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Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions
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Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law (view source)
Revision as of 14:25, 29 May 2021
, 29 May 2021→Not All Muslims Practice FGM
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Nor are all Islamic practices obligatory: polygyny and child marriage are not obligatory, and whilst a Muslim 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. And where a practice is not obligatory it is generally the case that 'not all Muslims' - or onlyn a minority of Muslims - practice it. | Nor are all Islamic practices obligatory: polygyny and child marriage are not obligatory, and whilst a Muslim 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. And where a practice is not obligatory it is generally the case that 'not all Muslims' - or onlyn a minority of Muslims - practice it. | ||
Variations in the stances of the schools of fiqh to a large extent account for why not all Muslims practice FGM. The schools' different levels of obligation are reflected in the incidence of FGM. The Shafi'i school makes FGM obligatory and Shafi'i communities generally have +90% FGM-rates. The Maliki and Hanbali schools recommend it - and the FGM rates in those communities are generally lower than with Shafi'i communities. The Hanafi school merely allows FGM - and Hanafi communities largely eschew FGM | Variations in the stances of the schools of fiqh to a large extent account for why not all Muslims practice FGM. The schools' different levels of obligation are reflected in the incidence of FGM. The Shafi'i school makes FGM obligatory and Shafi'i communities generally have +90% FGM-rates. The Maliki and Hanbali schools recommend it - and the FGM rates in those communities are generally lower than with Shafi'i communities. The Hanafi school merely allows FGM - and Hanafi communities largely eschew FGM. Where it is merely 'allowed' or 'tolerated' is it surprising that many parents abstain from an act that must go against their deepest instincts? | ||
Islam's base-line position is that of ''not forbidding'' FGM. But FGM is not an ethically neutral act, such as the Eucharist - swallowing a wafer - or Baptism - sprinkling water on a baby's head. FGM is an act of mutilation carried out on a child. 'Not forbidding' is no more the appropriate base-line for such an act than it would be for child sexual abuse, rape or murder. Likewise a legal system does not need to make child sexual abuse ''compulsory'' for it to be defined as being favourable to child sexual abuse - it is sufficient that it ''fails to forbid'' child sexual abuse to earn itself that label. | Islam's base-line position is that of ''not forbidding'' FGM. But FGM is not an ethically neutral act, such as the Eucharist - swallowing a wafer - or Baptism - sprinkling water on a baby's head. FGM is an act of mutilation carried out on a child. 'Not forbidding' is no more the appropriate base-line for such an act than it would be for child sexual abuse, rape or murder. Likewise a legal system does not need to make child sexual abuse ''compulsory'' for it to be defined as being favourable to child sexual abuse - it is sufficient that it ''fails to forbid'' child sexual abuse to earn itself that label. | ||