars, and these hadiths are more explicit in confirming the legitimacy of female circumcision. But the hadiths on the laws of al-fitrah which mention circumcision--and these are sound--do not mean that it is done on men only and not women. It is certain that circumcision includes both men and women, as is clearly stated in the hadith about touching the two circumcisions.

Below are words from scholars on the ruling on circumcision:

The Hanafis: Al-Zayla’i said: “The general ruling is that circumcision is sunnah, and is one of the trademarks of Islam. In fact, if the people of Egypt or some land decided to abandon its practice, the Imam would make war against them, for it cannot be abandoned except by necessity... Female circumcision is not sunnah, but it is an honor for men because it is more pleasing during sex” [ellipses in original].

The Malikites: From al-Kharshi’s brief summary of Khalil: “Its ruling (i.e. circumcision) is that it is sunnah for men, and it cuts off the foreskin. It is recommended for women, and is called khifad [reduction].”

The Shafi’ites: From [Asna al-Mutalib]: “Circumcision is obligatory (at puberty). The reasoning for this is the saying of the Almighty: “So We have taught thee the inspired (Message), Follow the ways of Abraham the True in Faith” [Qur’an 16:123]. In Abraham’s religion, circumcision was present. Also in the two Sahihs: “He was circumcised when he was eighty years old.” In Sahih Ibn Hibban, and in al-Hakim it was said 120 years, and it was also said 70 years. Also it was narrated by Abu-Dawud: “(The Prophet) (PBUH) ordered a man who converted to Islam to be circumcised.” They said that since he cut off a member which could not be replaced, it had to be obligatory like cutting off the hand. Since the man was injured during the process, he feared it. If it were not obligatory for him, then it would not have been permissible. This is unlike the circumcision of little boys, crazy people, and those who cannot endure it, because the first are too young to be required to do anything, and the last are harmed by it.” Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmu’: “Circumcision is obligatory for our men and women. This was stated by many of the salaf, as al-Khatabi relates. Ahmad was one of those who said it was obligatory. Malik and Abu-Hanifa said that it was sunnah for everyone. This was related by al-Rafi’i. He also related that (circumcision) is obligatory for men and sunnah for women. These were the two approaches of Shadhan, and of the sound and famous school of thought which was penned by al-Shafi’i, in which the multitude of scholars declared that circumcision is obligatory for men and women.”

The Hanbalis: From Ibn Muflih’s Furu’ [body of rules and regulations for man’s behavior]: “(According to Ahmad), circumcision is obligatory on all but women, for whom it is recommended. Our Shaykh said, ‘It is obligatory because cleanliness and prayer are obligatory’.” Ibn Qudama said: “Circumcision is a duty for men, and for women it is an honor, but it is not obligatory. This has been stated by many scholars.” Ahmad said: “The man is more difficult, because if the man is not circumcised, then the skin dangles over the [penis] and cannot be cleaned. But the woman is easier.”

The al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhia (“The Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence”) summarizes scholars’ opinions on circumcision as follows:

“The ruling on circumcision: Scholars differ on circumcision as follows: First, the Hanafis and Malikites--and very rarely the Shafi’ites--hold to the opinion of what Ahmad said, that circumcision is sunnah for men but not a duty. It is one of the acts of al-fitrah, and one of the rituals of Islam. If the people of a particular land decided together to abandon its practice, the Imam would make war against them, just like if they abandoned the call to prayer. This also represents what the Malikites think about circumcision of women. Hanafis and Hanbalis consider female circumcision to be an honor and not sunnah. It is said by some Hanafis that it is also sunnah for [women], and some say that it is recommended. … Second, the Shafi’ites and Hanbalis, as is also stated by Sahnoun from the Malikites, believe that circumcision is a duty for both men and women. … Third, this is written by Ibn Qudama in al-Mughni, that circumcision is a duty for men, and for women it is an honor but not a duty” [ellipses in original].

Assessment

It appears that for male circumcision the most correct view is that it is obligatory, owing to the saying of Muhammad to the man who converted to Islam: “Remove your infidel hair and be circumcised.” This was obligatory--there was no alternative.

Regarding women, perhaps the most correct view is that it is recommended, however there is consensus that it is (at least) legitimate. Muhammad also endorsed it, as was narrated in the hadith of Umm ‘Atiyah, who used to circumcise girls. He said to her: “Reduce it, but do not remove too much, because it is more beautiful to behold and better for her husband.” He also said, “If you touch the two circumcisions, you must wash.” This shows that female circumcision was prevalent during his day, and he did not repudiate it. Nor did he stipulate anything else regarding female circumcision.

Perhaps the saying that it is (only) recommended is due to the pain women must go through to carry out the acts of al-fitrah, such as circumcision, as stated in the sound hadith. But as we mentioned, this is not evidence of it being confined only to men. The term circumcision was used for both men and women during Muhammad’s time. But it is clear that performing circumcision must be preferable to not performing it, especially when one considers that circumcision includes both pain and revealing one’s nakedness. Thus if there was no benefit to it, the Messenger of Allah would not have agreed to it. However there is still no evidence for making it obligatory. The fact that the Messenger of Allah agreed to it despite the pain and discovering one’s nakedness is not evidence for making it obligatory. Instead, this is evidence for preferring the action over not doing it, as we stated. (Muhammad’s) command to Umm ‘Atiyah is not a command to all women to (be circumcised), but rather he was regulating its practice. He was not telling her not to do it, he was telling her not to go too far and injure the women.

His command to the man who converted to Islam does not apply to women. Even though the principle is that “women are men’s sisters”, and women are often included when addressing men and vice versa, that only applies when there is no reason to differentiate between them. Here the issue is different for men and women. The man’s foreskin could trap urine at the end of it and affect his cleanliness. The issue is not the same for women. Therefore it is appropriate for this to be stressed more for men, and this is apparent in the words of scholars and the works of the ummah.

I have summed up the words of Muhammad and of scholars to show that circumcision is legitimate, and that the principal issue in the study is the limits of circumcision.

"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 Mohammed Abdul not only didn't get this memo, but apparently he assumes that his hearers all share his point of view. What are the Vast Majority of Moderate Muslims planning to do about this spectacular misunderstanding of Islam?

"'Cheat genital mutilation ban by going abroad': British Muslim leader caught on camera advocating female circumcision," by Ian Garland for the Daily Mail, April 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A British Muslim leader has been caught on camera advocating female genital mutilation.

Mohammed Abdul, the Imam of a Bristol mosque, was filmed urging a follower to take women and girls abroad so they can be circumcised legally.

The practise was banned by law in 2003, and it's illegal to help or encourage anyone to carry out the barbaric procedure overseas.
The Masjid al-Huda mosque in Bristol, where Muhammed Abdul is an Imam

The Masjid al-Huda mosque in Bristol, where Muhammed Abdul is an Imam

The footage was obtained by an undercover reporter working for the Sunday Times newspaper, who posed as a Muslim seeking advice.

During a meeting with Mohammed Abdul at the Masjid al-Huda mosque: 'In this country, it is not possible, we cannot do that. (For) any other Muslim who likes to practise the way of Prophet Muhammad, the best way is to go to other countries.

'Some families, they go to Africa or Arab countries.

'In this country you have to fight for your religion, your cultures, They (the British) don't like your Muslim cultures.'

Although female genital mutilation (FGM) has not been advocated by Muslim scripture, a number of clerics encourage it....

"Not been advocated by Muslim scripture, and yet supported by Muhammad's words: Muhammad is depicted in the Hadith as not condemning it, but merely cautioning against going overboard: "A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband." - Sunan Abu Dawud 41.5251

This article says that female genital mutilation is a cultural practice that is widespread across Africa. In fact, while others may practice it, it is justified in Islam: "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

Muhammad himself did not condemn it, but merely cautioned against going overboard: "A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband." - Sunan Abu Dawud 41.5251

And as such, it is not practiced just in Africa, but in other Muslim areas, such as Iraq and the Maldives. Oh, and Britain.

Until its Islamic justifications are confronted, and the denial that this piece represents with its attribution of the practice to "culture" ends, more girls will suffer.

"100,000 British women mutilated," from the Telegraph, April 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

As many as 100,000 women in Britain have undergone female genital mutilations with medics in the UK offering to carry out the illegal procedure on girls as young as 10, it has been reported.

Investigators from The Sunday Times said they secretly filmed a doctor, dentist and alternative medicine practitioner who were allegedly willing to perform circumcisions or arrange for the operation to be carried out. The doctor and dentist deny any wrongdoing.

The practice, which involves the surgical removal of external genitalia and in some cases the stitching of the vaginal opening, is illegal in Britain and carries up to a 14 year prison sentence.

It is also against the law to arrange FGM.

Known as "cutting", the procedure is traditionally carried out for cultural reasons and is widespread across Africa.

It is thought to be needed as proof of a girl's "purity" for when she marries, but victims are rarely given anaesthetic and frequently suffer long-term damage and pain.

Research suggests that every year up to 6,000 girls in London are at risk of the potentially fatal procedure, and more than 22,000 in the UK as a whole.

The Metropolitan Police said since 2008, it had received 166 reports of people who fear they are at risk of FGM.

It is the same story for all 43 forces across England and Wales with no convictions for the offence ever taking place, according to The Sunday Times.

The newspaper added that only two doctors have been struck off by The General Medical Council since 1980.

According to Forward, a charity which campaigners against FGM, an estimated 100,000 women in the UK have undergone mutilation.

Supermodel Waris Dirie, who was mutilated as a child, is a vociferous opponent of the practice.

Calling for a crackdown on FGM, she said: "If a white girl is abused, the police come break down the door. If a black girl is mutilated, nobody takes care of her. This is what I call racism."

Indeed. Or multiculturalism. Or fear of being labeled "Islamophobic."

"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

"PRESS RELEASE: Female Genital Mutilation in Iraq / Study shows: FGM common in Kirkuk," from Mesop, April 10 (thanks to AINA):

For the first time, an empirical study proved that female genital mutilation is also prevalent in parts of Iraq beyond the borders of the Kurdish Region. WADI and the local women’s rights organization PANA have conducted an in-depth research about the existence and background of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kirkuk. They interviewed 1212 women above the age of 14 and asked each of them 61 questions.

Two years ago, WADI did a similar research in Kurdish Northern Iraq which revealed an alarmingly high prevalence rate of more than 72%. Around the same time, Human Rights Watch published a qualitative study which backs and complements WADI’s results. Meanwhile, after extensive protests and lobby efforts from activists and women’s rights groups (see notably the campaign STOP FGM in Kurdistan ), the Regional Government has adopted a legal ban of FGM and other forms of violence against women and children.

Not so in Southern and Central Iraq, which also comprises the multi-ethnic, oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The public authorities assume that FGM is non-existent outside the Kurdish Region.

The new Kirkuk study proves this assumption to be utterly false. According to its findings, 38.2% of Kirkuki women live with the consequences of FGM.

With 65.4%, Kurdish women are the most affected ethnic group. Arab women hold 25.7% and Turkmen women 12.3%.

Focusing on the religious affiliations, 40.9% of the Sunnis, 23.4% of the Shi’ites and 42.9% of the Kaka’is are genitally mutilated.

No Christians were found to be affected.

The FGM prevalence rate among girls under the age of 20 is a “mere” 15% which may indicate that the practice is about to decrease gradually. Among women aged 60-70, it is up to 80%.

When it comes to the reasons for the practice, the answers are evenly divided between “tradition” and “religion”, i.e. Islam.

In most cases, FGM means the amputation of the clitoris. Some women however – in the Arab-dominated countryside it is 21% – experienced more severe types, including the cutting of the inner and/or outer labia.

The Kirkuk findings prove that FGM is a common practice also among non-Kurds – Sunnis and Shi’ites alike. This data constitutes strong evidence for the assumption that FGM is prevalent throughout Iraq. Millions of women and girls are likely to be affected by these grave human rights violations.

Therefore, we call on the Baghdad parliament to address the issue as soon as possible, support public awareness and discuss further ways to counter female genital mutilation in Iraq. The complete study will be published in June 2012.

The common factor in the persistence of female genital mutilation outside of Africa is the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, which holds the practice to be obligatory. The Maldives has been on a fast track here of late toward intensified observance of Sharia, and the government has already ruled with respect to Sharia's criminal punishments that "there is nothing to debate about in a matter clearly stated in the religion of Islam." As this report makes clear, that attitude threatens the bodily integrity of Maldivian girls and women.

"Female circumcision fear as fundamentalists roll back women's rights," by Ben Doherty for the Sydney Morning Herald, January 25 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

When the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, visited the Maldives late last year, she urged that the practice of flogging women for having sex outside marriage - while very rarely punishing men for the same - should be abolished.

''This practice constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women,'' she told local reporters then.

The response was as fierce as it was unexpected. The next day protesters rallied outside the UN building, carrying placards that read ''Ban UN'' and ''Islam is not a toy'' and threatened to ''Flog Pillay''. A website later promised to ''slaughter anyone against Islam''.

Similar protests have followed, and a growing religious divide between moderate and fundamentalist Muslims - constitutionally, all Maldivians are obliged to follow Islam - has led many to question the direction of religion in the Maldives and, in particular, the place of women in Maldivian society.

In an interview with the Herald, the Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed, conceded an emergent religious fundamentalism had changed the way women were viewed, and treated, in his country.

He said he was distressed by religious groups who campaigned for girls to be circumcised or to be kept home from school.

''We were a matriarchal society. Our inheritance, also, in the past was from women. But, with a new kind of radical Islam, the perceptions some of them have on women are not familiar to many Maldivians,'' Mr Nasheed said.

Once again, wherever Sharia enjoys a resurgence, the observable effect is that tolerance decreases, harassment increases, and respect for human rights decreases.

Anecdotal reports suggest female circumcision is undergoing a resurgence in the Maldives, particularly on the outer islands, where local imams hold significant influence.

Shadiya Ibrahim, member of the newly formed Gender Advocacy Working Group and a long-time campaigner for women's rights, said Maldivian society was growing more oppressive towards women.

''Being a woman is harder now. The religious Wahhabist scholars preach more forcefully than anyone else can. They have this backing of religion as a tool.

''No one can make the argument to have a more liberal, a more positive attitude towards women. Day by day, it is becoming harder for women to live in this country,'' she said.
Ms Ibrahim said women were excluded from positions of power, from taking jobs and even from education, particularly beyond primary level.

The practice of flogging women for extramarital sex was common across the Maldives, she said.

''It happens everywhere. Normally, this punishment is given when you give birth, which is why it is almost always women. If you have 140-odd women being flogged, you have only two or three men.'' The flogging is public and done with a paddle or a cane, and is intended more to humiliate than to cause serious injury.

Ms Ibrahim said flogging was accepted by many Maldivians, and there were other, more serious issues emerging, including a growing number of instances of sexual violence.

''This week, there have been two cases of a gang rape of [a] minor, one 16-year-old, one 12-year-old and, very often, while there is an effort to catch the perpetrators, eventually, the media will turn it into 'the girl was wearing this', 'the girl had gone there','' he said.

When you are a second-class citizen, if you are found out of your supposed place, you forfeit your right to protection. You are "asking for it."

Domestic violence is common. A nationwide survey done in 2007 found one in three Maldivian women had been abused, sexually or physically.

Aneesa Ahmed, president of advocacy organisation Hope for Women, said a domestic violence bill before the Maldivian parliament would raise awareness of an issue rarely discussed in the Maldives. But the legislation has been stuck in parliament more than 14 months. Only five of the Maldives' 77 parliamentarians are women.

Ms Ahmed said Maldivian women's control over their lives was being eroded. ''Men in the Maldives feel that the women's role is reproductive and in the home. That's what women should do and that's all we should do.''