Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

[[File:712px-fgc types-ii.svg .jpg|thumb|274x274px|Female Genital Mutilation]]

'''Female Genital Mutilation''' (Arabic: ختان المرأة) is the practice of cutting away and altering the external female genitalia for ritual or religious purposes. It can involve both or either '''Clitoridectomy''' and '''Excision'''. Clitoridectomy is the amputation of part or all of the clitoris or the removal of the clitoral prepuce. '''Excision''' is the cutting away of either or both the inner and outer labia. A third practice, '''Infibulation''' (or Pharaonic circumcision), is the paring back of the outer labia, whose cut edges are then stitched together to form, once healed, a seal that covers both the openings of the vagina and the urethra. Infibulation usually also includes clitoridectomy.   

The FGM hadith give very few clues as to ''the nature'' of the practice they approve. Hence the nature, incidence and distribution of FGM varies between countries and communities. The most significant determining factor appears to be the presiding school of Islam ([[Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|fiqh]]). Other factors include the culture's level of anxiety around female sexuality, its proximity to Islamic slave-trade routes (Infibulation is associated with the transportation of slaves), and the nature and degree of Christian influence.

==FGM in the Hadith==

{{anchor|hadith}}

===Hadith: Muhammad===

====The Fitrah Is Five Things====

====A Preservation of Honor for Women====

{{Quote|1=Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 20:719; Al-Baihaqqy 8:324|2=Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama's father relates that the Prophet said: "'''Circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan] is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women'."}}

====Do Not Cut Severely====

===Hadith: The Sahabah (the Companions of Muhammad)===

The following three hadith touch on FGM, but do not involve Muhammad.

====In Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad====

The following two hadiths come from Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. This is a collection of hadith about the manners of Muhammad and his companions, compiled by the Islamic scholar al-Bukhari. It contains 1,322 hadiths, most of which focus on Muhammad's companions rather than Muhammad himself. Al-Bukhari's evaluation of the hadiths within ''al-Adab al-Mufrad'' was not as rigorous as for his best-known collection ''[[Sahih Bukhari]]''. The Adab have less doctrinal authority than hadith featuring Muhammad. However, scholars have ruled most of the hadith in the collection as being ''sahih'' (authentic) or ''hasan'' (sound).

=====Go and Circumcise Them and Purify Them=====

{{Quote|1=[https://sunnah.com/adab/53/2 Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 53:1245]|2=An old woman from Kufa, the grandmother of 'Ali ibn Ghurab, reported that Umm al-Muhajir said, "I was captured with some girls from Byzantium. 'Uthman offered us Islam, but only myself and one other girl accepted Islam. 'Uthman said, "Go and '''circumcise''' [فَاخْفِضُو - khaffad] them and purify them."'}}فَاخْفِضُو (khaffad) translates as 'lower them' or 'trim them'.

==FGM and the Schools of Islamic Law==

===Maliki Madhab===

The Maliki school was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century, who ruled that FGM is recommended, but not obligatory.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Maliki hold the view that it is wajib (obligatory) for males and sunnah (optional) for females}}{{Quote|Al-Dardir (died 1786, malikite)|Female circumcision is recommended.}}{{Quote|Ibn-al-jallab (died 988, Malikite)|Circumcision is Sunnah for men and women.}}

The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Ahmad ibn Hanbal studied under Al-Shafi‘i (founder of the Shafi’i school) and inherited his deep concerns about the jurists of his time, who were ready to reinterpret the doctrines of the Koran and Hadiths to pander to public opinion and the demands of the rich and powerful. Ibn Hanbal advocated a return to the literal interpretation of Koran and Hadiths. This has made the Hanbali school intensely traditionalist. Today’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi–Salafist movement is an offshoot of this school. The Hanbali school, unlike the Hanafi and Maliki schools, reject ''Istihsan'' (jurist discretion) and ''Urf'' (the customs of Muslims) as a sound basis by which to derive Islamic law.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Hanbali have two opinions: -it is wajib (obligatory) for both males and females – it is wajib (obligatory) for males and makrumah (honourable) for females.}}{{Quote|Al-Qudamah (died 1223, hanbalite)|Circumcision is obligatory for men, and noble deed for women and not obligatory according to many scholars. Ahmad said: circumcision for men is more important for men than for women, as the foreskin is pending over the glans, therefore what is behind cannot be cleaned. Female circumcision is also prescribed for women. Abu-Abdallah said that the hadith “If the two circumcised membranes meet, ghusl is necessary” means that female circumcision was practiced. According to the hadith of Umar, a circumciser woman performed circumcision; he told her: leave some of it if you circumcise. It is also reported that the Prophet Muhammad said to the circumciser woman: Cut very slightly and do not exaggerate as it is preferable for the husband and better for the face.}}{{Quote|Al-Bahuti (died 1641, Hanbalite)|male and female circumcision are obligatory.}}{{Quote|Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (died 1328, Hanbalite)|Praise be to Allah. Yes, they should be circumcised, i.e., the top of the piece of skin that looks like a rooster’s comb should be cut. The Messenger of Allah said to the woman who did circumcisions: “Leave something sticking out and do not go to extremes in cutting. That makes her face look brighter and is more pleasing to her husband.” That is because the purpose of circumcising a man is to make him clean from the impurity that may collect beneath the foreskin. But the purpose of circumcising women is to regulate their desire, because if a woman is not circumcised her desire will be strong. Hence the words “O son of an uncircumcised woman” are used as an insult, because the uncircumcised woman has stronger desire. Hence immoral actions are more common among the women of the Tatars and the Franks, that are not found among the Muslim women. If the circumcision is too severe, the desire is weakened altogether, which is unpleasing for men; but if it is cut without going to extremes in that, the purpose will be achieved, which is moderating desire. And Allah knows best.}}{{Quote|Ibn Qayyim (died 1350, Hanbalite)|Khitaan is a noun describing the action of the circumciser (khaatin). It is also used to describe the site of the circumcision, as in the hadith, “When the two circumcised parts (al-khitaanaan) meet, ghusl become obligatory.” In the case of a female the word used is khafad. In the male it is also called i’dhaar. The one who is uncircumcised is called aghlaf or aqlaf.}}{{Quote|Ibn Taymiyya (1263 - 1328), Hanbalite)|[FGM's] purpose is to reduce the woman's desire; if she is uncircumcised, she becomes lustful and tends to long more for men.}}

===Shia Islam===

====Jafari====

{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220221050304/https%3A%2F%2Fcourtingthelaw.com%2F2016%2F04%2F28%2Fcommentary%2Fislam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm%2F Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|Ayatollah Khamenei, the leading scholar among contemporary jurists of Iran, says that FGM is permissible but not obligatory for women. He also states that if the husband wants his wife to be circumcised then it might be carried out if it isn’t harmful for her.}}{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220221050304/https%3A%2F%2Fcourtingthelaw.com%2F2016%2F04%2F28%2Fcommentary%2Fislam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm%2F Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|Ayatullah ali al hussaini ali Sistani form Iraq said in his fatwa in 2010 that FGM is not haram (prohibited). Later in 2014 he revised his fatwa and said that FGM is harmful for the female victims and it isn’t permissible or part of any Islamic injunction.}}{{Quote|Al-Amili (died 1559, shiite)|Boys must be circumcised when they become adult…. and it is preferable that women be circumcised even if they are adult.}}{{Quote|Al-Tusi (died 1067, shiite)|The circumcision of female slaves, if performed, is great honor and precious merit. If not, nothing bad in it.}}

===Muhammad Wanted to Forbid FGM but Couldn't===

However Muhammad's words are more advice than criticism. An analogy might be a consultant surgeon advising a junior surgeon to ''"not make too deep an incision in case you cut an artery"''. Such a statement does not imply that the consultant surgeon is against or critical of the surgical procedure in question - quite the contrary, such a statement show that the surgeon approves of the procedure.