Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220221050304/https%3A%2F%2Fcourtingthelaw.com%2F2016%2F04%2F28%2Fcommentary%2Fislam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm%2F Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|Ayatollah Khamenei, the leading scholar among contemporary jurists of Iran, says that FGM is permissible but not obligatory for women. He also states that if the husband wants his wife to be circumcised then it might be carried out if it isn’t harmful for her.}}{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-045325/https://courtingthelaw.com/2016/04/28/commentary/islam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm/ Islam And Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)]|Ayatullah ali al hussaini ali Sistani form Iraq said in his fatwa in 2010 that FGM is not haram (prohibited). Later in 2014 he revised his fatwa and said that FGM is harmful for the female victims and it isn’t permissible or part of any Islamic injunction.}}{{Quote|Al-Amili (died 1559, shiite)|Boys must be circumcised when they become adult…. and it is preferable that women be circumcised even if they are adult.}}{{Quote|Al-Tusi (died 1067, shiite)|The circumcision of female slaves, if performed, is great honor and precious merit. If not, nothing bad in it.}}

In 2017 two doctors and a third woman connected to the Dawoodi Bohra in Detroit, Michigan, were arrested on charges of conducting FGM on two seven-year-old girls in the United States. Their Attorney confirmed that FGM was, for her clients, a religious practice<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220224140527/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/26/health/fgm-indictment-michigan/index.html Prosecutor: 'Brutal' genital mutilation won't be tolerated in US]</ref>:{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-044404/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/26/health/fgm-indictment-michigan/index.html 'Prosecutor: 'Brutal' genital mutilation won't be tolerated in US' - CNN]|They have a [right] to practice their religion. And they are Muslims and they’re being under attack for it. I believe that they are being persecuted because of their religious beliefs}}

{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-052246/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/q-and/2005/03/08/irin-interview-sheikh-omer-muslim-religious-leader IRIN interview with Sheikh Omer, a Muslim religious leader, Ethiopia (2005)]|“Medical research […] does not show that the Sunnah circumcision – cutting only the outer part of the clitoris – has caused any medical complications […] Islam condones the Sunnah circumcision; it is acceptable. What’s forbidden in Islam is the pharaonic circumcision [...] Islamic scholars believe that female circumcision is different from male circumcision. They have a strong view that female circumcision is allowed, and that there is no evidence from Islamic sources prohibiting female circumcision, unless it is pharaonic.”}}'<nowiki/>'''Pharaonic circumcision'''<nowiki/>' is a synonym for Infibulation.{{Quote|[https://islamqa.info/en/answers/82859/is-there-any-saheeh-hadeeth-about-the-circumcision-of-females Is there any saheeh hadeeth about the circumcision of females? (2006)]|"It is also indicated by the general meaning of the evidence that has been narrated concerning circumcision, such as the hadeeth in al-Bukhaari (5891) and Muslim (527) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him): I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”   

The issue of Female Genital Mutilation was discussed by Muzakarah The 87th National Fatwa Committee convened on 23-25 June 2009. In this conference, Muzakarah members agreed decided that: After examining the evidence, arguments and views submitted, Muzakarah is of the view that the practice of circumcision for women is part of the syiar of the ummah Islam. While the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is contrary to the practice of circumcision prescribed by syarak. Accordingly, in line with the view jumhur ulama, Muzakarah agreed to decide that the law circumcision for women is compulsory. However, if it can bring harm to oneself, then it is should be avoided."}}[[File:Fgmflyer-mozlem-brotherhood.jpg|thumb|Muslim Brotherhood flyer promoting FGM (amongst other medical services)|link=]]{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-053608/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mutilating-bodies-muslim-brotherhoods-gift-to-egyptian-women/ Mutilating bodies: the Muslim Brotherhood’s gift to Egyptian women, (2012)]|“The second strategy of the [Muslim Brotherhood] to contest the undesirability of FGM is to present it as a medical operation or procedure. By doing so, they encourage people to go to doctors – rather than midwives – who will perform the “operation” under anaesthesia and in accordance with proper surgical procedures […] Some people talk about taking their daughters to the doctor to check whether “they need it or not”, as if there is a physiological condition that would justify mutilating a woman’s reproductive organs […] Some doctors believe that not circumcising females leads to sexual arousal and that this could lead to the committing unlawful acts. So circumcision is a duty for the protection of the honour of the believing woman and for the preservation of her chastity and purity […] The third strategy deployed by the Brothers to promote FGM is to push for its decriminalization, under the premise that it is a matter that should be left to the personal choice of the girls’ guardians […] “the decision is up to the guardian and the doctor who decides on the extent to which the girl needs this operation”}}{{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, (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 [...]In The Protocols of the Elders of Zion it is written: 'We must strive for the collapse of morals, so that it will be easier for us to dominate the world.'[...] Female circumcision is a preventive medical measure. Someone who is uncircumcised will be afflicted with many serious diseases{...]"}}{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2016.02.09-070313/https://islamqa.info/en/60314 Circumcision of girls and some doctors’ criticism thereof] – islamqa (2018)]|“Circumcision is not an inherited custom as some people claim, rather it is prescribed in Islam and the scholars are unanimously agreed that it is prescribed. Not a single Muslim scholar – as far as we know – has said that circumcision is not prescribed. Their evidence is to be found in the saheeh ahaadeeth of the Prophet, which prove that it is prescribed [...] With regard to the criticism of circumcision by some doctors, and their claim that it is harmful both physically and psychologically, This criticism of theirs is not valid. It is sufficient for us Muslims that something be proven to be from the Prophet [...], then we will follow it, and we are certain that it is beneficial and not harmful. If it were harmful, Allaah and His Messenger [...] would not have prescribed it for us [...] As for the opinions of doctors who say that female circumcision is harmful, these are individual opinions which are not derived from any agreed scientific basis, and they do not form an established scientific opinion […] medical theories about disease and the way to treat it are not fixed, rather they change with time and with ongoing research. So it is not correct to rely on them when criticizing circumcision which the Wise and All-Knowing Lawgiver has decreed in His wisdom for mankind. Experience has taught us that the wisdom behind some rulings and Sunnahs may be hidden from us. May Allaah help us all to follow the right path.”}}

{{Quote|1=[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-070320/https://w3i.target-nehberg.de/HP-08_fatwa/index.php?p=fatwaAzhar Professor Ali Gom’a, Grand Mufti of Egypt, (2006)]|2=“Allah has endowed people with dignity. In the Qur'an, Allah says: "We have honored the children of Adam". Therefore, Allah forbids all harm to people, regardless of social status and gender. Female genital cutting is an inherited bad habit practiced in some societies and has been adopted in imitation by some Muslims in several countries. This without a textual basis in the Koran or an authentic tradition of the prophet. Female genital cutting practiced today causes physical and psychological damage to women. Therefore, these practices must be stopped, based on one of the highest values ​​of Islam, namely not to harm people - according to the saying of the Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him: "Do not harm and do no harm to anyone". Rather, it is considered a criminal aggression. The conference appeals to Muslims to put an end to this bad habit according to the teachings of Islam, which prohibit harming people in any way. The participants of the conference also call on the international and regional institutions and bodies to concentrate their efforts on educating and informing the population. This applies in particular to the basic hygienic and medical rules that must be adhered to towards women so that this bad habit is no longer practiced.The conference reminds educational institutions and the media that they have an absolute duty to educate about the harms of this bad habit and its devastating consequences for society in order to help eliminate this bad habit. The conference calls on the legislative bodies to pass a law that prohibits practitioners from the harmful bad habit of female genital cutting and declares it a crime, regardless of whether the practitioner is the perpetrator or the initiator. Furthermore, the conference calls on the international institutions and organizations to provide aid in all regions in which this bad habit is practiced, in order to contribute to its elimination.”}}{{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)]|“The Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union, the highest Muslim authority in Iraqi Kurdistan for religious pronouncements and rulings, issued a fatwa or religious edict last month [...]this particular fatwa stated that "female circumcision" is not an Islamic practice.While the fatwa did not forbid the practice [...] 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. Until last month, the Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union had not joined those ranks [...] The fatwa will help dispel that belief and should begin to lead to a reduction of the practice in the name of Islam.

{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2015.01.20-032048/http://www.stopfgmmideast.org/the-point-of-view-of-the-supreme-leader-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-on-female-genital-mutilation/ Fatwa of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, (2014)]|In response to a question of the author of the book Razor and Tradition, which discusses Female Genital Mutilation,'' [Khamenei] ''noted that female circumcision is permissible but not obligatory"

The answer is: “Although implementation of husband’s order is obligatory for the wife if it does not have disadvantages or it is not harmful for the wife, she has to listen to her husband’s request.”}}{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-045325/https://courtingthelaw.com/2016/04/28/commentary/islam-and-female-genital-mutilation-fgm/ Islam And Female Genital Mutilation, Pakistan, (2016)]|The group of jurists from different schools of thoughts reject the permissibility of FGM in Islam and do not consider it part of the injunctions of Islam. Their arguments are as follows:

{{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.”}}

{{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 most Islamic schools and scholars do not make FGM obligatory. Only the Shafi'i madhab (the second or third largest school of Sunni Islam) and some Hanbali scholars decree FGM to be obligatory in Islam.   

{{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.}}