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{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|'Shafi’i view it as wajib (obligatory) for both females and males'}} | {{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|'Shafi’i view it as wajib (obligatory) for both females and males'}} | ||
'Reliance of the Traveller' by by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302–1367) is the Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law according to Shafi'i School. {{Quote|''Reliance of the Traveler'' [''Umdat al-Salik''], Section e4.3 on Circumcision|'''Obligatory (on every male and female) is circumcision.''' (And it is the cutting-off of the skin [''qat' al-jaldah''] on the glans of the male member and, '''as for the circumcision of the female, that is the cutting-off of the clitoris')}}Nuh Ha Mim Keller's 1991 translation of Reliance of the Traveller is bowdlerised to make its content more acceptable to Western eyes and translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris' (see section [[#Defining Bazr|Defining Bazr)]]. | 'Reliance of the Traveller' by by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302–1367) is the Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law according to Shafi'i School. {{Quote|''Reliance of the Traveler'' [''Umdat al-Salik''], Section e4.3 on Circumcision|'''Obligatory (on every male and female) is circumcision.''' (And it is the cutting-off of the skin [''qat' al-jaldah''] on the glans of the male member and, '''as for the circumcision of the female, that is the cutting-off of the clitoris')}}'''Nuh Ha Mim Keller's 1991 translation of Reliance of the Traveller is bowdlerised to make its content more acceptable to Western eyes and translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris' (see section [[#Defining Bazr|Defining Bazr)]].''' | ||
===Hanbali Madhab=== | ===Hanbali Madhab=== | ||
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Furthermore polygyny that is strictly restricted to a maximum of four wives (with no sex-slavery permitted) loses its power as a status symbol and becomes less desirable to elite men, and likewise diminishes the community's hypergynous drive. Thus in the absence of sex-slavery polygyny tends to diminish and die out. | Furthermore polygyny that is strictly restricted to a maximum of four wives (with no sex-slavery permitted) loses its power as a status symbol and becomes less desirable to elite men, and likewise diminishes the community's hypergynous drive. Thus in the absence of sex-slavery polygyny tends to diminish and die out. | ||
[[File:Infibexzisionplus.jpg|thumb|Maps comparing distribution of FGM and Infibulation and main centes and routes of the Islamic Slave Trade]] | |||
Historians estimate that two thirds of slaves under Islam were girls or women. Whilst ''local'' raids on neighbours fuel tribal polygyny, Islamic polygyny drew on sources of slaves from far afield - especially Africa. This involved captured women and children in long treks across the continent, often to Ethiopia or Zanzibar for transportation to Arabia. These treks were risky and took a heavy toll on those in captivity. Virgins (and therefore prepubescent or adolescent girls) were the most valuable slaves. Infibulation (the sealing up of the vagina) developed as a technology to protect the virginity of these girls over these long hazardous treks (four out of five slaves died during the forced march to the slave trading post at Zanzibar. There appears to be a correlation between the historical centres of the Islamic slave trade and the distribution of infibulation today, and the influence of the Islamic slave trade could explain the pervasiveness of FGM in Islamic Africa today. | Historians estimate that two thirds of slaves under Islam were girls or women. Whilst ''local'' raids on neighbours fuel tribal polygyny, Islamic polygyny drew on sources of slaves from far afield - especially Africa. This involved captured women and children in long treks across the continent, often to Ethiopia or Zanzibar for transportation to Arabia. These treks were risky and took a heavy toll on those in captivity. Virgins (and therefore prepubescent or adolescent girls) were the most valuable slaves. Infibulation (the sealing up of the vagina) developed as a technology to protect the virginity of these girls over these long hazardous treks (four out of five slaves died during the forced march to the slave trading post at Zanzibar. There appears to be a correlation between the historical centres of the Islamic slave trade and the distribution of infibulation today, and the influence of the Islamic slave trade could explain the pervasiveness of FGM in Islamic Africa today. | ||
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Introducing little girls into the marriage market is a response to the the scarcity of women caused by polygyny and child marriage is universal to polygynous societies. Dowry further incentives child-marriage, as it becomes advantageous for parents to ‘sell-off’ their daughters before adolescence, when reputations (and therefore also the girl's economic value) are at greater risk. The bride-price for a child is generally less than for an adolescent or adult woman. This makes children a more affordable to poor and low-status men. Polygyny increases mens' paternity anxieties and doubts, and also creates anxieties connected to the management of multiple wives – therefore submissiveness, obedience, manipulability are valued in a wife - characteristics more pronounced in younger brides. It has been observed that polygamous men select younger girls as wives (even as first wives) than monogamous men. | Introducing little girls into the marriage market is a response to the the scarcity of women caused by polygyny and child marriage is universal to polygynous societies. Dowry further incentives child-marriage, as it becomes advantageous for parents to ‘sell-off’ their daughters before adolescence, when reputations (and therefore also the girl's economic value) are at greater risk. The bride-price for a child is generally less than for an adolescent or adult woman. This makes children a more affordable to poor and low-status men. Polygyny increases mens' paternity anxieties and doubts, and also creates anxieties connected to the management of multiple wives – therefore submissiveness, obedience, manipulability are valued in a wife - characteristics more pronounced in younger brides. It has been observed that polygamous men select younger girls as wives (even as first wives) than monogamous men. | ||
[[File:Niqab-eyes-hijab-niqab.jpg|thumb]] | |||
In monogamous societies, the incest taboo extends not only to daughters but also to women young enough to be a man's daughter. This separation of generations does not naturally occur in polygynous cultures. Polygyny thus sexualises the society's perception of prepubescent girls, making them vulnerable to the sexual violence endemic to polygynous societies. This drives down the age at which chastity assurance practices (including FGM) are felt to be required. | In monogamous societies, the incest taboo extends not only to daughters but also to women young enough to be a man's daughter. This separation of generations does not naturally occur in polygynous cultures. Polygyny thus sexualises the society's perception of prepubescent girls, making them vulnerable to the sexual violence endemic to polygynous societies. This drives down the age at which chastity assurance practices (including FGM) are felt to be required. | ||
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{{anchor|equivocation}} | {{anchor|equivocation}} | ||
====FGM not required by Islam==== | ====FGM not required by Islam==== | ||
'Not obligatory', 'allowed' or 'tolerated' are no more acceptable legal or ethical positions to take with respect to FGM than they would be for murder, child sexual abuse or rape. | - 'Not obligatory', 'allowed' or 'tolerated' are no more acceptable legal or ethical positions to take with respect to FGM than they would be for murder, child sexual abuse or rape. | ||
- Not all Islamic practices are obligatory: whilst a Muslim they 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. | |||
Probably the most cited instance of this 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. | - Since the 1990s Islamic scholars, clerics and other sources have issued fatwas and statements that appear to criticise, condemn and even forbid FGM. However, a critical reading of these reveals that they virtually all engage in some form of equivocation (deliberate use of ambiguous or equivocal language) in order to appear to be more critical of FGM than they are. Probably the most cited instance of this 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. | ||
{{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.”}}After gaining our trust by forthrightly condemning FGM, the implication of his final phrase (‘''it is not an obligation in Islam’'') could easily pass unnoticed i.e. that under Islam, FGM’s legitimacy may stop only just short of ‘obligatory’ - which, of course, could include''‘highly recommended’''. There is a world of difference between something '<nowiki/>''not being obligatory'<nowiki/>'' and something being '''forbidden':'' the fact something is not ‘obligatory’ in no way implies that it is undesirable, unacceptable or forbidden: owning a dog is not ‘obligatory’; giving to charity is valued, respected and encouraged but, like FGM in Islam, it is not ‘obligatory’. A fatwa may be adorned with much criticism and condemnation of FGM, but if all that criticism amounts to nothing more than a statement that ''‘FGM is not obligatory under Islam’'' – it merely reveals that the author of the fatwa was unable to state that ''‘FGM is forbidden under 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.”}}After gaining our trust by forthrightly condemning FGM, the implication of his final phrase (‘''it is not an obligation in Islam’'') could easily pass unnoticed i.e. that under Islam, FGM’s legitimacy may stop only just short of ‘obligatory’ - which, of course, could include''‘highly recommended’''. There is a world of difference between something '<nowiki/>''not being obligatory'<nowiki/>'' and something being '''forbidden':'' the fact something is not ‘obligatory’ in no way implies that it is undesirable, unacceptable or forbidden: owning a dog is not ‘obligatory’; giving to charity is valued, respected and encouraged but, like FGM in Islam, it is not ‘obligatory’. A fatwa may be adorned with much criticism and condemnation of FGM, but if all that criticism amounts to nothing more than a statement that ''‘FGM is not obligatory under Islam’'' – it merely reveals that the author of the fatwa was unable to state that ''‘FGM is forbidden under Islam’''. | ||
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====there is no FGM in the Qur'an==== | ====there is no FGM in the Qur'an==== | ||
see '''[[#quran|FGM in the Qur'an]]''' | - see '''[[#quran|FGM in the Qur'an]]''' | ||
- Most of what constitutes Islam is found not in the Qur'an but in the Sunnah. The Qur'an has 91 verses commanding to follow Muhammad's example to the last detail. However, whilst verses in the Qur'an can be assigned to certain events in Muhammad's biography, Muslims can only know what those events were by turning to the Sunnah (the Sirat and the Hadith). None of the Five Pillars of Islam are explained in the Qur'an - the Qur'an, for examples, tells Muslims to pray, but not ''how'' to pray. | |||
{{anchor|before}} | {{anchor|before}} | ||
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The underlying assumption of this argument is that ''if a practice existed before Islam then it can not be Islamic''. | The underlying assumption of this argument is that ''if a practice existed before Islam then it can not be Islamic''. | ||
FGM did indeed exist before Islam. However, if this disqualified FGM from being | FGM did indeed exist before Islam. However, if this disqualified FGM from being Islamic then monotheism, male circumcision, pilgrimage to Mecca, the veneration of the kaaba, abstention from pork, giving to charity, interdictions on lying and murder, and much more would also be un-Islamic since previous religions and societies have held these beliefs and practices. Indeed, if Islam were only that which was completely original to Islam almost nothing that has been considered Islamic over the last 1400 would remain. | ||
Mohammed took | The disaster is that Mohammed took a practice specific to his particular tribe and region and sacralised it, thus guaranteeing that it would exist and flourish wherever and for as long as Islam existed. In the normal process of history FGM would have died out as more advanced Graeco-Roman and Christian conceptions of society and humanity (not least normative monogamy) spread and prevailed. Footbinding, sati, slavery, child marriage and non-Islamic FGM have all been eliminated or curtailed where the West has had influence. | ||
{{anchor|african}} | {{anchor|african}} | ||
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====FGM is an African practice==== | ====FGM is an African practice==== | ||
It is true that FGM existed in parts of Africa before the invention of Islam – notably Egypt and the West coast of the Red Sea (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Non-Islamic sources|FGM before Islam: non-Islamic Sources]]). But the hadith report that FGM was also practiced in Arabia before the invention of Islam, not least by Mohammed's tribe – the Banu Quraysh. | It is true that FGM existed in parts of Africa before the invention of Islam – notably Egypt and the West coast of the Red Sea (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#Non-Islamic sources|FGM before Islam: non-Islamic Sources]]). But the hadith report that FGM was also practiced in Arabia before the invention of Islam, not least by Mohammed's tribe – the Banu Quraysh. We can also note that | ||
[[File:Indonesia-religion-fgm-map-reworked.jpg|thumb|This pair of maps show 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:]] | |||
# most of Africa does not practice FGM, | |||
# most FGM happens outside of Africa, in South Asia in particular. | |||
It is also well documented that FGM was brought to Indonesia by Moslem traders and conquerors in the 13<sup>th</sup> Century. Indonesia has +90% rates of FGM amongst its Moslems and is of the | It appears to have been the Islam's invasion and plundering of Africa for sex slaves that spread FGM to its current extent (which closely coincides with that of Islam). It is also well documented that FGM was brought to Indonesia by Moslem traders and conquerors in the 13<sup>th</sup> Century. Indonesia s of the Shaafi school (the madhab that makes FGM obligatory) and has +90% rates of FGM amongst its Moslems. | ||
{{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.'}} | |||
{{anchor|christians2}} | {{anchor|christians2}} | ||
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We saw this recently in Pakistan when a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, drank from a Moslem's cup- and brought upon herself, her family and her community much violence, hatred and persecution. | We saw this recently in Pakistan when a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, drank from a Moslem's cup- and brought upon herself, her family and her community much violence, hatred and persecution. | ||
[[File:Infibmap correct20111.jpg|thumb|the prevalence of Female Genital Cutting]] | |||
Hence, non-Moslems come under great pressure to adopt the dominant Islamic purity practices in order to minimise persecution. A clear example of this are the Copts who are Christian and who make up 10 to 15% of the population of Egypt. Copts practice FGM at about a 74% (compared to 92% Moslems). Copts themselves recognise that they practice FGM in order to minimise persecution. we can note also that it is Christian minorities such as the Copts who appear to be the most ready to abandon FGM when it becomes safe and possible to do so. | Hence, non-Moslems come under great pressure to adopt the dominant Islamic purity practices in order to minimise persecution. A clear example of this are the Copts who are Christian and who make up 10 to 15% of the population of Egypt. Copts practice FGM at about a 74% (compared to 92% Moslems). Copts themselves recognise that they practice FGM in order to minimise persecution. we can note also that it is Christian minorities such as the Copts who appear to be the most ready to abandon FGM when it becomes safe and possible to do so. | ||