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Women Under Islam (Part Four of Four)
by Adrian Morgan
Female Genital Mutilation
Much has been written on the so-called "circumcising" of women, more
appropriately called female genital mutilation or FGM. Globally, 130 million
women and girls are said to have been "circumcised". As a cultural practice, FGM
has probably been in existence for thousands of years. It has traditionally
happened across Equatorial Africa, yet in the East and Horn of Africa it appears
more widespread, probably as a result of Islamist influence.
In Yemen and Saudi Arabia the custom takes place, but in Saudi Arabia it is
common only in the south of the kingdom. In the United Arab Emirates
FGM is
not illegal, though public hospitals are forbidden from carrying out
the procedure. It was primarily a custom of Somali, Omani, and Sudanese
expatriates. However, there have been stories of European Muslims been sent to
private clinics in UAE to have the operation. A study from the mid-1990s
found that 30.8 percent of girls between the ages of 1 and 5 had
undergone FGM.
In Egypt, at least 90 percent of women are believed to have undergone FGM. In
2005, a report by UNICEF had claimed that 97 percent of Egyptian women aged
15-49 had undergone the operation. Here, the issue has been a source of
controversy. A CNN broadcast from 1994, in which a 10-year-old girl in Egypt was
shown being "operated upon" by an unskilled practitioner, caused a hostile
reaction. Egypt sued CNN for $500 million for damaging its reputation, but the
case was thrown out by courts.
In
1995, after President Hosni Mubarak announced his intention to ban the
practice, he was persuaded to drop prohibitive legislation. The move to ban FGM
had been supported by Dr. Mohammed Syed Tantawi, the Mufti of Egypt, but had
been fiercely opposed by the Sheikh of Al Azhar University, the largest Sunni
theological college. Even a gynecologist from Cairo University, Dr. Munir Fawzi,
stated: "Female circumcision is entrenched in Islamic life and teaching."
However, FGM was banned in general in Egypt in 1996, but was allowed in some
circumstances if carried out by a doctor.
In
November 2006 an international conference of scholars took place at
Al Azhar in Cairo, and the general consensus was that the practice was
"un-Islamic". In a final statement, the scholars announced: "The conference
appeals to all Muslims to stop practicing this habit, according to Islam's
teachings which prohibit inflicting harm on any human being." Finally, on
June 28 2007, it was announced that the Egyptian health ministry had
banned the medical profession from carrying out FGM, effectively outlawing it
universally. On Sunday
June 24 the Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa had said that there was no Islamic
justification for FGM.
The edict by the Mufti and health ministry had come after an 11-year-old girl,
Budour Ahmed Shaker, died after such an operation on June 21. Budour's mother
had paid a doctor in Mina, just south of Cairo, $9 to perform the operation. The
procedure had gone wrong and the girl
died from an overdose of anesthetic.
There is one Hadith in the collection of
Sunan Abu Dawud which claims that Mohammed approved of the practice
for girls. Book 41 (Kitab Al-Adab or "General Behavior"), Hadith 5251 states:
“Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in
Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that
is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband”.
Though Sunan Abu Dawud is not regarded as "sahih" or "authentic" in the manner
of the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim, the above Hadith is often
quoted by Islamic scholars as a justification for FGM. The "spiritual leader" of
the Muslim Brotherhood is Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He has
stated: "It is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said to a midwife: 'Reduce the size of the clitoris but do not exceed the
limit, for that is better for her health and is preferred by husbands'. The
hadith indicates that circumcision is better for a woman's health and it
enhances her conjugal relation with her husband. It's noteworthy that the
Prophet's saying 'do not exceed the limit' means do not totally remove the
clitoris... Anyhow, it is not obligatory, whoever finds it serving the interest
of his daughters should do it, and I personally support this under the current
circumstances in the modern world."
The World Health Organization has long campaigned for FGM to be abolished. Three
"types" of FGM are described. The method approved of by Qaradawi is Type 1:
"Excision (removal) of the clitoral hood with or without removal of all or part
of the clitoris." Type 2 is "Excision of the clitoris, together with part or all
of the labia minora (the inner vaginal lips). This is the most widely practiced
form." Type 3 (sometimes called infibulation) is extreme: "Excision of part or
all of the external genitalia (clitoris, labia minora and labia majora), and
stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening, leaving a very small opening,
about the size of a matchstick, to allow for the flow of urine and menstrual
blood. Also known as pharaonic circumcision." There is a Type 4, which refers to
pricking, stretching or cauterizing. Type 4 rarely happens in Muslim
communities.
...
Posted by
American Infidel at
7/05/2007 02:04:00 PM
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4117901173081915796&postID=6014834149060044109
Source:
http://americaninfidelsmusts.blogspot.com/2007/07/must-read-women-under-islam-parts-1.html
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