Female Genital Mutilation in Islam: Difference between revisions

Islamic FGM is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a 'Rite of Passage'. Rites of Passage are essentially symbolic whilst FGM is functional (as a chastity assurance measure) and technical (its performance is more akin to, for example, a visit to the dentist than a religious service). But the FGM practiced where Islamic influence is weakest (e.g. coastal West Africa) often takes on aspects of initiation ritual and loses aspects of Islamic FGM, for example the Islamic anxieties around 'purity' are entirely absent in the FGM practiced by the Sandé of Liberia and Sierra Leone.<ref>Mende Sowei part 1 - youtu.be/ZTjU1dyavRw</ref><ref>Mende Sande Initiation Part 2 - youtu.be/zTanZWkvm5o</ref>  

*'''Severance''' - where the initiand breaks with previous people, practices and routines;