Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Female Genital Mutilation: Difference between revisions

All but one of the following hadith use variants of the word ''khitan'' for 'circumcision'. Contemporary usage assumes that ''khitan'' refers only to (male) circumcision. But several of the following hadith refer unambiguously to women or girls undergoing ''khitan''. One hadith ("Go and Circumcise Them and Purify Them") uses the word ''khaffad''.

This hadith depicts an exchange of insults prior to the [[Battle of Uhud|battle of Uhud]] (which took place about 3 years after the migration of Muhammad and his companions to Medina). Hamza, a companion of Muhammad, taunts Siba', a Meccan warrior from Muhammad's native tribe - the Banu Quraysh. Hamza compares Siba' to a notorious 'circumciser' of girls - Ibn Um Anmar.  

Hamza uses the phrase '''muqteh al-basr‘'' – ‘one who cuts clitorises'  - rather than the usual ''khitan''. From this we can deduce that clitoridectomy was probably practiced by the Banu Qaraysh, and that this practice was traditional i.e. it existed long before Muhammad's birth. The fact that a circumciser of women could be famous (or notorious) also suggests that it was an established practice with the Meccan Quraysh.

 

The taunt could only be effective if it humiliated Siba' in the eyes of both his fellow Meccan warriors and the Muslim warriors. Thus its use implies that members of both camps had knowledge of the practice and a shared culture of clitoridectomy.  

Al-Adab Al-Mufrad is a collection of hadith about the manners of Muhammad and his companions. It contains 1,322 hadiths, compiled by the Islamic scholar [[al-Bukhari]]. Many of the hadith focus on Muhammad's companions rather than Muhammad himself - and are therefore less important doctrinally than hadith focusing on Muhammad's words, deeds and approvals. However, they are a rich source of sociological, anthropologic and linguistic information.  

However, the following Qur'anic verse exhorts Muslims to ''<nowiki/>'adhere to the fitrah'''. This is the only appearane of the word [[fitrah]] in the Qur'an, which is therefore left unexplained and undefined.  

{{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 'fitrah' is used in several hadith. The hadith which gives the clearest explanation is the one mentioned above ('The fitrah is five things, including circumcision'). The arabic word used for 'circumcision' in this hadith is ''khitan''. The other hadith above demonstrate that '<nowiki/>''khitan''' originally referred to both Female Genital Mutilation and (male) circumcision (though contemporary Muslims that don't practice FGM generally use it only for male circumcision).

Thus, in exhorting Muslims to ''<nowiki/>'adhere to the fitrah''' the Qur'an is indirectly advocating FGM.