Female Genital Mutilation and Islam: Difference between revisions

UNICEF's 2016 report into FGM estimates that in the 30 countries surveyed at least 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM.<ref>UNICEF [https://web.archive.org/web/20220224134221/https://data.unicef.org/resources/female-genital-mutilationcutting-global-concern/ Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: a Global Concern (2016)]</ref> Assuming a world population of 7.9 billion, this means that about one in twenty girls or women world-wide have undergone FGM.     

About 80% of this FGM is attributable to Muslims.<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090423/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/what-percentage-of-global-fgm-are-moslems-responsible-for/ What Percentage of Global FGM is done by Moslems ?]</ref> And assuming a world population of Muslims of 1.7 billion, this means that at least one in five (20%) Muslim women is mutilated.     

FGM is found only in or adjacent to Islamic groups.<ref name=":0" /> The 20% of FGM attributable to non-Muslims occurs in communities living in FGM-practicing Islamic societies (e.g. the Egyptian Copts<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090640/https://copticliterature.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/prevalence-of-and-support-for-female-genital-mutilation-within-the-copts-of-egypt-unicef-report-2013/ Prevalence of and Support for Female Genital Mutilation within the Copts of Egypt: Unicef Report (2013)]</ref>), or to non-Islamic societies that have been hubs of the Islamic slave trade (e.g. Ethiopia and Eritrea<ref>[https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/A-Profile-of-FGM-in-Ethiopia_2020.pdf A Profile of Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia]</ref>). About one in eighty (1.28%) non-Muslim women are genitally mutilated world-wide.    [[File:Fgmmuslimmap.jpg|alt=World maps comparing distributions of FGM and of Muslims|thumb|World maps comparing distributions of FGM and of Muslims|left|350x350px]]

FGM predates Islam. The [[Banu Qurayza|Banu Quraysh]], Muhammad's native tribe, appear to have engaged in the practice. FGM is not mentioned in the Quran, but is mentioned in several hadith. One which is graded sahih records Muhammad incidentally assuming the circumcised status of men and women; in a similar one Aisha incidentally reveals that both she and Muhammad were circumcised; and in another three hadiths Muhammad endorses FGM, though those have been graded da'if (weak) yet are still used by proponents of the practice. Two hadith record the [[sahabah]] (Companions of Mohammed) engaging in FGM.

Whilst most modern fatwas favour or defend FGM, there has been, over the past half century, a growing unease in the Islamic world concerning the practice (due to a growing concern on the part of organisations such as the UN and UNICEF). This has resulted in some fatwas critical of FGM. It appears that the earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM was issued in 1984.<ref name=":12">p54 [https://books.google.fr/books?id=qof6J4n1860C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Sheikh+Abu-Sabib+1984&source=bl&ots=-apLOOha6B&sig=dpINFFLI-N9KO8_FmEET-MDFKbI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXh5Gi5OfcAhVOyoUKHeSgDWUQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sheikh%20Abu-Sabib%201984&f=false "Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy" By International Symposium On Sexual Mutiliations 1996]</ref> (see [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#Modern_Fatwas Modern Fatwas] and [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_as_Un-Islamic FGM as Un-Islamic])   

The discussion, debate and analysis of FGM tends to focus exclusively on the question of whether it is Islamic or not. This is not surprising. It arises partly because the majority of Muslim don't practice FGM and have, over the past half century, become troubled by the sizeable minority of Muslims that ''do'' practice it. The focus on the doctrinal issue may also be in part, because it offer a shortcut to explaining the existence of FGM in the Islamic world: if a mother cites her religion as the reason for having her daughter mutilated, and that mother's imam decree the practice as required by Islam, then it feels that something has been demonstrated and proved.   

It is all too natural to consider FGM as nothing more than an arbitrarily misogynistic practice. However, it is actually a solution to certain social problems - albeit problems that not all societies suffer from, and that no society ''need'' suffer from. The section [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#The_origins_of_FGM the origins of FGM] will consider what these 'problems' are, and why they arise in some societies. A subsequent section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#Islamic_Doctrine_Creating_Social_Conditions_Favourable_to_FGM Islamic Doctrine Creating Social Conditions Favourable to FGM]) shows how Islamic doctrine reproduces the very factors that ''made'' FGM useful or necessary in some pre-Islamic societies. A final section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_and_the_Uses_of_Trauma FGM and the Uses of Trauma]) considers how the social purposes of FGM is realised through the individual experience of the child undergoing FGM.  

FGM is mentioned  in (at least) eight Hadith, most of which are still used by proponents of the practice in modern times.<ref>[https://m.islamqa.info/en/answers/60314/circumcision-of-girls-and-some-doctors-criticism-thereof Circumcision of girls and some doctors' criticism thereof] - islamqa.info website - 23 August 2005</ref> In two sahih reports Muhammad and Aisha respectively are reported to have incidentally mentioned male and female circumcision (in the latter case, that the two of them were both circumcised), and Muhammad endorses the practice in three others, though those are graded as da'if (weak) authenticity. Two report [[Sahabah]] (Muhammad's companions) participating in FGM. The remaining hadith has little import doctrinally, but is of linguistic, historical and sociological interest in that it quotes a Meccan warrior being mocked for being one who performs FGM.

The following hadith mentions circumcision (''khitan''), though is ambiguous as to whether male, female or both is intended (FGM proponents assume both). The concept of fitra in this hadith physically distinguished believers by various means from non-believers. The other concept of fitra that emerged in early Islam (and a closer match to how the word appears in {{Quran|30|30}}) is that every child is born upon fitrah, and then his parents make him Jew or Christian (see for example {{Muwatta|16||53}} or {{Bukhari|2|23|467}}.

{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|72|777}}; See also {{Muslim|2|495}}|2=Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – '''circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan], shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”}}

{{Quote|1={{Muslim|3|684}}; see also {{Bukhari|1|5|289}}|2=Abu Musa reported: There cropped up a difference of opinion between a group of Muhajirs (Emigrants and a group of Ansar (Helpers) (and the point of dispute was) that the Ansar said: The bath (because of sexual intercourse) becomes obligatory only-when the semen spurts out or ejaculates. But the Muhajirs said: When a man has sexual intercourse (with the woman), a bath becomes obligatory (no matter whether or not there is seminal emission or ejaculation). Abu Musa said: Well, I satisfy you on this (issue). He (Abu Musa, the narrator) said: I got up (and went) to 'A'isha and sought her permission and it was granted, and I said to her: 0 Mother, or Mother of the Faithful, I want to ask you about a matter on which I feel shy. She said: Don't feel shy of asking me about a thing which you can ask your mother, who gave you birth, for I am too your mother. Upon this I said: What makes a bath obligatory for a person? She replied: You have come across one well informed! The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When anyone sits amidst four parts (of the woman) and the '''circumcised''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan]  

This one is weak according to Abu Dawud himself and classical scholars such as Ibn Hajah (though sahih according to al-Albani):

{{Quote|1={{Abu Dawud|41|5251}}|2=Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform '''circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan] 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".

This hadith includes an exchange of insults between Meccan warriors and Muhammad's companions prior to the [[Battle of Uhud|battle of Uhud]]. {{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|59|399}}|2=“[…] I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba’ came out and said, ‘Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?’ Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, ‘O Siba’. O Ibn Um Anmar, '''the one who circumcises''' [أَنْمَارٍ مُقَطِّعَةِ الْبُظُورِ - muqaṭwiʿaẗi al-ْbuẓūri] other ladies! Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?’ […]”}}أَنْمَارٍ مُقَطِّعَةِ الْبُظُورِ (muqaṭwiʿaẗi al-ْbuẓūri) translates as 'cutter of clitorises'.

Only one school of Islam - the Shafi'i - makes FGM universally obligatory. The other schools of Islam recommend it with differing levels of obligation. No school of Islam forbids FGM since nothing that Muhammad allowed can be prohibited.  

*The Shafi'i school decrees FGM to be obligatory. Shafi'i countries genearlly have +90% FGM-rates. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school.

The hadith 'One Who Circumcises Other Ladies' suggests that FGM was practiced by the Banu Quraysh, Mohammed's native tribe, and that the FGM reported in the Hadith (which therefore took place after Mohammed's migration to Medina) was a practice carried over from pre-Islamic Mecca.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|399}}|“[…] I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba’ came out and said, ‘Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?’ Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, ‘O Siba’. O Ibn Um Anmar, '''the one who circumcises other ladies!''' Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?’ […]”}}The Hadith tells how, prior to the battle of Uhud, Hamza, one of Mohammed’s companions, taunts the Meccan warrior, Siba. Hamza implies that Siba is like ‘Ibn Um Anmar’ – a woman who was a known circumciser of women. The more descriptive phrase ''muqteh al-basr'' – ‘one who cuts clitorises‘ – is used rather than the usual ''khitan''.