User:Flynnjed/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|[https://www.memri.org/tv/egyptian-cleric-supports-fgm-cites-protocols-elders-zion 'Egyptian Cleric: Female Circumcision Has Economic Benefits; Jews Fight It in Keeping with Protocols of the Elders of Zion' (Mar 27, 2017)]|”The discussion about female circumcision goes back to the past century. The first time that this subject was debated extensively was in the past century. Who were the first to talk about it? The Jews. They do not want Islam or the Muslims to be pure, developed, and civilized, so they started talking about it.”}}

As the above quote suggests, 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<ref name=":1">p54 [https://books.google.fr/books?id=qof6J4n1860C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Sheikh+Abu-Sabib+1984&source=bl&ots=-apLOOha6B&sig=dpINFFLI-N9KO8_FmEET-MDFKbI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXh5Gi5OfcAhVOyoUKHeSgDWUQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sheikh%20Abu-Sabib%201984&f=false "Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy" By International Symposium On Sexual Mutiliations 1996]</ref> and since then there have been fatwas critical of FGM. However, most are favourable towards the practice. <!-- link to... -->  [[File:Fgmwordsearches.jpg|alt=NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision'|thumb|NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision']]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 ''<nowiki/>'traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children'''.<ref>[http://archive.today/2016.10.21-124829/http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx Convention on the Rights of the Child]</ref> Soon afterwards organisations such as the World Health Organisation (1995),<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/63602/WHO_FRH_WHD_96.10.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female genital mutilation : report of a WHO technical working group, Geneva, 17-19 July 1995]</ref> the Council of Europe (1995), and UNICEF & UNFPA (1997)<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/41903/9241561866.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female Genital Mutilation - A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement]</ref> also issued reports - all critical of FGM.   

This dilemma faces not just on-the-ground charity workers, but the whole hierarchy of institutions devoted to combating FGM. To resolve the dilemma a number of propositions have evolved to support the proposition that FGM is un-Islamic.   

{{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'''.”}}It is correct that only the Shafi'i madhab,  the second or third largest school of Sunni Islam, unarguably rule FGM to be obligatory in Islam. Some Hanbali scholars also rule FGM to be obligatory.  

But critics of Dr Talib's position might point out that if FGM is a crime, '<nowiki/>''not an obligation'<nowiki/>'' is a no more appropriate response to it than it would be to murder, child sexual abuse or rape. 'Not an obligation' is far from the same thing as 'forbidden'. 'Not obligatory' acts can be 'tolerated', 'allowed', 'recommended' or 'highly recommended' as well as 'forbidden'. And acts that are '''not an obligation''<nowiki/>' can be virtuous, vicious or ethically neutral, such as (respectively) charitable giving, murder, and owning a dog. Dr Talib's first sentence (''"All practices of female circumcision and mutilation are crimes and have no relationship with Islam"'') sets up an expectation that his conclusion fails to deliver.

{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-062048/https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/18/fatwa-fgm-could-be-part-solution%23 A Fatwa on FGM Could be Part of the Solution – Kurdistan (2010)]|[...] its clear and unequivocal statement that the practice is not required by Islam was significant for women in Kurdistan, where the practice is widespread. '''The practice is not mentioned in the Quran''', and many other Muslim scholars have disassociated the practice from Islam.}}

see main article   

But according to traditional interpretive methodology Qur'an 30:30, by requiring one to ''<nowiki/>'adhere to the fitrah','' indirectly, but ineluctably, advocates FGM (see [[Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law#FGM in the Qur.27an|FGM in the Qur'an]]). Nor is there any mention of the unquestionably Islamic practice of male circumcision in the Qur'an. Most of the practical details of how to be a Muslim come from the Sunnah (the [[hadith]] plus the [[sirat]]). 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. For example, none of the [[Five Pillars of Islam]] are explained in the Qur'an.   

{{Quote|[http://fiqhcouncil.org/gender-equity-in-islam/ 'Gender Equity in Islam'  Dr. Jamal Badawi (2016)]|While the exact origin of female circumcision is not known, '''“it preceded Christianity and Islam.”''' The most radical form of female circumcision (infibulation) is known as the Pharaonic Procedure. This may signify that it may have been practiced long before the rise of Islam, Christianity and possibly Judaism.}}

The archaeological and historical record do indeed amply demonstrate that FGM existed before Islam (see [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#FGM before Islam|FGM before Islam]]).   

But the premise of 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. These pre-Islamic practices became Islamic when, and because, Muhammad integrated them into the religion he was inventing.   

{{Quote|[https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/02/female-genital-mutilation-not-uniquely-muslim-problem/ 'Female Genital Mutilation Is Not a Uniquely Muslim Problem' Kevin Drum]|Basically, '''FGM is a practice limited to certain parts of Africa''' [...] As for Britain, its FGM problem is more due to where their African immigrants come from than it is to Islam per se.}}[[File:Indonesia-religion-fgm-map-reworked.jpg|thumb|Maps showing 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:|alt=]]

It is documented that FGM was brought to Indonesia by Muslim traders and conquerors in the 13^th Century. Indonesia follows the Shaafi school (which makes FGM obligatory) and has +90% rates of FGM amongst its Muslims. FGM is much rarer amongst Indonesian non-Muslim. 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.'}}

{{Quote|[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/female-genital-mutilation-facts Female genital mutilation: facts you need to know about the practice]|Although the practice is mainly found in some Muslim societies, who believe, wrongly, that it is a religious requirement, it is also carried out by non-Muslim groups such a '''Coptic Christians in Egypt'''', and '''several Christian groups in Kenya'''.}}

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=":0">[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-040325/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/what-percentage-of-global-fgm-are-moslems-responsible-for/ What Percentage of Global FGM is done by Moslems?]</ref>

File:Liberia prevalence graph-1.jpg|Liberia

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{{Quote|[http://www.african-women.org/documents/behind-FGM-tradition.pdf What is behind the tradition of FGM?

Dr. Ashenafi Moges (2009)]|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% of Muslim women have undergone FGM<ref name=":0" />, 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.

('''NB''' - since Dr Ashenafi Moges published the above-cited essay, FGM has been reported in Jordan, Syria, Iran and Iraq and many other Middle East countries. Studies have found FGM-rates of 20% in Saudi Arabia<ref>[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190606-almost-1-in-5-women-in-saudi-subject-to-fgm/ Almost 1 in 5 women in Saudi subject to FGM] (2019)</ref>)   

{{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 argument that 'Sunnah Circumcision' should be allowed because Male Circumcision is allowed is to argue that because Evil X is tolerated Evil Y should therefore also be tolerated'. The WHO etc should aspire to be consistent by condemning ''both'' practices, not by condoning both.   

{{Quote|[https://archive.ph/2021.04.09-045325/https://courtingthelaw.com/2016/04/28/commentary/islam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm/#selection-1263.35-1263.257 Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|The Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had four daughters and '''we have no strong sources to prove if even one of them was circumcised''', therefore it can be concluded that this practice has no strong reasons to be called as Islamic.}}

The Qur'an, hadith and sirat conatin no reference to Muhammad having his wives or daughters mutilated.   

He was even more stunned when, on raising the issue with a sister, he learnt that she, his other sisters and his mother had all undergone FGM. }}

{{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 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.