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==Arguments de-linking FGM and Islam==
circumcision
{{Quote|[https://www.memri.org/tv/egyptian-cleric-supports-fgm-cites-protocols-elders-zion 'Egyptian Cleric: Female Circumcision Has Economic Benefits; Jews Fight It in Keeping with Protocols of the Elders of Zion' (Mar 27, 2017)]|”The discussion about female circumcision goes back to the past century. The first time that this subject was debated extensively was in the past century. Who were the first to talk about it? The Jews. They do not want Islam or the Muslims to be pure, developed, and civilized, so they started talking about it.”}}
The idea that FGM might be un-Islamic appears to be relatively new, as the above quote suggests. The earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM appears to be from 1984<ref name=":1">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> and even though since then there have been some fatwas critical of FGM, most are nevertheless favourable to the practice. <!-- link to... -->  [[File:Fgmwordsearches.jpg|alt=NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision'|thumb|NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision']]An Ngram for the terms ‘fgm’, ‘female genital mutilation’ and ‘female circumcision’ shows an increasing preference for terms using ‘mutilation’ over the more anodyne 'circumcision'  in English-language texts starting around 1990. This coincides with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which first identified female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice, and mandated that governments abolish it as one of several ''<nowiki/>'traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children'''.<ref>[http://archive.today/2016.10.21-124829/http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx Convention on the Rights of the Child]</ref> Soon afterwards organisations such as the World Health Organisation (1995),<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/63602/WHO_FRH_WHD_96.10.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female genital mutilation : report of a WHO technical working group, Geneva, 17-19 July 1995]</ref> the Council of Europe (1995), and UNICEF & UNFPA (1997)<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/41903/9241561866.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female Genital Mutilation - A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement]</ref> also issued reports - all critical of FGM. 


For the first time in Islamic history, narratives critical of FGM were penetrating the Islamic world, parts of which began to feel uncomfortable about Islam's association with FGM, and have consequently sought to de-link the two by showing that FGM is un-Islamic.
Intro - the nature of circumcision, statistics, distribution, comparative stats (Muslims, Xtians, Jews, etc)


The 'FGM as un-Islamic' narrative is reinforced by the fact that it is a minority of Muslims that practice FGM. Muslims who don't practice FGM generally share the objections of non-Muslims towards the practice and are, in addition, troubled by its association with Islam. Immigration to the West has till recently come from Hanafi countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, or the Maghreb. The Hanafi is the school of fiqh which least favours FGM, merely ruling it as 'optional', and the Maghreb practices a Maliki Islam that appears to eschew FGM. These immigrant populations have effectively imported the 'FGM is un-Islamic' narrative to the West. This narrative is challenged by the rise in immigration from countries such as Indonesia and Somalia, and the Kurdish Middle East<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305745749_Effect_of_female_genital_mutilationcutting_on_sexual_functions Effect of female genital mutilation/cutting on sexual functions] - Mohammad-Hossein Biglu et al</ref>, where FGM-rates are high and the practice is accepted as Islamic. 
arabic word for male circumcision


FGM (alongside other Islamic phenomena - such as jihadi terrorism) give rise to a dilemma by which telling the truth (or facts or evidence) about the practice
Male Circumcision: truly reliable figures on the extent of circumcision in the world do not exist. In 1996, during the 4<sup>th</sup> international symposium held in Lausanne, the following figures were distributed: each year, 13,300,000 male children are circumcised in the world. This makes an average of:


A dilemma arises with FGM (as with other Islamic practices - such as jihad terrorism) whereby telling the truth, or even making known facts and evidence, is likely to aggravate the problem. 
1,100,000 childre per month


In recent decades many agencies and charities have engaged themselves in the fight against FGM<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-035738/https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/organizations-fighting-female-genital-mutilation/ 20 Organizations Fighting Female Genital Mutilation]</ref>. These agencies face a particular challenge when interacting with individuals and populations who practice FGM: how, for example, should a campaigner for an anti-FGM charity respond to a Somali mother who asks whether FGM is Islamic? 
36,438 per day


If the charity worker tells her about the FGM hadith, and how FGM is part of the ''fitrah'' (which Qur'an 30:30 exhorts Muslims to adhere to - see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#FGM in the Qur.27an|FGM in the Qur'an]]), and how the school of fiqh which the Somali woman follows, the Shafi'i, makes FGM mandatory - then that mother will come away from that interaction ''more'' likely to have her daughter mutilated, not ''less''.
1,518 per hour


This dilemma faces not just on-the-ground charity workers, but the whole hierarchy of institutions devoted to combating FGM. To resolve the dilemma a number of propositions have evolved to support the proposition that FGM is un-Islamic. 
25 per minute.
===FGM is not required by Islam===
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/6142789/Egypts_Villages_Fight_Female_Genital_Mutilation_WFS_NEWS Dr Ahmed Talib, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at Al-Azhar University]|“All practices of female circumcision and mutilation are crimes and have no relationship with Islam. Whether it involves the removal of the skin or the cutting of the flesh of the female genital organs… '''it is not an obligation in Islam'''.”}}It is correct that only the Shafi'i school of Islam unarguably rule FGM to be obligatory in Islam. The Shafi'i school is variously estimated to be the second or third largest school of Sunni Islam. Some Hanbali scholars rule FGM to be obligatory.  


Dr Talib describes FGM as a 'crime'. But critics of Dr Talib's position might point out that '<nowiki/>''Not an obligation'<nowiki/>'' is not an acceptable ethical or legal position for a crime. ''<nowiki/>'Not an obligation''' is no more the correct response to FGM than it would be to murder, child sexual abuse or rape.
Another source indicates that 23% of the male population of the world is cricumcised, which makes a toatl of 650 million. (<nowiki>http://noharmm.org/HGMstats.htm</nowiki>) “


'Not an obligation' is far from the same thing as 'forbidden'. The legitimacy of an act that is not obligatory can include 'tolerated', 'allowed', 'recommended' and 'highly recommended' as well as 'forbidden'. And acts that are '''not an obligation''<nowiki/>' can be virtuous, vicious or ethically neutral, such as (respectively) giving to charity, murder, and owning a dog.
==Quran==
<br />''“Then We revealed to you, [O Muhammad], to follow the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not of those who associate with Allah .”'' Koran 16:123


His first sentence (''"All practices of female circumcision and mutilation are crimes and have no relationship with Islam"'') thus sets up an expectation that his conclusion fails to deliver. Which suggests that he felt unable to conclude that FGM is forbidden in Islam. 
===There is no FGM in the Qur'an===
{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-062048/https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/18/fatwa-fgm-could-be-part-solution%23 A Fatwa on FGM Could be Part of the Solution – Kurdistan (2010)]|[...] its clear and unequivocal statement that the practice is not required by Islam was significant for women in Kurdistan, where the practice is widespread. '''The practice is not mentioned in the Quran''', and many other Muslim scholars have disassociated the practice from Islam.}}
It is correct that there is no mention of FGM in the Qur'an. 


But according to traditional interpretive methodology Qur'an 30:30, by requiring one to ''<nowiki/>'adhere to the fitrah','' indirectly, but ineluctably, advocates FGM (see [[Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law#FGM in the Qur.27an|FGM in the Qur'an]]). Nor is there any mention of the unquestionably Islamic practice of male circumcision in the Qur'an. 


Most of the practical details of how to be a Muslim come from the Sunnah (the [[hadith]] plus the [[sirat]]). The Qur'an has 91 verses commanding to follow Muhammad's example to the last detail. However the Qur'an contains virtually no detail of Muhammad's life. Muslims can only know of Muhammad's life by turning to the hadith and sirat. For example, none of the [[Five Pillars of Islam]] are explained in the Qur'an.  
There is no explicit reference to Male Genital Mutilation in the Qur'an. However, the {{Quran|30|30}} requires Muslims to ''<nowiki/>'adhere to the fitrah'<nowiki/>''.{{Quote|{{Quran|30|30}}|So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. '''[Adhere to] the fitrah''' (فطرة or فطرت) of Allah upon which He has created (فطر) [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah . That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.}}'''''The word ''<nowiki/>'fitrah''' appears only this once in the Qur'an, and is left undefined and unexplained. To know what 'fitrah means, traditional scholars turned to hadith which make use of the word. Note that this hadith uses the Arabic word ''khitan'' (ختان) for 'circumcision'.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|7|72|777}}; See also {{Muslim|2|495}}|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''' [اخْتُتِنَّ - khitan], shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”}}“...the Koran mentions 69 times Abraham's name, who is considered a “good example” to follow (60:4), without ever speaking of circumcision.”<br />


===FGM existed before Islam===
==Hadith==
{{Quote|[http://fiqhcouncil.org/gender-equity-in-islam/ 'Gender Equity in Islam' Dr. Jamal Badawi (2016)]|While the exact origin of female circumcision is not known, '''“it preceded Christianity and Islam.”''' The most radical form of female circumcision (infibulation) is known as the Pharaonic Procedure. This may signify that it may have been practiced long before the rise of Islam, Christianity and possibly Judaism.}}
<br /><!-- don't forget 'FGM hadith' which advocate MGM -->
The archaeological and historical record does indeed amply demonstrate that FGM existed before Islam (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#FGM before Islam|FGM before Islam]]). 


The premise implied by this argument is that if a practice existed before Islam then it can not be Islamic. Critics point out that monotheism, praying, heaven and hell, male circumcision, pilgrimage to Mecca, the veneration of the Kaaba, abstention from pork, giving to charity, interdictions on lying and murder, and much more all existed before Islam. These pre-Islamic practices became Islamic when, and because, Muhammad integrated them into the religion he was inventing. 
This is an inventory of sahih and hasan Hadith which touch exclusively on Male Genital Mutilation ( or 'circumcision').
===FGM is an African practice===
{{Quote|[https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/02/female-genital-mutilation-not-uniquely-muslim-problem/ 'Female Genital Mutilation Is Not a Uniquely Muslim Problem' Kevin Drum]|Basically, '''FGM is a practice limited to certain parts of Africa''' [...] As for Britain, its FGM problem is more due to where their African immigrants come from than it is to Islam per se.}}[[File:Indonesia-religion-fgm-map-reworked.jpg|thumb|Maps showing the correlation between Islam and FGM in Indonesia: the first map shows the distribution and prevalence of FGM in Indonesia; the second map shows the distribution of religions in Indonesia:|alt=]]


It is true that FGM existed in parts of Africa before Islam – notably Egypt and the West coast of the Red Sea (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#Non-Islamic sources|FGM before Islam: non-Islamic Sources]]).
It should not be taken as comprehensive.


However, the historical record shows that FGM was not just practiced in Africa before Islam, but also in Arabia and other parts of the Middle East. More significantly the hadith themselves suggest that Mohammed's native tribe, the Banu Quraysh traditionally practiced FGM.
To compile it I used the wild-card search for “circumc*” on the site quranx.com.


It should also be noted that:
This search gave 50 results.


#only those parts of Africa that have come under Islamic influence practice FGM. Most of Africa does not practice FGM,
''“Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Prophet say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.””'' Bukhari 77:106
#It appears to have been the expansions of Islam into Africa and the Islamic slave trade that spread FGM to its current extent (which closely coincides with that of Islam)
#about 40% of FGM takes place outside of Africa, in South Asia in particular.<ref name=":0" />


It is documented that FGM was brought to Indonesia by Muslim traders and conquerors in the 13<sup>th</sup> Century. Indonesia follows the Shaafi school (the madhab that makes FGM obligatory) and has +90% rates of FGM amongst its Muslims. This suggests that FGM is more of an Islamic practice than an African one. {{Quote|William G. Clarence-Smith (Professor of the Economic History of Asia and Africa at SOAS, University of London) in ‘Self-Determination and Women’s Rights in Muslim Societies’ Ed. Chitra Raghavan and James P. Levine|'The Southeast Asian case undermines a widespread notion that female circumcision is a pre-­Islamic custom that has merely been tolerated by the newer faith. In contrast to other regions, female circumcision seems to have been introduced into Southeast Asia as part of the inhabitants’ conversion to Islam from the thirteenth century on. Indeed, for Tomás Ortiz, writing about the southern Philippines in the early eighteenth century, female circumcision was not only a Muslim innovation, but also one that had spread to some degree to non-­Muslims.'}}
<nowiki>***</nowiki>


===Christians practice FGM too===
''“''[…]''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 parts touch each other a bath becomes obligatory.”'' Sahih Muslim 3:684
{{Quote|[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/female-genital-mutilation-facts Female genital mutilation: facts you need to know about the practice]|Although the practice is mainly found in some Muslim societies, who believe, wrongly, that it is a religious requirement, it is also carried out by non-Muslim groups such a '''Coptic Christians in Egypt'''', and '''several Christian groups in Kenya'''.}}
It is correct that some Christians practice FGM. Indeed about 20% of global FGM is attributable to non-Muslims, or the most part Christians.<ref name=":0">[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-040325/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/what-percentage-of-global-fgm-are-moslems-responsible-for/ What Percentage of Global FGM is done by Moslems?]</ref>


However, Islamic scholarship rejects this argument because it implies that a practice can not be Islamic if (some or all) Christians also engage in it. This would mean that Islam's scope is restricted to that which Christians don't do. 
<nowiki>***</nowiki>
''<nowiki/>''[[File:Infibmap correct20111.jpg|thumb|The prevalence of Female Genital Cutting. Note that many Western Christian countries are assigned the rubric '''<nowiki>'rare or limited to particular ethnic minority enclaves''</nowiki>.'' This indicates the presence of FGM-practicing immigrants (who are almost entirely Muslim), rather than that ''Christians'' in those countries engage in FGM.|alt=|left]]


However, these Christians nearly all live as isolated and persecuted minorities within dominant Islamic FGM-practicing cultures. Islamic FGM is a purity practice, and within FGM-practicing societies girls who are not cut are considered impure. Any contact or proximity with them, or sharing of objects will be considered as contaminating. Individuals, families and communities that do not follow the dominant culture's purity observances are perceived as gravely threatening the spiritual and religious lives of that community since, for example, a Muslim's prayers will be rendered invalid if he is inadvertently contaminated, and will continue to be invalid until he correctly purifies himself.
''“Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama’s father relates that the Prophet said: “Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women.””'' Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75; Abu Dawud, Adab 167


This means that in such Islamic communities, non-Muslims who do not follow the communities purity observances are shunned, stigmatised, discriminated against and persecuted. An example of this recently occurred in Pakistan when a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, drank from a Muslim's cup - and brought upon herself, her family and her community much violence, hatred and persecution.<ref>[https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/the-aasiya-noreen-story/ The Story of Asia Bibi]</ref>
<nowiki>***</nowiki>


Hence, non-Muslims living in such societies come under great pressure to adopt the dominant Islamic purity practices in order to minimise persecution. The Copts are Christian and make up 10 to 15% of the population of Egypt. Copts practice FGM at about a 74% (compared to 92% Muslims). Copts acknowledge that they practice FGM in order to minimise persecution. And it is Christian minorities such as the Copts who appear to be the most ready to abandon FGM when it becomes safe for them to do so.<ref>[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: INICEF report (2013)]</ref>
There were many Hadith where the ''matn'' was essenitally the same. Rather than reproducing each one of these I have quoted a 'representative' Hadith, and listed links to the other versions beneath.


There are however three countries where FGM appears to be practiced by Christian ''majorities'' – Ethiopia, Eritrea and Liberia.
''...The sub narrator adds, "Ibn An-Natur was the Governor of llya' (Jerusalem) and Heraclius was the head of the Christians of Sham. Ibn An-Natur narrates that once while Heraclius was visiting ilya' (Jerusalem), he got up in the morning with a sad mood. Some of his priests asked him why he was in that mood? Heraclius was a foreteller and an astrologer. He replied, 'At night when I looked at the stars, I saw that the leader of those who practice circumcision had appeared (become the conqueror). Who are they who practice circumcision?' The people replied, 'Except the Jews nobody practices circumcision, so you should not be afraid of them (Jews). 'Just Issue orders to kill every Jew present in the country.' While they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the king of Ghassan to convey the news of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to Heraclius was brought in. Having heard the news, he (Heraclius) ordered the people to go and see whether the messenger of Ghassan was circumcised. The people, after seeing him, told Heraclius that he was circumcised. Heraclius then asked him about the Arabs. The messenger replied, 'Arabs also practice circumcision.' (After hearing that) Heraclius remarked that sovereignty of the 'Arabs had appeared. Heraclius then wrote a letter to his friend in Rome who was as good as Heraclius in knowledge...''


FGM in Liberia is practiced as part of the initiation into secret women's societies. It should be noted that whilst only 12% of Liberia's population is Muslim, its marriage and kinship practices appear to be Islamic: men can have up to 4 wives; a third of all Liberian marriages are polygamous; a third of married women aged between 15-49 are in polygamous marriages, and married woman's rights to inherit property from her spouse are restricted. <ref>https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/LR.pdf</ref>
<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-1/Book-1/Hadith-6</nowiki>


These are text-book conditions for the emergence of chastity assurance practices, such as FGM.<!-- link to causes of FGM section --> Polygyny creates sexually violent societies where the virginity, reputation and 'purity' of girls and women are both over-valued and also under heightened threat. Practices such as FGM are a response to this threat. 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *


{{Quote|[https://odi.org/en/publications/the-fallout-of-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/ The fallout of rape as a weapon of war]|[Liberia] has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases.}}
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:''The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will be gathered (on the Day of Judgment), bare-footed, naked and not circumcised." He then recited:--'As We began the first creation, We, shall repeat it: A Promise We have undertaken: Truly we shall do it.' (21.104) He added, "The first to be dressed on the Day of Resurrection, will be Abraham, and some of my companions will be taken towards the left side (i.e. to the (Hell) Fire), and I will say: 'My companions! My companions!' It will be said: 'They renegade from Islam after you left them.' Then I will say as the Pious slave of Allah (i.e. Jesus) said. 'And I was a witness Over them while I dwelt amongst them. When You took me up You were the Watcher over them, And You are a witness to all things. If You punish them. They are Your slaves And if You forgive them, Verily you, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." (5.120-121)''


Polygyny - though illegal- is also common amongst Muslils in Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, FGM in Ethiopia and Eritrea may be to a combination of historical factors: much of their history the surrounding Islamic states for centuries kept them isolated from mainstream Christianity, and they were the hubs of the Islamic slave trade, where slave girls captured in West Africa were infibulated (complete excision of the clitoris, labia minora, and most of the labia majora followed by stitching to close up most of the vagina) to guarantee their virginity and thus raise their price, in preparation for the slave markets of the Islamic Middle East. This Islamic practice was adopted by the locals, and has persisted.
<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-55/Hadith-568</nowiki>


The following graphs (adapted from graphs found at https://www.28toomany.org/research-resources/) combine rates of decline of FGM practice in a variety of African countries with the proportion of the population that is Muslim (in green and mauve). Note that the lower the proportion of the nation that is Muslim, the steeper rate of decline of FGM-practice. <gallery perrow="10" mode="slideshow" caption="rates of decline of FGM in African countries with (in green and red) the proportion of the population that is Muslim">
<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-6/Book-60/Hadith-149</nowiki>
File:Somaliland-1.jpg|Somaliland
File:Sudan prevalence graph-1.jpg|Sudan
File:Senegal-1.jpg|Senegal
File:Djibouti-1.jpg|Djibouti
File:Guinea-1.jpg|Guinea
File:Eritrea-1.jpg|Eritrea
File:Tanzania-1.jpg|Tanzania
File:Ethiopia-1.jpg|Ethiopia
File:Benin-1.jpg|Benin
File:Liberia prevalence graph-1.jpg|Liberia
</gallery>
===Not all Muslims practice FGM===
{{Quote|[http://www.african-women.org/documents/behind-FGM-tradition.pdf What is behind the tradition of FGM?
Dr. Ashenafi Moges (2009)]|However, '''not all Muslims practise FGM''', for example, it is not practised in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, the Maghreb countries of northwest Africa, Morocco, Iran and Iraq. All the Muslims in FGM practicing countries do not practice it, for example, in the case of Senegal where 94% of the population are Muslims only 20% practice FGM (Mottin-Sylla 1990). }}(NB - since Dr Ashenafi Moges published the essay cited above FGM has been reported in Jordan, Syria, Iran and Iraq and many other Middle East countries. Studies have found FGM-rates of 20% in Saudi Arabia)<ref>[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190606-almost-1-in-5-women-in-saudi-subject-to-fgm/ Almost 1 in 5 women in Saudi subject to FGM] (2019)</ref>


About 20% Muslim women have undergone FGM<ref name=":0" />, which suggests that about 80% of Muslims ''don't'' practice FGM. 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *


However, if this fact is taken to prove that FGM is un-Islamic, it must be on the assumption that Islam is defined only by that which it universally forbids or makes universally obligatory; that only those practices which ''all'' Muslims engage in are Islamic, and that minority practices are by definition un-Islamic.  
''Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Abraham did his circumcision with an adze at the age of eighty." Narrated Abu Az-Zinad: (as above in Hadith No. 575) With an adze.''


But religions are also defined by, and responsible for, what they recommend, encourage, allow and discourage. For example, the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is recommended, not obligatory, but it is nevertheless Christian, despite not all Christians taking the Eucharist. And polygyny is Islamic, despite not every Muslim having several wives. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-55/Hadith-575</nowiki>''


Not all Islamic practices are obligatory: polygyny and child marriage are not obligatory, and whilst a Muslim must complete 5 prayers a day, there are optional (nawafil) prayers which confer additional rewards. Fasting outside of the month of Ramadhan, or giving sadaqah (voluntary charity) are also optional. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/DarusSalam/Hadith-6298</nowiki>''


Where a practice is not obligatory it is generally the case that 'not all Muslims' - or even a minority of Muslims - practice it. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-30/Hadith-5844</nowiki>''


Variations in the stances of the schools of fiqh to a large extent account for why not all Muslims practice FGM. The schools' different levels of obligation are reflected in the incidence of FGM. And where it is merely 'allowed' or 'tolerated' are we surprised that parents abstain from an act that goes against parents deepest instincts? The Shafi'i school makes FGM obligatory and we find FGM rates of +90% in Shafi'i communities. The Maliki and Hanbali schools recommend it - and the FGM rates in those communities are generally lower than with Shafi'i communities. The Hanafi school merely allows FGM - and Hanafi communities largely eschew FGM. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1244</nowiki>''


Thus the fact that not all Muslims practice FGM is a consequence of some schools allowing FGM, others recommending it, and others mandating it. That some communities, where they have the freedom to choose, have historically chosen not to engage in FGM does not alter the fact that Islam's basic position of ''allowing'' FGM, makes FGM Islamic. But FGM is not an ethically neutral act, such as the Eucharist - swallowing a wafer - or Baptism - sprinkling water on a baby's head. FGM is an act of mutilation carried out on a child. 'Allowing' is no more the appropriate base-line for such an act than it would be for child sexual abuse, rape or murder. Likewise a legal system does not need to make child sexual abuse ''compulsory'' for it to be defined as being favourable to child sexual abuse - it is sufficient that it ''allows'' child sexual abuse to earn itself that label. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1250</nowiki>''


===The FGM Hadith are weak===
<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *
{{Quote|[https://rumahkitab.com/female-genital-mutilation-forbidden-islam-dar-al-ifta/ Female genital mutilation is forbidden in Islam: Dar Al-Ifta (2019)]|Highly-ranking Egyptian Muslim institution Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah recently confirmed in a press statement that female genital mutilation (FGM) is religiously forbidden due to it’s negative impact on physical and mental well-being.


The statement came as a response to the Tadwin Center for Gender Studies, who has urged the Sheikh of Al-Azhar to reconsider unreliable fatwas released by some members of the faculty of Al-Azhar University who claim '''FGM is a religious necessity based on weak Hadith'''.}}Some of the FGM hadith are considere weak by some scholars and schools of Islam.  
Narrated Said bin Jubair: Ibn 'Abbas was asked, "How old were you when the Prophet (ﷺ) died?" He replied. "At that time I had been circumcised." At that time, people did not circumcise the boys till they attained the age of puberty. Sa'id bin Jubair said, "Ibn 'Abbas said, 'When the Prophet died, I had already been circumcised. "


But weak hadiths do not cancel, or weaken, more reliable ones, and several sahih hadith favour FGM.  
<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/In-Book/Book-79/Hadith-71</nowiki>


Four of the seven '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#FGM in the Hadith|FGM hadith]]' report Muhammad favouring FGM. Two of these ('[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#The fitrah is five things.2C including circumcision|The fitrah is five things]]' and '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#When the circumcised parts touch each other|When the circumcised parts touch]]') are included in ''both'' sahih Bukhari and sahih Muslim. Both hadith compilations are considered wholly authoritative. Moreover these two hadith are also some of the best-supported hadith in these compilations. '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#When the circumcised parts touch each other|When the circumcised parts touch]]' is a 'tacit approval' in that it reports Muhammad referring in passing to FGM without him expressing disapproval of it.   
<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/DarusSalam/Hadith-6300</nowiki>


The two other hadith that report Muhammad's attitude towards FGM ([[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#A preservation of honor for women|'A preservation of honour for women]]' and [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Do not cut .22severely.22|'Do not cut severely']]) are not generally considered as ''sahih'', but ''hasan'' (good) or ''daif'' (weak). 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *


Al-Bukhari also compiled the two adab ('[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Someone to Amuse Them|Someone to Amuse Them]]' and '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Go and Circumcise Them and Purify Them|Go and Circumcise Them and Purify Them]]') which touch on FGM. Al-Bukhari's evaluation of the hadiths within ''al-Adab al-Mufrad'' was not as rigorous as for his best-known collection - ''[[Sahih Bukhari]]''. However, scholars have ruled most of the hadith in the collection as being ''sahih'' or ''hasan''. 
''Malik related to me that the generally agreed on way of doing things amongst the community about an accident is that there is no blood-money until the victim is better. If a man's bone, either a hand, or a foot, or another part of his body, is broken accidentally and it heals and becomes sound and returns to its form, there is no blood-money for it. If the limb is impaired or there is a scar on it, there is blood-money for it according to the extent that it is impaired. Malik said, "If that part of the body has a specific blood-money mentioned by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it is according to what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, specified. If it is part of what does not have a specific blood-money for it mentioned by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and if there is no previous sunna about it or specific blood-money, one uses ijtihad about it." Malik said, "There is no blood-money for an accidental bodily injury when the wound heals and returns to its form. If there is any scar or mark in that, ijtihad is used about it except for the belly-wound. There is a third of the blood-money of a life for it. " Malik said, "There is no blood-money for the wound which splinters a bone in the body, and it is like the wound to the body which lays bare the bone." Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community is that when the doctor performs a circumcision and cuts off the glans, he must pay the full blood-money. That is because it is an accident which the tribe is responsible for, and the full blood money is payable for all that in which a doctor errs or exceeds, when it is not intentional."''


Furthermore, whilst doctrine cannot be generated from a weak hadith alone, they can be used if:  
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Malik/USC-MSA/Book-43/Hadith-4</nowiki>''


#the ''hadith'' not be very weak;
''* * *''
#the ''hadith'' be within the scope of an authentic legal principle that is applied and accepted in either the Qur’an or Sunnah;
#its weakness, not authenticity, be realized when applying it.<ref>[https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/pdf/PDF_11_046_2.pdf Portrait of Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdallah al-Qaradawi, senior Sunni Muslim cleric, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood] - The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (2011)</ref>


For example the information that Muhammad considered a form of FGM excessively sever can be taken from ''<nowiki/>'Do not cut severely''', even assuming it a daif hadith, since it is not in contradiction with the stronger FGM hadith and does not contradict the Qur'an.   
''Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyub said, "Ibrahim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the first to give hospitality to the guest and the first person to be circumcised and the first person to trim the moustache and the first person to see grey hair. He said, 'O Lord! What is this?' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'It is dignity, Ibrahim.' He said, 'Lord, increase me in dignity!' " Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "One takes from the moustache until the edge of the lip appears, that is the rim. One does not cut if off completely so that one mutilates oneself."''


The hadith - whether daif, hasan, or sahih - provide robust evidence that some form of FGM was practiced by Muhammad's followers. The Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i schools of Islam all have as their principle daleels the consideration what the Sahabah (the Companions of Muhammad) did or thought (Ijma, Ijtihad and Amal). Thus the deeds and words of the Muhammad's companions are second only to the Quran and Sunnah in determining what is Islamic or not - and come into play when the Qur'an and Hadith don't resolve an issue. The exception is the Hanafi school, which ascribes a lesser importance to the deeds and words of the Sahabah - which may explain why the Hanafi madhab rules FGM as merely 'optional' and why Hanafi Muslims generally don't practice FGM.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/39727001/FOUR_SCHOOLS_OF_SUNNI_LAW Four Schools of Sunni Law] - Fatima Tariq</ref> <ref>[https://www.academia.edu/35835897/ISLAMIC_JURISPRUDENCE_FIQH <nowiki>Islamic Jurisprudence [Fiqh]</nowiki>] - Tej Chopra</ref>     
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Malik/USC-MSA/Book-49/Hadith-4</nowiki>''
===The Qur'an forbids mutilation===
{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pd 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam' Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)]|there is no verse in the Quran that can be used as evidence for [FGM]. On the contrary, '''there are several verses that strongly condemn any acts that negatively affect the human body in any way and interfere with Allah’s (SWT) creation without a justification'''. Examples include, “…and there is no changing Allah’s creation. And that is the proper religion but many people do not know” (Quran 30:30) and, “…and make not your own hands contribute to your destruction” (Quran 2:195) }}Islam forbids mutilations to the human body. 


However, Islam exempts from this interdiction those mutilation that it permits. 
''* * *''


{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam' - Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)]|the general rule is that
''Narrated Ammar b. Yasir: The Apostle of Allaah ( sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ) said : The rinsing of mouth and snuffing up water in the nose are acts that bear the characteristics of fitrah (nature). He then narrated a similar tradition (as reported by Aishah), but he did not mention the words "letting the beard grow". He added the words "circumcision" and "sprinkling water on the private part of the body". He did not mention the words "cleansing oneself after easing". Abu Dawud said : A similar tradition has been reported on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas. He mentioned only five sunnahs all relating to the head, one of them being parting of the hair; it did not include wearing the beard. Abu Dawud said: The tradition as reported by Hammad has also been transmitted by Talq b. Habib, Mujahid, and Bakr b. 'Abd Allaah b. al-Muzani as their own statement ( not as a tradition from the Prophet, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ).They did not mention the words "letting the beard grow". The version transmitted by Muhammad b. Abd Allaah b. Abi Maryam, Abu Salamah, and Abu Hurairah from the Prophet ( sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ) mentions the words "letting the beard grow". A similar tradition has been reported by Ibrahim al-Nakha'i. He mentioned the words "wearing the beard and circumcision."''
anything done to the body is prohibited unless there is evidence to allow}}


Male circumcision, for example, is a mutilation that Islamic law permits, and therefore it is not forbidden. As are [[Amputation in Islamic Law|amputation of hand and feet]]. Beheading, [[stoning]], and [[crucifixion]] -  which all involve mutilation prior to the victim's death - are all also permitted in Islamic law. The 'Qur'an forbids mutilation' is an example of the fallacy of Petitio Principi, or 'Begging the Question' (assuming in the premise of an argument that which one wishes to prove in the conclusion).
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-53</nowiki>''


Qur'an 2:195 (referenced in the quote at the start of this section) forbids suicide and ''self''-mutilation - and is therefore does not apply to FGM.
''* * *''


===Circumcision is not Mutilation===
''<nowiki/>'Uthaim b. Kulaib reported from his father (Kuthair) on the authority of his grandfather (Kulaib) that he came to the Prophet (ﷺ):I have embraced Islam. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him: Remove from yourself the hair that grew during of unbelief, saying "shave them". He further says that another person (other than the grandfather of 'Uthaim) reported to him that the Prophet (ﷺ) said to another person who accompanied him: Remove from yourself the hair that grew during the period of unbelief and get yourself circumcised.''
{{Quote|[https://femalecircumcision.org/a-problem-of-definition-female-circumcision-vs-fgm/ A Problem of Definition: Female Circumcision vs FGM]|The World Health Organisation’s biased classification of female circumcision as FGM from a perspective of harm is not supported by any scientific study.  


The limited, prescribed religious ritual of female circumcision has been regrettably deemed by the WHO to be a form of female genital mutilation [...] The classification of female circumcision as FGM “reinforces the image of female circumcision as a barbaric one, practiced by an uncivilised people.” Conflating the practice of female circumcision with mutilation prohibits any possibility of impartiality in considering the practice as a legitimate, protected religious rite.}}
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-356</nowiki>''
The term Female Circumcision is sometimes used by those who consider certain practices commonly classified as FGM as insufficiently harmful or traumatic to merit the epithet 'mutilation'.


that which is 'islmic' can't be a mutilation because of Qur'an 2:195
''* * *''


definition of mutilation
''Salim said, "Ibn 'Umar, Nu'aym and I were circumcised and they sacrificed a ram on our behalf. I think that we were more happy about it than the other children since a ram had been sacrificed on our behalf."''


Such practices are 'Sunnah circumcision' and (check web site - see what it includes)
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1246</nowiki>''


sunnah circumcision - by qiyas or by translation of Bazr (find old section)
''* * *''


check brid hehir's work too
''It is reported that al-Hasan said, "Are you not astonished by this man? (i.e. Malik ibn al-Mundhir) He went to some of the old people of Kaskar who had become Muslim and examined them and then commanded that they be circumcised although it was winter. I heard that some of them died. Greeks and Abyssinians became Muslim with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they were not examined at all."''


because the shafi'i make FGM obligatory and because shafi'ism traditionally is associated with inifibulation, the most severe form of FGM, there has been more of a need for this argument an,d
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1251</nowiki>''


the fact that bodies such as the UN and WHO do not classify male circumcision carried out on children as a mutilation...
''* * *''


it might be too late to shut the door on MGM - that does mean that we should also let FGM slip through, even in its relatively milder forms.?
''Ibn Shihab said, "When a man became Muslim, he was ordered to have himself circumcised, even if he was old."''


be careful talking to moslems about 'mutiklation' - you will often read moslems condemning Female Gential ''mutilation'', who on further discussion, reveal themselves to support Female ''circumcision''. 
''<nowiki>https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1252</nowiki>''


===There is no record of Muhammad having his wives or daughters circumcised===
''* * *''
{{Quote|[https://archive.ph/2021.04.09-045325/https://courtingthelaw.com/2016/04/28/commentary/islam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm/#selection-1263.35-1263.257 Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|The Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had four daughters and '''we have no strong sources to prove if even one of them was circumcised''', therefore it can be concluded that this practice has no strong reasons to be called as Islamic.}}
The Qur'an, hadith and sirat conatin no reference to Muhammad having his wives or daughters mutilated. 


However, there are many aspects of Islamic law for which there is no record of Mohammed having practiced: there is no record of Muhammad having undergone circumcision himself, or of him having his sons circumcised. Nor, for example, is there any record of Muhammad limiting himself to just four wives.
''11 hadith over and above those shared with FGM – notably the fitrah is five things and when two parts touch''


Current practice and the hadith suggest that females in Muhammad's circle would have been circumcised in childhood. In the [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#Someone to Amuse Them|hadith narrated by Umm ‘Alqama]] the persons being cut are clearly children, and the function of Islamic FGM (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#The origins of FGM|The Origins of FGM]], [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM|Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM]] and [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#The Functions of FGM|the Functions of FGM]]) requires that it be prepubescents who are submitted to FGM, not adolescents or adults.Therefore it is unlikely that Muhammad would have needed to command or require the circumcision of his wives, since they would have already been circumcised before he married them.
===Was Mohammed Circumcised?===
There is no indication in the above Hadith that Mohammed was himself circumcised. Mohammed’s parents were ‘polytheists’ and as the ‘Heraclius’ Hadith (quoted above) makes clear ‘''except the Jews nobody practice''[d] ''circumcision’'' in the middle East and Arabia.  


FGM in Islamic cultures is matriarchal, taboo-ridden and secretive affair, usually arranged by female relatives. The hadith '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Do not cut .22severely.22|do not cut severely]]' and '[[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#One Who Circumcises Other Ladies|One who circumcises other ladies]]' depict women performing the mutilation, not men. Male family members are excluded and may not even realise that their community engages in the practice. <ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-081411/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/victim-fgm-speaking-out-cut-genitals-culture-of-silence I’m a survivor of female genital cutting and I’m speaking out – as others must too - Maryum Saifee]</ref> 
Or at least not until Mohammed imposed circumcision on his followers. At the age of forty, after his vision in a cave, his first ‘revelation’, Mohammed started developing a religion based on Jewish Monotheism. If Mohammed were circumcised, it is therefore likely that it would have been some time after the age of forty and would have been recorded either in his Koran or reported in the Hadith.  


{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-082018/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/a-response-to-delinking-female-genital-mutilation-cutting-from-islam-part-2/ A Response to ‘Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam’ – part 2]|[...]brothers are often unaware that their sisters have been 'cut'. The author records a striking instance of this: an Omani undergraduate who was assisting his research into FGM, was stunned to read surveys reporting FGM-rates of between 75 to 95% in Oman, having assumed that his country was free of the practice. <ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326191394_Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_the_Middle_East_Placing_Oman_on_the_Map Female Genital Mutilation in the Middle East: Placing Oman on the Map, June 2018, Hoda Thabet & Azza Al-Kharousi]</ref>
In order to square this circle, some Muslim traditions declare that Muhammad was born without a foreskin. And indeed, some boys are born without a foreskin – an extremely rare condition (1:10,000 according to this source) known as aposthia. However, there exists no evidence that this was the case with Mohammed, and to assume otherwise is to engage in reverse-reasoning born out of wishful-thinking in which an ''improbability'' is elevated into a ''certainty.''
He was even more stunned when, on raising the issue with a sister, he learnt that she, his other sisters and his mother had all undergone FGM. }}


===Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't===
One should also keep in mind that Mohammed had a tendency to grant himself exceptions from rules he imposed on others. When Mohammed’s god sent him a ‘revelation’ justifying his preferential treatment of certain wives over others, and also granting him permission to take ''any'' woman who offered herself to him, Aisha, his child-bride and his most perceptive, critical and candid follower, remarked sardonically:
{{Quote|[https://archive.ph/SJmql#selection-283.0-287.152 Grand Ayatollah Fadlalllah's remarks on the circumcision of women (2010)]|'''Islam did not forbid [FGM] at that time because it was not possible to suddenly forbid a ritual with strong roots in Arabic culture'''; rather it preferred to gradually express its negative opinions. This is how Islam treated slavery as well, (gradual preparation of the society for the final forbiddance of slavery) [...]The Prophet had prevented people several times from circumcising women}}
The evidence that Muhammad wished FGM to be abolished appears to be the following hadith (or a variant of it):    {{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".}}Here, a hadith that is usually assigned the status of ''daif'' (weak) when proposed as evidence that Muhammad approved of FGM, is being treated as ''sahih'' (authentic) when proposed as evidence that he wanted to moderate the practice. And regardless of its level of authority this hadith is a textbook example of a tacit approval.   
{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam' Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)]|There are several versions of this Hadith, but all of them have been declared dhaeef (weak)
because the chain of transmitters (sanad) is weak and there is conflict in its meaning.}}
Undermining this argument is also the fact that Muhammad affirmed the practices that ''cause'' FGM: polygyny and sex-slavery. He also affirmed sister-practices (practices that emerge from the same causes, and that create a normative, legal and institutional structure that supports, justifies and normalizes FGM) such as male circumcision, child marriage, bride-price and gender segregation.   


Muhammad forbade .  
''“I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.”Al-Bukhari 65:4788''


One of the major ‘selling points’ of Mohammed’s new religion was that it overturned and rejected the established practices of pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism. Mohammed suddenly forbade many harmless (or 'harmless' if enjoyed in moderation) things that would have been dear to the people he ruled over - [[Intoxicants and Recreation in Islamic Law|pork products,]] [[Intoxicants and Recreation in Islamic Law|alcohol, gambling]], [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Music|instrumental music and singing]],  art depicting the human form, the easy fraternisation of men and women, interest in debt, and the public display of women’s faces. He also imposed on his followers such new practices as male circumcision, ritual ablutions and praying 5 times a day.  
Many examples exist of Mohammed granting himself ‘prophetic privilege’, and it would not be out of character for Mohammed to exempt himself from a painful procedure, which would put his sex-life on hold for many months, and reduce the sensitivity of his penis for ever afterwards.  


And his followers obeyed these new rules. How much more willingly would his followers have abandoned a practice that is harmful, and that must be distressing for loving parents to perform and witness?  
=== Did Mohammed have his sons circumcised? ===


One can speculate how things would be different if, in the Qur'an, Muhammad had forbidden FGM with the same force he did alcohol, and not approved of it in his words and deeds in the Hadith.    
==Fatwas==
<br />“let's note that proponents of female circumcision also resort to the argument of the perfection of God's creation. So Majdi Fathi Al-Sayyid writes:


{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.10-062324/https://islamqa.info/en/answers/6682/selling-alcohol-to-kaafirs Selling alcohol to kaafirs Islam Q&A 2000]|“[Mohammed] cursed alcohol and the one who drinks it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who consumes its price, the one who squeezes the grapes and the one for whom they are squeezed.”}}
“The attachment to the specificities of Islam, of which circumcision , makes appear the beautiful picture according to which God created the human being and of which he says: “He designed you and perfected your design” (64:3). “We created man in the best design' (95:4). so the man apperas in a apicture to which no other picture is superior. To quit or to disregard these natural traditions constitutes a distortion of this divine creature”(Ibn-Asakir (d. 1176))


Would Islam have allowed its followers to practice FGM for 1400 years? And would the Islamic world be as rife with FGM as it is today?     
It means for this author that the human being acquires “the best design” through the performance of male and female circumcision and not by abandoning these two practices. [abu sahlieh p144]


==See Also==
==Forced Circumcision==
[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam']


[https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/a-response-to-delinking-female-genital-mutilation-cutting-from-islam-part-1/ A Critique of ‘Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam’]


==References==
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_circumcision#cite_ref-41
<references />
 
 
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>A US surgeon from California spent 2 weeks in Bosnia-Herzegovina (including time at Kosevo hospital in Sarajevo) in late August and early September performing remedial urological surgery.The doctor reportedly found that Muslim and Mujahedin irregular troops -- some from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia -- had routinely performed crude, disfiguring, nonmedical circumcisions on Bosnian Serb soldiers, and he treated one 18-year-old Bosnian Serb soldier who was so brutally circumcised that eventually the entire organ required amputation.<br></em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110622061202/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/sdrpt4b.htm">Torture of Prisoners, Fourth Report on War Crimes in the Fomer Yugoslavia: Part II</a></p>
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>Circumcision has been forced on hundreds of Christians, including children and pregnant women, in a campaign by extremists to spread Islam through the war-ravaged Maluku islands.<br></em><a href="http://www.cirp.org/news/morningherald01-27-01/">Terror attacks in the name of religion, Sydney Morning Herald (2001)</a></p>
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>Non-Muslims in these camps, especially children, have been subject to religious indoctrination, circumcision and "Arabization" of their names, and eventual forced conversion to Islam</em> [...] <em>Some boys in these camps or in juvenile houses have reportedly undergone forced circumcision<br></em><a href="http://archive.today/ZuAr6">Sudan: Reports of Catholic residents of Khartoum or elsewhere in Sudan being forcefully converted to Islam (2001)</a></p>
 
 
 
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>The Justice and Peace Commission of Lahor has spoken out against cases of forced conversions: "Young non-Muslim men have been forced to convert and circumcised against their will,"<br></em><a href="http://archive.today/2jin">Christian minorities in Pakistan: little freedom and rising Islamic pressure (2004)</a></p>
 
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>The Yezidi religious minority has suffered similar but perhaps even more severe forms of oppression than the Christian communities. Despised by Muslims as “devil-worshippers” and not protected by any form of official recognition, they constituted the most vulnerable community. Adult men were forcibly circumcised<br></em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110605073043/http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Violence.htm#_ftn5">The nature and uses of violence in the Kurdish conflict</a></p>
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<p style="padding-left:30px;"><em>In the city of Falluja, one of the most ancient seats of Mandaeism in the country, the thirty-five families who composed the community were ordered at gunpoint to adopt Islam shortly after the fall of the Saddam regime. The men were forcibly circumcised and the women were married off to Muslim men. Those who resisted were summarily executed.<br></em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110623041759/http://www.arabwashingtonian.org/english/article.php?issue=4&articleID=71">The Rape of Basra: Cleansing the Iraqi Mandaeans</a></p>
 
 
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Latest revision as of 16:08, 26 January 2022

circumcision

Intro - the nature of circumcision, statistics, distribution, comparative stats (Muslims, Xtians, Jews, etc)

arabic word for male circumcision

Male Circumcision: truly reliable figures on the extent of circumcision in the world do not exist. In 1996, during the 4th international symposium held in Lausanne, the following figures were distributed: each year, 13,300,000 male children are circumcised in the world. This makes an average of:

1,100,000 childre per month

36,438 per day

1,518 per hour

25 per minute.

Another source indicates that 23% of the male population of the world is cricumcised, which makes a toatl of 650 million. (http://noharmm.org/HGMstats.htm) “

Quran


“Then We revealed to you, [O Muhammad], to follow the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not of those who associate with Allah .” Koran 16:123


There is no explicit reference to Male Genital Mutilation in the Qur'an. However, the Quran 30:30 requires Muslims to 'adhere to the fitrah'.

So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah (فطرة or فطرت) of Allah upon which He has created (فطر) [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah . That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
Quran 30:30

The word 'fitrah appears only this once in the Qur'an, and is left undefined and unexplained. To know what 'fitrah means, traditional scholars turned to hadith which make use of the word. Note that this hadith uses the Arabic word khitan (ختان) for 'circumcision'.

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 [اخْتُتِنَّ - khitan], shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”
Sahih Bukhari 7:72:777; See also Sahih Muslim 2:495

“...the Koran mentions 69 times Abraham's name, who is considered a “good example” to follow (60:4), without ever speaking of circumcision.”

Hadith


This is an inventory of sahih and hasan Hadith which touch exclusively on Male Genital Mutilation ( or 'circumcision').

It should not be taken as comprehensive.

To compile it I used the wild-card search for “circumc*” on the site quranx.com.

This search gave 50 results.

“Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Prophet say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”” Bukhari 77:106

***

“[…]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 parts touch each other a bath becomes obligatory.” Sahih Muslim 3:684

***

“Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama’s father relates that the Prophet said: “Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women.”” Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75; Abu Dawud, Adab 167

***

There were many Hadith where the matn was essenitally the same. Rather than reproducing each one of these I have quoted a 'representative' Hadith, and listed links to the other versions beneath.

...The sub narrator adds, "Ibn An-Natur was the Governor of llya' (Jerusalem) and Heraclius was the head of the Christians of Sham. Ibn An-Natur narrates that once while Heraclius was visiting ilya' (Jerusalem), he got up in the morning with a sad mood. Some of his priests asked him why he was in that mood? Heraclius was a foreteller and an astrologer. He replied, 'At night when I looked at the stars, I saw that the leader of those who practice circumcision had appeared (become the conqueror). Who are they who practice circumcision?' The people replied, 'Except the Jews nobody practices circumcision, so you should not be afraid of them (Jews). 'Just Issue orders to kill every Jew present in the country.' While they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the king of Ghassan to convey the news of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to Heraclius was brought in. Having heard the news, he (Heraclius) ordered the people to go and see whether the messenger of Ghassan was circumcised. The people, after seeing him, told Heraclius that he was circumcised. Heraclius then asked him about the Arabs. The messenger replied, 'Arabs also practice circumcision.' (After hearing that) Heraclius remarked that sovereignty of the 'Arabs had appeared. Heraclius then wrote a letter to his friend in Rome who was as good as Heraclius in knowledge...

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-1/Book-1/Hadith-6

* * *

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will be gathered (on the Day of Judgment), bare-footed, naked and not circumcised." He then recited:--'As We began the first creation, We, shall repeat it: A Promise We have undertaken: Truly we shall do it.' (21.104) He added, "The first to be dressed on the Day of Resurrection, will be Abraham, and some of my companions will be taken towards the left side (i.e. to the (Hell) Fire), and I will say: 'My companions! My companions!' It will be said: 'They renegade from Islam after you left them.' Then I will say as the Pious slave of Allah (i.e. Jesus) said. 'And I was a witness Over them while I dwelt amongst them. When You took me up You were the Watcher over them, And You are a witness to all things. If You punish them. They are Your slaves And if You forgive them, Verily you, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." (5.120-121)

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-55/Hadith-568

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-6/Book-60/Hadith-149

* * *

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Abraham did his circumcision with an adze at the age of eighty." Narrated Abu Az-Zinad: (as above in Hadith No. 575) With an adze.

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-55/Hadith-575

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/DarusSalam/Hadith-6298

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-30/Hadith-5844

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1244

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1250

* * *

Narrated Said bin Jubair: Ibn 'Abbas was asked, "How old were you when the Prophet (ﷺ) died?" He replied. "At that time I had been circumcised." At that time, people did not circumcise the boys till they attained the age of puberty. Sa'id bin Jubair said, "Ibn 'Abbas said, 'When the Prophet died, I had already been circumcised. "

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/In-Book/Book-79/Hadith-71

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/DarusSalam/Hadith-6300

* * *

Malik related to me that the generally agreed on way of doing things amongst the community about an accident is that there is no blood-money until the victim is better. If a man's bone, either a hand, or a foot, or another part of his body, is broken accidentally and it heals and becomes sound and returns to its form, there is no blood-money for it. If the limb is impaired or there is a scar on it, there is blood-money for it according to the extent that it is impaired. Malik said, "If that part of the body has a specific blood-money mentioned by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it is according to what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, specified. If it is part of what does not have a specific blood-money for it mentioned by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and if there is no previous sunna about it or specific blood-money, one uses ijtihad about it." Malik said, "There is no blood-money for an accidental bodily injury when the wound heals and returns to its form. If there is any scar or mark in that, ijtihad is used about it except for the belly-wound. There is a third of the blood-money of a life for it. " Malik said, "There is no blood-money for the wound which splinters a bone in the body, and it is like the wound to the body which lays bare the bone." Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community is that when the doctor performs a circumcision and cuts off the glans, he must pay the full blood-money. That is because it is an accident which the tribe is responsible for, and the full blood money is payable for all that in which a doctor errs or exceeds, when it is not intentional."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Malik/USC-MSA/Book-43/Hadith-4

* * *

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyub said, "Ibrahim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the first to give hospitality to the guest and the first person to be circumcised and the first person to trim the moustache and the first person to see grey hair. He said, 'O Lord! What is this?' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'It is dignity, Ibrahim.' He said, 'Lord, increase me in dignity!' " Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "One takes from the moustache until the edge of the lip appears, that is the rim. One does not cut if off completely so that one mutilates oneself."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Malik/USC-MSA/Book-49/Hadith-4

* * *

Narrated Ammar b. Yasir: The Apostle of Allaah ( sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ) said : The rinsing of mouth and snuffing up water in the nose are acts that bear the characteristics of fitrah (nature). He then narrated a similar tradition (as reported by Aishah), but he did not mention the words "letting the beard grow". He added the words "circumcision" and "sprinkling water on the private part of the body". He did not mention the words "cleansing oneself after easing". Abu Dawud said : A similar tradition has been reported on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas. He mentioned only five sunnahs all relating to the head, one of them being parting of the hair; it did not include wearing the beard. Abu Dawud said: The tradition as reported by Hammad has also been transmitted by Talq b. Habib, Mujahid, and Bakr b. 'Abd Allaah b. al-Muzani as their own statement ( not as a tradition from the Prophet, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ).They did not mention the words "letting the beard grow". The version transmitted by Muhammad b. Abd Allaah b. Abi Maryam, Abu Salamah, and Abu Hurairah from the Prophet ( sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ) mentions the words "letting the beard grow". A similar tradition has been reported by Ibrahim al-Nakha'i. He mentioned the words "wearing the beard and circumcision."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-53

* * *

'Uthaim b. Kulaib reported from his father (Kuthair) on the authority of his grandfather (Kulaib) that he came to the Prophet (ﷺ):I have embraced Islam. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him: Remove from yourself the hair that grew during of unbelief, saying "shave them". He further says that another person (other than the grandfather of 'Uthaim) reported to him that the Prophet (ﷺ) said to another person who accompanied him: Remove from yourself the hair that grew during the period of unbelief and get yourself circumcised.

https://quranx.com/Hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-356

* * *

Salim said, "Ibn 'Umar, Nu'aym and I were circumcised and they sacrificed a ram on our behalf. I think that we were more happy about it than the other children since a ram had been sacrificed on our behalf."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1246

* * *

It is reported that al-Hasan said, "Are you not astonished by this man? (i.e. Malik ibn al-Mundhir) He went to some of the old people of Kaskar who had become Muslim and examined them and then commanded that they be circumcised although it was winter. I heard that some of them died. Greeks and Abyssinians became Muslim with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they were not examined at all."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1251

* * *

Ibn Shihab said, "When a man became Muslim, he was ordered to have himself circumcised, even if he was old."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Adab/English/Book-53/Hadith-1252

* * *

11 hadith over and above those shared with FGM – notably the fitrah is five things and when two parts touch

Was Mohammed Circumcised?

There is no indication in the above Hadith that Mohammed was himself circumcised. Mohammed’s parents were ‘polytheists’ and as the ‘Heraclius’ Hadith (quoted above) makes clear ‘except the Jews nobody practice[d] circumcision’ in the middle East and Arabia.

Or at least not until Mohammed imposed circumcision on his followers. At the age of forty, after his vision in a cave, his first ‘revelation’, Mohammed started developing a religion based on Jewish Monotheism. If Mohammed were circumcised, it is therefore likely that it would have been some time after the age of forty and would have been recorded either in his Koran or reported in the Hadith.

In order to square this circle, some Muslim traditions declare that Muhammad was born without a foreskin. And indeed, some boys are born without a foreskin – an extremely rare condition (1:10,000 according to this source) known as aposthia. However, there exists no evidence that this was the case with Mohammed, and to assume otherwise is to engage in reverse-reasoning born out of wishful-thinking in which an improbability is elevated into a certainty.

One should also keep in mind that Mohammed had a tendency to grant himself exceptions from rules he imposed on others. When Mohammed’s god sent him a ‘revelation’ justifying his preferential treatment of certain wives over others, and also granting him permission to take any woman who offered herself to him, Aisha, his child-bride and his most perceptive, critical and candid follower, remarked sardonically:

“I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.”Al-Bukhari 65:4788

Many examples exist of Mohammed granting himself ‘prophetic privilege’, and it would not be out of character for Mohammed to exempt himself from a painful procedure, which would put his sex-life on hold for many months, and reduce the sensitivity of his penis for ever afterwards.

Did Mohammed have his sons circumcised?

Fatwas


“let's note that proponents of female circumcision also resort to the argument of the perfection of God's creation. So Majdi Fathi Al-Sayyid writes:

“The attachment to the specificities of Islam, of which circumcision , makes appear the beautiful picture according to which God created the human being and of which he says: “He designed you and perfected your design” (64:3). “We created man in the best design' (95:4). so the man apperas in a apicture to which no other picture is superior. To quit or to disregard these natural traditions constitutes a distortion of this divine creature”(Ibn-Asakir (d. 1176))

It means for this author that the human being acquires “the best design” through the performance of male and female circumcision and not by abandoning these two practices. [abu sahlieh p144]

Forced Circumcision

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_circumcision#cite_ref-41


A US surgeon from California spent 2 weeks in Bosnia-Herzegovina (including time at Kosevo hospital in Sarajevo) in late August and early September performing remedial urological surgery.The doctor reportedly found that Muslim and Mujahedin irregular troops -- some from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia -- had routinely performed crude, disfiguring, nonmedical circumcisions on Bosnian Serb soldiers, and he treated one 18-year-old Bosnian Serb soldier who was so brutally circumcised that eventually the entire organ required amputation.
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110622061202/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/sdrpt4b.htm">Torture of Prisoners, Fourth Report on War Crimes in the Fomer Yugoslavia: Part II</a>

Circumcision has been forced on hundreds of Christians, including children and pregnant women, in a campaign by extremists to spread Islam through the war-ravaged Maluku islands.
<a href="http://www.cirp.org/news/morningherald01-27-01/">Terror attacks in the name of religion, Sydney Morning Herald (2001)</a>

Non-Muslims in these camps, especially children, have been subject to religious indoctrination, circumcision and "Arabization" of their names, and eventual forced conversion to Islam [...] Some boys in these camps or in juvenile houses have reportedly undergone forced circumcision
<a href="http://archive.today/ZuAr6">Sudan: Reports of Catholic residents of Khartoum or elsewhere in Sudan being forcefully converted to Islam (2001)</a>


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The Justice and Peace Commission of Lahor has spoken out against cases of forced conversions: "Young non-Muslim men have been forced to convert and circumcised against their will,"
<a href="http://archive.today/2jin">Christian minorities in Pakistan: little freedom and rising Islamic pressure (2004)</a>

The Yezidi religious minority has suffered similar but perhaps even more severe forms of oppression than the Christian communities. Despised by Muslims as “devil-worshippers” and not protected by any form of official recognition, they constituted the most vulnerable community. Adult men were forcibly circumcised
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110605073043/http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Violence.htm#_ftn5">The nature and uses of violence in the Kurdish conflict</a>

In the city of Falluja, one of the most ancient seats of Mandaeism in the country, the thirty-five families who composed the community were ordered at gunpoint to adopt Islam shortly after the fall of the Saddam regime. The men were forcibly circumcised and the women were married off to Muslim men. Those who resisted were summarily executed.
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110623041759/http://www.arabwashingtonian.org/english/article.php?issue=4&articleID=71">The Rape of Basra: Cleansing the Iraqi Mandaeans</a>


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