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Arguments de-linking FGM and Islam
(to Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law)
As the above quote confirms, the idea that FGM might be un-Islamic appears to be relatively new. The earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM appears to be from 1984[1] and since then there have been more fatwas critical of, or even vetoing, FGM (see section...).
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 'traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children'.[2] Soon afterwards organisations such as the World Health Organisation (1995),[3] the Council of Europe (1995), and UNICEF & UNFPA (1997)[4] 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.
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[5], where FGM-rates are high and the practice is accepted as Islamic.
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
In recent decades many agencies and charities have engaged themselves in the fight against FGM[6]. These agencies (and other individuals working to combat FGM) face a particular challenge when interacting with individuals and populations who practice FGM: telling the truth about FGM is likely to make matters worse. For example, how should a campaigner for an anti-FGM charity respond to a Somali mother who asks whether FGM is Islamic? 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 FGM in the Qur'an), and how the school of fiqh which Somalia 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 likely as intended.
This dilemma faces not just on-the-ground charity workers, but the whole hierarchy of institutions devoted to combating FGM (the same dilemma arises for other Islamic phenomena - such as terrorism - where telling the truth is likely to aggravate the problem). To resolve the dilemma a number of propositions have evolved which argue that FGM is un-Islamic.
The following section examines the principal arguments used to support the 'FGM is Un-Islamic' position.
Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam
FGM is not required by Islam
Probably the most cited instance of this argument is a fatwa issued by Dr Ahmed Talib, the former Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at Al-Azhar University, the most prestigious university for Sunni Islamic learning.
In this fatwa Dr Talib so emphatically condemns FGM that the implication of his final phrase could pass unnoticed.
Critics of this position .... If one assumes Dr Talib to have weighed his words and meant what his words mean, then FGM’s legitimacy stops short of ‘obligatory’. 'Not an obligation' includes everything from 'forbidden' to 'highly recommended', and the fact something is 'not obligatory’ in no way implies that it is forbidden or even undesirable. Examples of acts that are 'not obligatory' include owning a dog, giving to charity, child sexual abuse and murder. For Dr Talib to conclude that ‘FGM is not obligatory under Islam’ suggests that he was unable to state that ‘FGM is forbidden under Islam’. And 'not obligatory', 'allowed' or 'tolerated' are no more acceptable legal or ethical positions for a practice such as FGM than they would be for murder, child sexual abuse or rape.
It should also be noted that the Shafi'i school of Islam and some Hanbali scholars have ruled FGM obligatory.
There is no FGM in the Qur'an
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 'adhere to the fitrah', indirectly, but ineluctably, advocates FGM (see FGM in the Qur'an). Nor is there any mention of the unquestionably Islamic practice of male circumcision in the Qur'an.
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. Most of the practical details of how to be a Muslim come from the Sunnah. For example, none of the Five Pillars of Islam are explained in the Qur'an.
FGM existed before Islam
The archaeological and historical record does indeed amply demonstrate that FGM existed before Islam (see 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.
FGM is an African practice
It is true that FGM existed in parts of Africa before Islam – notably Egypt and the West coast of the Red Sea (see FGM before Islam: non-Islamic Sources).
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.
It should also be noted that:
- most of Africa does not practice FGM,
- about 40% of FGM takes place outside of Africa, in South Asia in particular.[7]
- 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).
It is further documented that FGM was brought to Indonesia by Muslim traders and conquerors in the 13th 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.
Christians practice FGM too
It is correct that some Christians practice FGM. Indeed about 20% of global FGM is attributable to non-Muslims, or the most part Christians.[7]
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.
However, But these Christians nearly all live as isolated and persecuted minorities within a dominant Islamic FGM-practicing culture. FGM is an islamic 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.
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.[8]
Hence, non-Muslims 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. 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.[9]
There are however three countries where FGM appears to be practiced by Christian majorities – Ethiopia, Eritrea and Liberia. The FGM in Liberia is practiced as part of the initiation into secret women's societies. FGM in Ethiopia and Eritrea is due 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 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.
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.
Not all Muslims practice FGM
About 20% Muslim women have undergone FGM,[7] which suggests that about 80% of Muslims don't practice FGM.
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.
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.
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.
Where a practice is not obligatory it is generally the case that 'not all Muslims' - or even a minority of Muslims - practice it.
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.
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.
The FGM Hadith are weak
Some of the FGM hadith are considere weak by some scholars and schools of Islam.
But weak hadiths do not cancel, or weaken, more reliable ones, and several sahih hadith favour FGM.
Four of the seven 'FGM hadith' report Muhammad favouring FGM. Two of these ('The fitrah is five things' and '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. '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.
The two other hadith that report Muhammad's attitude towards FGM ('A preservation of honour for women' and 'Do not cut severely') are not generally considered as sahih, but hasan (good) or daif (weak).
Al-Bukhari also compiled the two adab ('Someone to Amuse Them' and '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.
Furthermore, whilst doctrine cannot be generated from a weak hadith alone, they can be used if:
- 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.[10]
For example the information that Muhammad considered a form of FGM excessively sever can be taken from '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.
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.[11] [12]
The Qur'an forbids mutilation
Islam forbids mutilations to the human body.
However, Islam exempts from this interdiction those mutilation that it permits.
Male circumcision, for example, is a mutilation that Islamic law permits, and therefore it is not forbidden. As are 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).
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.
There is no record of Muhammad having his wives or daughters circumcised
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.
Current practice and the hadith suggest that females in Muhammad's circle would have been circumcised in childhood. In the hadith narrated by Umm ‘Alqama the persons being cut are clearly children, and the function of Islamic FGM (see The Origins of FGM, Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM and 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.
FGM in Islamic cultures is matriarchal, taboo-ridden and secretive affair, usually arranged by female relatives. The hadith 'do not cut severely' and '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. [13]
Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't
The evidence that Muhammad wished FGM to be abolished appears to be the following hadith (or a variant of it):
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.
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 .
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 - pork products, alcohol, gambling, 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.
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?
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.
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?
- ↑ p54 "Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy" By International Symposium On Sexual Mutiliations 1996
- ↑ Convention on the Rights of the Child
- ↑ Female genital mutilation : report of a WHO technical working group, Geneva, 17-19 July 1995
- ↑ Female Genital Mutilation - A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement
- ↑ Effect of female genital mutilation/cutting on sexual functions - Mohammad-Hossein Biglu et al
- ↑ 20 Organizations Fighting Female Genital Mutilation
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:2 - ↑ The Story of Asia Bibi
- ↑ Prevalence of and support for Female Genital Mutilation within the Copts of Egypt: INICEF report (2013)
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ Four Schools of Sunni Law - Fatima Tariq
- ↑ Islamic Jurisprudence [Fiqh] - Tej Chopra
- ↑ I’m a survivor of female genital cutting and I’m speaking out – as others must too - Maryum Saifee
- ↑ Female Genital Mutilation in the Middle East: Placing Oman on the Map, June 2018, Hoda Thabet & Azza Al-Kharousi