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*The Maliki school decrees FGM as recommended, but not obligatory.
*The Maliki school decrees FGM as recommended, but not obligatory.
*The Hanafi school decrees that FGM is optional. The Hanafi is the school of fiqh which least favours . Hanafi communities generally don't practice FGM.  
*The Hanafi school decrees that FGM is optional. The Hanafi is the school of fiqh which least favours . Hanafi communities generally don't practice FGM.
*The Shafi'i school decree FGM to be obligatory. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school.
*The Shafi'i school decree FGM to be obligatory. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school.
*The Hanbali school has have two opinions concerning FGM: some scholars decree it obligatory, other as 'honourable' and therefore recommended.
*The Hanbali school has have two opinions concerning FGM: some scholars decree it obligatory, other as 'honourable' and therefore recommended.
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==Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM==
==Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM==
As might be evident from the previous section, Islam, by allowing and encouraging polygyny, not only reproduces the originating conditions for FGM but also enshrines in law and custom secondary consequences of polygyny, such as bride-price, veiling, gender segregation, arranged marriage, child marriage, and excessive preoccupation with feminine 'purity'. Indeed, Islam could be characterised as: '''''the codification and sacralisation of polygyny, and of the consequences of polygyny'''''.   
A society's kinship system shapes the rest of the culture around itself and has far reaching implications - determining laws, beliefs and institutions that, at first sight, can appear unrelated to kinship and reproduction. Islam, in allowing and encouraging polygyny, not only reproduces the originating conditions for FGM. Islam also enshrines in custom and law the secondary consequences of polygyny, such as bride-price, veiling, gender segregation, arranged marriage, child marriage, and excessive preoccupation with feminine 'purity'. Indeed, Islam could be characterised as: '''''the codification and sacralisation of both polygyny and of the consequences of polygyny'''''.   


A society's kinship system shapes the rest of the culture around itself and has far reaching implications - determining laws, beliefs and institutions that, at first sight, can appear unrelated to kinship and reproduction.
Thus, even if Islamic doctrine ''didn't'' explicitly mandate/allow FGM,it would still be associated with Islam, since by sacralising the ''causes and consequences'' of FGM it erects round the practice an institutional and normative armature that would nevertheless make the practice useful, and justify and normalise it.


Thus, even if Islamic doctrine ''didn't'' explicitly mandate/allow FGM, it is possible that FGM would still be associated with Islam, since by sacralising the causes of FGM and also its consequences it erects round the practice an institutional and normative armature that culturally justifies and normalises it.
Monogamous kinship systems approach a state of equilibrium where every man and woman can expect to find a spouse. This state of equilibrium is impossible in a polygynous system since - assuming an equal number of females and males in the society - every extra wife one man takes will deprive another man of the possibility of finding a bride (imagine a desert island with five men and five women and what happens if one man takes two wives...). Females become a commodity with both inherent value (their beauty, and their reproductive and home-making capacities) and status value (the more you have the higher your status). This fuels a dynamic where the demand for marriageable females always exceeds the supply, where elite men can never have enough wives and poor men are doomed to systemic bachelorhood/celibacy.  


Monogamous kinship systems approach a state of equilibrium where every man and woman can expect to find a spouse. This state of equilibrium is impossible in a polygynous system. Females become a commodity with both inherent value (their beauty, and their reproductive and home-making capacities) and status value (the more you have the higher your status). This fuels a dynamic where the demand for marriageable females always exceeds the supply, where elite men can never have enough wives and poor men are doomed to systemic bachelorhood.  
The 'bride-famine' that develops amongst poor low-status men is alleviated by introducing ever more females to the system: children, cousins, and females captured in raids (either to be taken as wives by the raiders, or sold as sex-slaves to the elite). Where such raids are not an option - celibate young men direct their sexual frustration towards females closer to home: the girls and women of their community. Polygynous societies are violent, and particularly sexually violent<ref>[https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/files/henrich/files/henrich_boyd_richerson_2012.pdf The puzzle of monogamous marriage] by Joseph Henrich et al. (2012)</ref>. And this sexual violence further amplifies the society's anxieties with regard to the chastity and purity of their females - leading them to sequester and protect their females even more from young men. This is a positive feedback dynamic whose endpoint is the complete absence and invisibility of non-familial females from the lives of the low-status young men, who are doomed to systemic and chronic bachelorhood. {{Quote|[https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Civilization-Monogamy-Made-Human/dp/1621572013 'Marriage and Civilization' by William Tucker (2014)]|'In a 2004 New York Times article, a graduate student in his twenties described what it was like growing up in Saudi Arabia. He said that he had never been alone in the company of a young woman. He and his friends refer to women as “BMOs – black moving objects” gliding past in full burkas. Brideprices are steep and men cannot think of getting married until they are well established in a profession. All marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to meet at their wedding.'}}


The 'bride-famine' that develops amongst poor low-status men is alleviated by introducing ever more females to the marriage market: children, cousins, and females captured in raids (either to be taken as wives by the raiders, or sold as sex-slaves to the elite). Where such raids are not an option - celibate young men direct their sexual frustration towards females closer to home: the girls and women of their community. This makes for sexually violent societies. And this ambiance of sexual violence further amplifies the anxieties of families and husbands with regard to the chastity and purity of their females - leading them to sequester and protect their females even more from young men. This is a positive feedback dynamic whose endpoint is the complete absence and invisibility of non-familial females from the lives of the low-status young men, who are doomed to systemic chronic bachelorhood. {{Quote|New York Times (2004) - cited in 'Marriage and Civilization' by William Tucker|'In a 2004 New York Times article, a graduate student in his twenties described what it was like growing up in Saudi Arabia. He said that he had never been alone in the company of a young woman. He and his friends refer to women as “BMOs – black moving objects” gliding past in full burkas. Brideprices are steep and men cannot think of getting married until they are well established in a profession. All marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to meet at their wedding.'}}
The case of Liberia seems to confirm that Islamic laws alone, even in the absence of doctrine explicitly favourable to FGM, may be sufficient to cause FGM. In Liberia FGM is practiced as an initiation rite into women's secret societies. A 2020 survey found that 38.2% of Liberian girls and women have been subject to FGM.<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.20-043407/https://www.28toomany.org/country/liberia/ Liberia - 28 Too Many]</ref> Whilst only 12% of Liberia's population is Muslim, its marriage and kinship practices are essentially Islamic: men can have up to 4 wives, a third of all Liberian marriages are polygamous, a third of married women aged between 15-49 are in polygamous marriages, and married woman's rights to inherit property from her spouse are restricted.<ref>https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/LR.pdf</ref> Liberia is marked by the sexual violence that is a characteristic of polygynous societies, and to which chastity assurance practices such as FGM are a response (it should be taken into account that  Islamic polygyny and FGM were probably introduced to what would become Liberia by Islamic immigration from Sudan and from empires based in today's Mali, starting from the 13th or 14th century).{{Quote|[https://odi.org/en/publications/the-fallout-of-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/ The fallout of rape as a weapon of war]|[Liberia] has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases.}}The supposed perfection of Islam, makes it hard for Muslims to identify the social causes of the sexual violence endemic to their societies. It is instead attributed to notions that female sexuality is excessive, indiscriminate and dangerous if left unchecked by chastity assurance measures such as FGM. Islam thus creates a concurrence of dysfunctional marital, sexual and kinship practices. It overvalues the chastity and purity of females whilst, at the same time, creating sexually violent societies which put that very chastity and purity at increased risk. The solutions Islam offers to this conundrum exacerbate the problems and create a social and normative context in which chastity assurance measures such as FGM, become useful or even necessary.
 
The case of Liberia seems to confirm that Islamic laws alone, even in the absence of doctrine explicitly mandating or favouring FGM, may be sufficient to cause FGM. In Liberia FGM is practiced as an initiation rite into women's secret societies. A 2020 survey found that 38.2% of Liberian girls and women have been subject to FGM.<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.20-043407/https://www.28toomany.org/country/liberia/ Liberia - 28 Too Many]</ref> Whilst only 12% of Liberia's population is Muslim, its marriage and kinship practices are essentially Islamic: men can have up to 4 wives, a third of all Liberian marriages are polygamous, a third of married women aged between 15-49 are in polygamous marriages, and married woman's rights to inherit property from her spouse are restricted.<ref>https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/LR.pdf</ref> Liberia is marked by the sexual violence that is a characteristic of polygynous societies, and to which chastity assurance practices such as FGM are a response.{{Quote|[https://odi.org/en/publications/the-fallout-of-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/ The fallout of rape as a weapon of war]|[Liberia] has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases.}}The supposed perfection of Islam, makes it hard for Muslims to identify the social causes of the sexual violence endemic to their societies. It is instead attributed to notions that female sexuality is excessive, indiscriminate and dangerous if left unchecked by chastity assurance measures such as FGM. Islam thus creates a concurrence of dysfunctional marital, sexual and kinship practices. It overvalues the chastity and purity of females whilst, at the same time, creating sexually violent societies which put that very chastity and purity at increased risk. The solutions Islam offers to this conundrum exacerbate the problems thus creating a social and normative context in which chastity assurance measures such as FGM, become useful or even necessary.


====Sex-slavery====
====Sex-slavery====
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==Arguments de-linking FGM and Islam==
==Arguments de-linking FGM and Islam==
{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-075922/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. (see [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Female Genital Mutilation#Modern Fatwas|Modern Fatwas]])[[File:Fgmwordsearches.jpg|thumb|NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision'|link=]]An Ngram for the terms ‘fgm’, ‘female genital mutilation’ and ‘female circumcision’ shows an increased use of ‘mutilation’ and 'FGM' as against the more anodyne 'circumcision' 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 critical of FGM.
{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-075922/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. (see [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Female Genital Mutilation#Modern Fatwas|Modern Fatwas]])[[File:Fgmwordsearches.jpg|thumb|NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision'|link=]]An Ngram for the terms ‘fgm’, ‘female genital mutilation’ and ‘female circumcision’ shows an increased use of ‘mutilation’ and 'FGM' as against the more anodyne 'circumcision' 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 critical of FGM.
''<nowiki/>''
For the first time narratives critical of FGM started penetrating the Islamic world, parts of which began to feel uneasy about Islam's association with FGM, and have consequently sought to de-link the two by showing that FGM is un-Islamic.
For the first time narratives critical of FGM started penetrating the Islamic world, parts of which began to feel uneasy about Islam's association with FGM, and have consequently sought to de-link the two by showing that FGM is un-Islamic.


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