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→Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't
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It is further 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.'}} | It is further 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.'}} | ||
====Christians practice FGM too==== | ====Christians practice FGM too==== | ||
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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=":2" /> | 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=":2" /> | ||
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 | 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/>''[[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, 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. | 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. | ||
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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. | 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 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"> | ||
File:Somaliland-1.jpg|Somaliland | File:Somaliland-1.jpg|Somaliland | ||
File:Sudan prevalence graph-1.jpg|Sudan | File:Sudan prevalence graph-1.jpg|Sudan | ||
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File:Liberia prevalence graph-1.jpg|Liberia | File:Liberia prevalence graph-1.jpg|Liberia | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
====Not all Muslims practice FGM==== | ====Not all Muslims practice FGM==== | ||
{{Quote|[http://www.african-women.org/documents/behind-FGM-tradition.pdf What is behind the tradition of FGM? | {{Quote|[http://www.african-women.org/documents/behind-FGM-tradition.pdf What is behind the tradition of FGM? | ||
Dr. Ashenafi Moges]|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). }}'' | Dr. Ashenafi Moges]|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). }}About 20% Muslim women have undergone FGM.<ref name=":2" /> This suggests that about 80% of Muslims ''don't'' practice FGM. | ||
For this fact to prove that FGM is un-Islamic - one must accept the assumption that only those practices which all Muslims engage in are Islamic. | |||
This is, in turn, is based on the assumption that a religion is defined only by that which it makes universally obligatory. But religions are also defined by - and responsible for - what they recommend, encourage, allow, discourage and forbid. For example, the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is undoubtedly Christian. But it is recommended, not obligatory, and not all Christians take the Eucharist. And polygyny is unquestionably Islamic, but not every Muslim has several wives. | This is, in turn, is based on the assumption that a religion is defined only by that which it makes universally obligatory. But religions are also defined by - and responsible for - what they recommend, encourage, allow, discourage and forbid. For example, the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is undoubtedly Christian. But it is recommended, not obligatory, and not all Christians take the Eucharist. And polygyny is unquestionably Islamic, but not every Muslim has several wives. | ||
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{{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. | {{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'''.}} | 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. | ||
But weak hadiths do not cancel, or weaken, more reliable ones, and several sahih hadith favour 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 | 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. | ||
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). | 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). | ||
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''. | 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''. | ||
Furthermore, whilst doctrine cannot be generated from a weak hadith alone, they can be used if: | |||
Furthermore, whilst doctrine cannot be generated from a weak hadith alone, they can be used if: | |||
#the ''hadith'' not be very weak; | #the ''hadith'' not be very weak; | ||
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#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> | #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 '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. | 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. | ||
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> | |||
====The Qur'an forbids mutilation==== | ====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. | {{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. | ||
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====Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't==== | ====Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't==== | ||
{{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).}} | {{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 | 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.pd '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 . | |||
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. | |||
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. | |||
One can speculate how things would be different if, in the Qur'an, | |||
{{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.”}} | {{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.”}} | ||
Would the Islamic world be as rife with FGM as it is today? | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||