Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

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This school is named after the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (d. 767) and is school with the largest number of followers among Sunni muslims. Abū Ḥanīfa maintained that FGM is not obligatory but optional or recommended.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|The Hanafi view is that it is a sunnah (optional act) for both females and males}}{{Quote|Al-Musuli (died 1284, hanafite)|Circumcision is sunnah and fitrah. For women, circumcision is makrumah. If the inhabitants of a country reach a unanimous decision to abandon circumcision, the Imam has to wage war against them as it is one of the rituals and a specificity of Islam.}}
This school is named after the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (d. 767) and is school with the largest number of followers among Sunni muslims. Abū Ḥanīfa maintained that FGM is not obligatory but optional or recommended.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|The Hanafi view is that it is a sunnah (optional act) for both females and males}}{{Quote|Al-Musuli (died 1284, hanafite)|Circumcision is sunnah and fitrah. For women, circumcision is makrumah. If the inhabitants of a country reach a unanimous decision to abandon circumcision, the Imam has to wage war against them as it is one of the rituals and a specificity of Islam.}}
===Shafi'i Madhab===
===Shafi'i Madhab===
The Shafi’i school was founded by the Arab scholar Al-Shafi‘i in the early 9th century. The Shafi’i school rejects two interpretative heuristics that are accepted by other major schools of Islam: Istihsan (juristic preference) and Istislah (public interest), heuristics by which compassion and welfare can be integrated into Islamic law-making. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is obligatory in the Shafi'i madhab. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school of fiqh.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Shafi’i view it as wajib (obligatory) for both females and males}}'Reliance of the Traveller' by by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302–1367) is the Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law according to Shafi'i School.{{Quote|''Reliance of the Traveler'' [''Umdat al-Salik''], Section e4.3 on Circumcision|'''Obligatory (on every male and female) is circumcision.''' (And it is the cutting-off of the skin [''qat' al-jaldah''] on the glans of the male member and, '''as for the circumcision of the female, that is the cutting-off of the clitoris')'''}}Nuh Ha Mim Keller's 1991 translation of 'Reliance of the Traveller' translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris'.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/RelianceOfThetraveller/New%20Folder/RelianceOfThetraveller_by_AhmadIbnNaqib-al-misri_english-arabic/page/n77/mode/2up Reliance Of The traveller (عمدة السالك وعدة الناسك) By Ahmad Ibn Naqib Al Misri English Arabic]</ref> This is disputed because 1/ the usage is obscure and 2/ it leaves Arabic without a word for 'clitoris'.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220114145023/https://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=14,ll=38,ls=1,la=1,sg=20,ha=21,br=26,pr=9,aan=24,mgf=33,vi=51,kz=10,mr=25,mn=1,uqw=106,umr=26,ums=14,umj=34,ulq=247,uqa=17,uqq=2,bdw=h19,amr=h7,asb=h17,auh=h37,dhq=h2,mht=h6,msb=h8,tla=h8,amj=h22,ens=h1,mis=h1 '''بعث''' | Lane's Lexicon, page 222]</ref>
The Shafi’i school was founded by the Arab scholar Al-Shafi‘i in the early 9th century. The Shafi’i school rejects two interpretative heuristics that are accepted by other major schools of Islam: Istihsan (juristic preference) and Istislah (public interest), heuristics by which compassion and welfare can be integrated into Islamic law-making. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is obligatory in the Shafi'i madhab. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school of fiqh.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Shafi’i view it as wajib (obligatory) for both females and males}}'Reliance of the Traveller' by by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302–1367) is the Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law according to Shafi'i School.{{Quote|''Reliance of the Traveler'' [''Umdat al-Salik''], Section e4.3 on Circumcision|'''Obligatory (on every male and female) is circumcision.''' (And it is the cutting-off of the skin [''qat' al-jaldah''] on the glans of the male member and, '''as for the circumcision of the female, that is the cutting-off of the clitoris')'''}}Nuh Ha Mim Keller's 1991 translation of 'Reliance of the Traveller' translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris'.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/RelianceOfThetraveller/New%20Folder/RelianceOfThetraveller_by_AhmadIbnNaqib-al-misri_english-arabic/page/n77/mode/2up Reliance Of The traveller (عمدة السالك وعدة الناسك) By Ahmad Ibn Naqib Al Misri English Arabic]</ref> This is disputed because 1/ the usage is obscure and 2/ it leaves Arabic without a word for 'clitoris'.<ref>[https://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=14,ll=38,ls=1,la=1,sg=20,ha=21,br=26,pr=9,aan=24,mgf=33,vi=51,kz=10,mr=25,mn=1,uqw=106,umr=26,ums=14,umj=34,ulq=247,uqa=17,uqq=2,bdw=h19,amr=h7,asb=h17,auh=h37,dhq=h2,mht=h6,msb=h8,tla=h8,amj=h22,ens=h1,mis=h1 '''بعث''' | Lane's Lexicon, page 222]</ref>
===Hanbali Madhab===
===Hanbali Madhab===
The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Ahmad ibn Hanbal studied under Al-Shafi‘i (founder of the Shafi’i school) and inherited his deep concerns about the jurists of his time, who were ready to reinterpret the doctrines of the Koran and Hadiths to pander to public opinion and the demands of the rich and powerful. Ibn Hanbal advocated a return to the literal interpretation of Koran and Hadiths. This has made the Hanbali school intensely traditionalist. Today’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi–Salafist movement is an offshoot of this school. The Hanbali school, unlike the Hanafi and Maliki schools, reject ''Istihsan'' (jurist discretion) and ''Urf'' (the customs of Muslims) as a sound basis by which to derive Islamic law.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Hanbali have two opinions: -it is wajib (obligatory) for both males and females – it is wajib (obligatory) for males and makrumah (honourable) for females.}}{{Quote|Al-Qudamah (died 1223, hanbalite)|Circumcision is obligatory for men, and noble deed for women and not obligatory according to many scholars. Ahmad said: circumcision for men is more important for men than for women, as the foreskin is pending over the glans, therefore what is behind cannot be cleaned. Female circumcision is also prescribed for women. Abu-Abdallah said that the hadith “If the two circumcised membranes meet, ghusl is necessary” means that female circumcision was practiced. According to the hadith of Umar, a circumciser woman performed circumcision; he told her: leave some of it if you circumcise. It is also reported that the Prophet Muhammad said to the circumciser woman: Cut very slightly and do not exaggerate as it is preferable for the husband and better for the face.}}{{Quote|Al-Bahuti (died 1641, Hanbalite)|male and female circumcision are obligatory.}}{{Quote|Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (died 1328, Hanbalite)|Praise be to Allah. Yes, they should be circumcised, i.e., the top of the piece of skin that looks like a rooster’s comb should be cut. The Messenger of Allah said to the woman who did circumcisions: “Leave something sticking out and do not go to extremes in cutting. That makes her face look brighter and is more pleasing to her husband.” That is because the purpose of circumcising a man is to make him clean from the impurity that may collect beneath the foreskin. But the purpose of circumcising women is to regulate their desire, because if a woman is not circumcised her desire will be strong. Hence the words “O son of an uncircumcised woman” are used as an insult, because the uncircumcised woman has stronger desire. Hence immoral actions are more common among the women of the Tatars and the Franks, that are not found among the Muslim women. If the circumcision is too severe, the desire is weakened altogether, which is unpleasing for men; but if it is cut without going to extremes in that, the purpose will be achieved, which is moderating desire. And Allah knows best.}}{{Quote|Ibn Qayyim (died 1350, Hanbalite)|Khitaan is a noun describing the action of the circumciser (khaatin). It is also used to describe the site of the circumcision, as in the hadith, “When the two circumcised parts (al-khitaanaan) meet, ghusl become obligatory.” In the case of a female the word used is khafad. In the male it is also called i’dhaar. The one who is uncircumcised is called aghlaf or aqlaf.}}{{Quote|Ibn Taymiyya (1263 - 1328), Hanbalite)|[FGM's] purpose is to reduce the woman's desire; if she is uncircumcised, she becomes lustful and tends to long more for men.}}
The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Ahmad ibn Hanbal studied under Al-Shafi‘i (founder of the Shafi’i school) and inherited his deep concerns about the jurists of his time, who were ready to reinterpret the doctrines of the Koran and Hadiths to pander to public opinion and the demands of the rich and powerful. Ibn Hanbal advocated a return to the literal interpretation of Koran and Hadiths. This has made the Hanbali school intensely traditionalist. Today’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi–Salafist movement is an offshoot of this school. The Hanbali school, unlike the Hanafi and Maliki schools, reject ''Istihsan'' (jurist discretion) and ''Urf'' (the customs of Muslims) as a sound basis by which to derive Islamic law.{{Quote|[https://unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/De-linking%20FGM%20from%20Islam%20final%20report.pdf 'Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam'] by Ibrahim Lethome Asmani & Maryam Sheikh Abdi (2008)|Hanbali have two opinions: -it is wajib (obligatory) for both males and females – it is wajib (obligatory) for males and makrumah (honourable) for females.}}{{Quote|Al-Qudamah (died 1223, hanbalite)|Circumcision is obligatory for men, and noble deed for women and not obligatory according to many scholars. Ahmad said: circumcision for men is more important for men than for women, as the foreskin is pending over the glans, therefore what is behind cannot be cleaned. Female circumcision is also prescribed for women. Abu-Abdallah said that the hadith “If the two circumcised membranes meet, ghusl is necessary” means that female circumcision was practiced. According to the hadith of Umar, a circumciser woman performed circumcision; he told her: leave some of it if you circumcise. It is also reported that the Prophet Muhammad said to the circumciser woman: Cut very slightly and do not exaggerate as it is preferable for the husband and better for the face.}}{{Quote|Al-Bahuti (died 1641, Hanbalite)|male and female circumcision are obligatory.}}{{Quote|Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (died 1328, Hanbalite)|Praise be to Allah. Yes, they should be circumcised, i.e., the top of the piece of skin that looks like a rooster’s comb should be cut. The Messenger of Allah said to the woman who did circumcisions: “Leave something sticking out and do not go to extremes in cutting. That makes her face look brighter and is more pleasing to her husband.” That is because the purpose of circumcising a man is to make him clean from the impurity that may collect beneath the foreskin. But the purpose of circumcising women is to regulate their desire, because if a woman is not circumcised her desire will be strong. Hence the words “O son of an uncircumcised woman” are used as an insult, because the uncircumcised woman has stronger desire. Hence immoral actions are more common among the women of the Tatars and the Franks, that are not found among the Muslim women. If the circumcision is too severe, the desire is weakened altogether, which is unpleasing for men; but if it is cut without going to extremes in that, the purpose will be achieved, which is moderating desire. And Allah knows best.}}{{Quote|Ibn Qayyim (died 1350, Hanbalite)|Khitaan is a noun describing the action of the circumciser (khaatin). It is also used to describe the site of the circumcision, as in the hadith, “When the two circumcised parts (al-khitaanaan) meet, ghusl become obligatory.” In the case of a female the word used is khafad. In the male it is also called i’dhaar. The one who is uncircumcised is called aghlaf or aqlaf.}}{{Quote|Ibn Taymiyya (1263 - 1328), Hanbalite)|[FGM's] purpose is to reduce the woman's desire; if she is uncircumcised, she becomes lustful and tends to long more for men.}}
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