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| {{QualityScore|Lead=1|Structure=1|Content=4|Language=1|References=3}}'''This article is currently undergoing an overhaul, please do not edit it.''' | | {{QualityScore|Lead=1|Structure=1|Content=4|Language=1|References=3}}'''This article is currently undergoing an overhaul, please do not edit it.''' |
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| | == Genital mutilation == |
| | In some Islamic countries women face the certainty of female circumcision, otherwise known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Somali women's rights activist and ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali notes that in her own homeland virtually every girl has her clitoris excised, sometimes when as young as five years old, and that the practice is always justified in the name of Islam. |
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| | Uncircumcised girls are told they will become prostitutes but that circumcised girls will be pure and will retain their honor and dignity. Ayaan Hirsi Ali describes her own genital mutilation in her book ''Infidel'': |
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| | {{Quote||Grandma caught hold of me and gripped my upper body… Two other women held my legs apart. The man, who was probably an itinerant traditional circumciser from the blacksmith clan, picked up a pair of scissors. With the other hand, he caught hold of the place between my legs and started tweaking it, like Grandma milking a goat... Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests, Grandma's words of comfort and encouragement… When the sewing was finished, the man cut the thread off with his teeth. That is all I can recall of it.<ref>Ayaan Hirsi Ali - [http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/1416526242 Infidel (p. 32)] - NY: Free Press, 2007, ISBN 9781416526247</ref>}} |
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| | Among Muslims FGM is prevalent mainly in Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia, and in other African countries. Muslims who practice it invest genital mutilation with religious significance. One Islamic legal manual states that circumcision is required "for both men and women." |
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| | ====Reliance of the Traveller==== |
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| | This manual of Islamic law prescribes female circumcision, but with an interesting twist. In English versions, the law forbids removal of the female clitoris, while in the original Arabic no such restriction exists. |
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| | English translation: |
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| | {{Quote||e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men is consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert).}} |
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| | Original Arabic: |
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| | {{Quote||Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but '''circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris''' (this is called khufaad).}} |
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| | To Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar, the oldest and most prestigious university in the lands of Islam, female circumcision is "a laudable practice that does honor to women." Tantawi is no fringe figure: he is, in the words of a BBC report, "the highest spiritual authority for nearly a billion Sunni Muslims." |
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| | In endorsing female circumcision he uses this considerable spiritual authority to perpetuate a practice that gives women lifelong pain and blocks their access to sexual fulfillment. But perhaps in the eyes of Sheikh Tantawi the pain is worth the result: most authorities agree that female circumcision is designed to diminish a woman's sexual response, so that she will be less likely to commit adultery. |
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| ==Marriage== | | ==Marriage== |
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| ==Women – social status== | | ==Women – social status== |
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|18|161}}|Narrated 'Abdullah bin Abbas:
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| The people say, "O Allah's Apostle! We saw you taking something from your place and then we saw you retreating." The Prophet replied, "I saw Paradise and stretched my hands towards a bunch (of its fruits) and had I taken it, you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains. '''I also saw the Hell-fire and I had never seen such a horrible sight. I saw that most of the inhabitants were women'''." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Why is it so?" The Prophet replied, "Because of their ungratefulness."}}
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|24|541}}|Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
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| On 'Id ul Fitr or 'Id ul Adha Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) went out to the Musalla. After finishing the prayer, he delivered the sermon and ordered the people to give alms. He said, "O people! Give alms." Then he went towards the women and said. "'''O women! Give alms, for I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were you (women)'''."}}
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|7|62|124}}|Narrated Usama:
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| The Prophet said, "I stood at the gate of Paradise and saw that the majority of the people who entered it were the poor, while the wealthy were stopped at the gate (for the accounts). But the companions of the Fire were ordered to be taken to the Fire. '''Then I stood at the gate of the Fire and saw that the majority of those who entered it were women'''."}}
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|7|62|126}}|Narrated Imran:
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| The Prophet said, "I looked at Paradise and saw that the majority of its residents were the poor; and '''I looked at the (Hell) Fire and saw that the majority of its residents were women'''."}}
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| ===Women compared to dogs===
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| Most orthodox Islamic scholars considers dogs to be haram - forbidden and najis - unclean. Thus the comparison of women to dogs in these Sahih (authentic) ahadith are noteworthy:
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|9|490}}|Narrated 'Aisha:
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| The things which annul the prayers were mentioned before me. They said, "Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)." I said, "You have made us (i.e. women) dogs."}}
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|90|498}}|Narrated 'Aisha: It is not good that you people have made us (women) equal to dogs and donkeys.}}
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| {{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1032}}|Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of 'Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When any one of you stands for prayer … his prayer would be cut off by (passing of an) ass, woman, and black Dog.}}
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| {{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1034}}|...Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: A woman, an ass and a dog disrupt the prayer.}}
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| {{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1038}}|...Masruq reported: It was mentioned before 'A'isha that prayer is invalidated (in case of passing) of a dog, an ass and a woman (before the worshipper, when he is not screened). Upon this 'A'isha said: You likened us to the asses and the dogs.}}
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| ===Women compared to devil===
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| {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|1038}}|
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| Jabir reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them: '''The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil,''' so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart.}}
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| ==Sexual relations with women in Islam== | | ==Sexual relations with women in Islam== |
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| ===Man Can Take Pleasure from their Women (Wives)===
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| {{Quote|{{Quran|2|222}}| They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you. Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness.}}
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| {{Quote|{{Quran|2|223}}| Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) so go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet Him. Give glad tidings to believers, (O Muhammad).}}
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| ===Women are Placed in Paradise for the Pleasure of Men===
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|6|60|402}}| Narrated Abdullah bin Qais:
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| Allah's Apostle said, "In Paradise there is a pavilion made of a single hollow pearl sixty miles wide, in each corner of which there are wives who will not see those in the other corners; and the believers will visit and enjoy them.}}
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| ===Muhammad Suggested Marrying Virgins to Fondle Them===
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|38|504}}| Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:
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| I was accompanying the Prophet on a journey and was riding a slow camel that was lagging behind the others. ... When we approached Medina, I started going (towards my house). The Prophet said, "Where are you going?" I said, "I have married a widow." '''He said, "Why have you not married a virgin to fondle with each other?'''"}}
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| {{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|6|298}}| Narrated 'Aisha:
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| The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were Junub. During the menses, '''he used to order me to put on an Izar (dress worn below the waist) and used to fondle me.'''}}
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| ==Shame and honor== | | ==Shame and honor== |
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| The United Nations Population Fund estimated in September 2000 that as many as 5,000 women and girls fall victim to such killings each year. Some examples: | | The United Nations Population Fund estimated in September 2000 that as many as 5,000 women and girls fall victim to such killings each year. Some examples: |
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| ===Female circumcision (FGM)===
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| In some Islamic countries women face the certainty of female circumcision, otherwise known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Somali women's rights activist and ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali notes that in her own homeland virtually every girl has her clitoris excised, sometimes when as young as five years old, and that the practice is always justified in the name of Islam.
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| Uncircumcised girls are told they will become prostitutes but that circumcised girls will be pure and will retain their honor and dignity. Ayaan Hirsi Ali describes her own genital mutilation in her book ''Infidel'':
| |
|
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| {{Quote||Grandma caught hold of me and gripped my upper body… Two other women held my legs apart. The man, who was probably an itinerant traditional circumciser from the blacksmith clan, picked up a pair of scissors. With the other hand, he caught hold of the place between my legs and started tweaking it, like Grandma milking a goat... Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests, Grandma's words of comfort and encouragement… When the sewing was finished, the man cut the thread off with his teeth. That is all I can recall of it.<ref>Ayaan Hirsi Ali - [http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/1416526242 Infidel (p. 32)] - NY: Free Press, 2007, ISBN 9781416526247</ref>}}
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|
| |
| Among Muslims FGM is prevalent mainly in Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia, and in other African countries. Muslims who practice it invest genital mutilation with religious significance. One Islamic legal manual states that circumcision is required "for both men and women."
| |
|
| |
| ====Reliance of the Traveller====
| |
|
| |
| This manual of Islamic law prescribes female circumcision, but with an interesting twist. In English versions, the law forbids removal of the female clitoris, while in the original Arabic no such restriction exists.
| |
|
| |
| English translation:
| |
|
| |
| {{Quote||e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men is consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert).}}
| |
|
| |
| Original Arabic:
| |
|
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| {{Quote||Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but '''circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris''' (this is called khufaad).}}
| |
|
| |
| To Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar, the oldest and most prestigious university in the lands of Islam, female circumcision is "a laudable practice that does honor to women." Tantawi is no fringe figure: he is, in the words of a BBC report, "the highest spiritual authority for nearly a billion Sunni Muslims."
| |
|
| |
| In endorsing female circumcision he uses this considerable spiritual authority to perpetuate a practice that gives women lifelong pain and blocks their access to sexual fulfillment. But perhaps in the eyes of Sheikh Tantawi the pain is worth the result: most authorities agree that female circumcision is designed to diminish a woman's sexual response, so that she will be less likely to commit adultery.
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |