“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 told that female genital mutilation is an African tribal practice, that it has nothing to do with Islam.
“Government Says 41 Percent of Kurdish Women Are Circumcised,” by Ari Osman for Rudaw.net, December 1 (thanks to C. Cantoni):
ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan: A survey by the Kurdistan Minstiry of Health shows that 41 percent of women have gone under the practise of female genuital mutilation (FGM).
The survey was carried out in July this year. The results of the survey were announced during a campaign to raise awareness on violence against women in Kurdistan earlier this week.
Part of the campaign has focused on FGM. The survey by the government shows that mothers are the main party responsible for forcing their daughters experience the painful ritual and then grandmothers and fathers.
The survey’s results show that none of the participants in Dohuk, Kurdistan’s smallest of the three provinces, were circumcised while the highest rate of FGM was in Sulaimai.
Erbil, Kurdistan region’s capital, came between Sulaimani and Dohuk. According to the survey, most of the women were circumcised while they were under five years old.
Jamil Ali Rashid, the director general of health affairs at the ministry of health, said “the survey’s results are totally correct and credible because the participants were given clear questions and special teams examined the women who participated in the survey after their consent was secured.”
A campaign to end FGM practices in Kurdistan was launched in February 2010 by 51 non-governmental organizations.