FGM is sanctioned by 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
And it is widespread in 30 Muslim countries, not just among the Dawoodi Bohras.
“FAITH FILE: Let’s Talk About Cheap Sex, Female Genital Mutilation And Jesus,” by Mark Tapscott, Daily Caller, September 18, 2017:
Now that I have your attention…
Federal officials arrested two Muslim women who drove from their Minnesota homes to Detroit to subject their seven-year-old daughters to the horrific — and illegal in the U.S. — practice of female genital mutilation, or female circumcision.
“Haseena Halfal, 34, of Plymouth, Minnesota, and Zainab Hariyanawala, 31, were indicted five months after federal prosecutors unveiled the first female genital mutilation case in U.S. history,” according to the Detroit News. The arrests and indictments were made public Thursday.
The practice of FGM involves cutting away the clitoris, inner labia and outer labia to repress sexual desire and encourage fidelity. It is most often inflicted on girls 15 years old or younger.
Halfal is a U.S. citizen but Hariyanawala’s citizenship status isn’t known. Both women are members of a Muslim sect based in India known as the Dawaoodi Borha. Also indicted was Dr. Jumana Nagarwala who with others has subjected as many as 100 girls to FGM in the past 12 years, according to federal prosecutors.
Dan Homstad, Halfal’s attorney, said “this is a very complex case and there are a lot of cultural issues at play that the (Dawoodi Bohra) community up here is struggling with.”
Actually, FGM is no mere cultural issue, though Muslim defenders of the practice will undoubtedly claim otherwise. There are fundamental spiritual issues here that shape the way a society’s men view women.
It’s not unique to the Islamic religion, but FGM is mostly found in countries in Muslim-majority countries, according to the UN, which estimates that 200 million women and girls alive today were subjected to FGM. Expect to find FGM where women are viewed primarily as tools for satisfying men’s sexual lusts and reproductive preferences.
An estimated 92 percent of Egyptian women aged 15 to 49 were mutilated, according to a 2015 Egyptian government report cited by Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer in the advanced text of a forthcoming book. The figure in Malaysia is 93 percent.
“These extraordinarily high rates are directly related to the encouragement that Muslim clerics give to the practice,” Spencer writes.
Outraged Americans should think twice before getting on their high horses because we have our own way of devaluing women — “cheap sex.” That’s also the title of sociologist Mark Regnerus’ new book, available from the Oxford University Press, which provides comprehensive, data-driven analyses of the consequences of the 1960’s sexual revolution….
But there was nothing cheap about how Jesus treated women. It was no coincidence that women first encountered Him after His resurrection, or that He encouraged them to go tell the (then-cowering male) disciples that He was alive, as He had promised He would be (See Luke 24)….
Read the rest here.
Jean Terry says
What I don’t get is why American feminists never mention or take up this cause. Hirsi Ali is condemned and she stands for these women.
Westman says
Are there real feminists in America anymore? Linda S. was able to put together a march/protest but it was mostly just a hate-rant over the election results. Where are the conferences and the PACs? Where was the “get out the woman vote” before the election?
The feminist movement has been old and feeble for decades and the current weak “revival” is just maintained by Trump-hate. The old feminists are capitalists, grandmothers, or retired.
Any real feminists are concerned about their own status; not about what some weird religion does ritually, as a rite of passage, to its girls. Liberals live and and let chop.
Bob says
Why, Jean, feminists NOWHERE seem to be upset about this appalling practice. Not to mention why so few convictions have been handed down in the UK where appalling practice has been illegal for years…but, again, not a word of protest from the feminists, who’re probably afraid of the standard charges of islamophobia/racism which have infected our politicos and police, too!
gravenimage says
Minnesota Muslim moms charged for driving their girls to Detroit for FGM
Outraged Americans should think twice before getting on their high horses because we have our own way of devaluing women — “cheap sex.”
…………………………………
American women are not required to engage in “cheap sex”–does a victim of FGM have such a choice?
Moreover, this furthers the false implication that Islam is about “modesty”–rather than what is it *really* about–force and coercion.
harbidoll says
its about female slavery. Circumcised females tend to be passive, obedient & dull.
SV says
What does that say about circumcised men?
StacyGirl says
Circumcised men are still able to experience sexual sensation. Are you confused? Maybe so. The word “circumcise” as it relates to females requires removal of the clitoris.
Minutes1234 says
Yes.
Pet Charles says
I would like to see a broader spectrum of women being charged. With all the Somalis in Minnesota I am sure that FGM is also rampant in that community. It will be too easy for people to say that it is only this particular sect from India that is engaging in the practice.
mohamonator says
No way this goes to trial. This WILL be plea bargained. Probably some kind of probation/suspended sentence whitewash.
Can you imagine the attorneys, for either side, questioning potential jurors about how they feel about the amputation of the genitals of young girls? The “ick factor” is in the stratosphere.
Guest says
What is wrong with these people
Minutes1234 says
Every thing.
Mark says
This documentary needs to be shared as fast and widely as possible. Please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to his email before it is removed from Face book and YouTube. https://youtu.be/t_Qpy0mXg8Y
Susette says
I am a feminist and I abhor FGM. I abhor islam. At every possible opportunity, I admonish those (people, publications, etc.) that use the term “female circumcision” as a means to “soften” what Female Genital Mutilation is. It’s a false equivalency to compare FGM with “cheap sex”. Sex is never cheap when it’s between two consenting adults, including prostitution (but not sex-trafficked prostitutes). FGM is criminal, along with most other atrocities committed against muslim females…honor killings, acid attacks, forced hijab/niqb/burqa, child brides, forced marriage, execution for being raped or “marry thy rapist”, stonings for premarital or extramarital sexual activity. The list goes on and these MODERN-DAY islamic-sanctioned violations occurring in most muslim countries, are certainly penetrating muslim communities across the USA and Western world. ALL WOMEN & MEN must put an end to FGM and all misogyny perpetrated by islam.