ByMike
Scruggs
According
to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), female genital mutilation (FGM)
refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female
external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical
reasons.”
FGM is
particularly common in about 30 predominantly Muslim countries, but it is
uncommon in as many more. Worldwide, about 22 percent of Muslim women and girls
have endured FGM. There is no direct reference to FGM in the Koran, and
Muhammad did not institute it. However, according to reliable Muslim
scholarship, he did speak favorably of it but with a recommendation for
moderation. Because Muhammad spoke of it, it has found its way into Sharia Law.
The Koran
is by no means the only sacred foundational document in Islam. Islamic
doctrines are formed by a trilogy of foundational writings believed by Islamic
scholars to be reliable. The Koran is most sacred, but it represents only about
14 percent the words of Islam’s doctrinal sources.
The Hadiths
are collections of Muhammad’s sayings that are almost as sacred and are
necessary and explanatory in understanding the Koran. The Hadith collections
make up 60 percent Islam’s sacred trilogy. Each Hadith collection is composed
of individual hadiths, which are usually no more than a short paragraph quote.
The Sira is a collection of approved histories of Muhammad, making up another
26 percent of the sacred trilogy.
Together
the Hadiths and the Sira are often referred to as the Sunna. Whatever is sunna
is right, noble, and reliable according to Muhammad. The Koran refers to
Muhammad 91 times as the perfect Muslim, so the Golden Rule of Islam is to
follow the example of Muhammad. Sharia Law, which is obligatory for all
Muslims, is the legal codification of the sayings and example of the Koran and
Muhammad.
In the
classic and most respected Sharia Law manual Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the
Traveller) by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302-1367) and translated by Nuh Ha Mim
Keller in 1988, “circumcision” is covered in Section e4.3. This is on page 59
of my 2015 English and Arabic edition.
“Circumcision
is obligatory for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the
prepuce from the penis, and for women of the prepuce of the clitoris (not the
clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (Hanbalis hold that circumcision
is not obligatory but sunna [honorable according to Muhammad], while Hanafis
consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)”
Perhaps
this alternative translation is more understandable: “Circumcision is
obligatory for every male and female. This is done by cutting off the piece of
skin on the glans of the penis of the male. Circumcision of the female is by
cutting off part of the external fold of the labia minora forming a cap over
the clitoris.”
There are
four jurisprudential schools (Madhhab) in Sunni Islam, which are nearly
identical in 75 percent of issues and close in most others. Ahmad ibn Naqib
al-Misri was of the Shafii school. The Shafii school considers “circumcision”
for both men and women, obligatory, while the Maliki, Hanbali, and Hanafi
schools consider “circumcision” for women not obligatory but preferable or
honorable (sunna), according to the example and words of Muhammad.
The Shafii
school is the most conservative in sticking to the Koran, Sunna, and historical
scholarly consensus in their jurisprudence. Malik ibn Anas (711-795) founded
the earliest school of jurisprudence, and Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii (767-820)
was one of his pupils. The Maliki school
of Jurisprudence Ottoman Empire and is the most inclined
to be influenced by opinion. Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780-855) established the Hanbali
school, which is the smallest but predominates in influential Saudi Arabia
The Sunni
jurisprudence schools are not exclusive in regional influence but have roughly
defined areas of geographical dominance. The Hanafi school is the largest in
Sunni Islam with perhaps 40 percent and dominates Western and Central
Asia . The Maliki with perhaps 33 percent dominates in North and West Africa . Shafii is third largest with more than 20
percent and dominates East Africa including Egypt ,
Southeast Asia, and Yemen Syria , northern Iraq Saudi Arabia , which has financed the building of
many mosques in the U.S. and
Western Europe .
The Shafii
school punches with power far above its numbers. The author of the most used
and respected Sharia Law manual, Ibn Naqib, was Shafii, and the six most
respected and reliable Hadith collections are all Shafii. They are in the usual
order of esteem: Sahih (authentic) al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud.
Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa’l, and Sunan Ibn Majah. Hence it is not easy
to dismiss the Shafii claim that female “circumcision” is obligatory.
Shia Islam
represents no more than 15 percent of Islam. It has three schools of
jurisprudence. Jafari (Twelvers) is the largest with 85 percent of the total,
and its position on female “circumcision” is similar to Hanafi and Hanbali
Sunnis. Female circumcision is honorable but not obligatory. It is frequently
practiced, however, by those influenced by the smaller Zaydi and Ismaili
jurisprudence schools.
There is a
wide difference in Islam of those who practice FGM in its severity. The World
Health Organization does not recommend female “circumcision” or any degree of
FGM, but recognizes four different types: Type I, partial or total removal of
the clitoris or prepuce; Type II, Partial or total removal of the clitoris and
labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora; Type III, Narrowing
of the vaginal orifice by cutting and bringing together the labia minora and/or
the labia majora to create a type of seal, with or without excision of the
clitoris. In most instances, the cut edges of the labia are stitched together,
which is referred to as ‘infibulation;” Type IV, Although usually less severe,
all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes,
for example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.
Female
“circumcision” in Islam is based on some hadiths recorded by Muhammad’s
followers. The clearest quoted here has its own ambiguities:
“Narrated
Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina
“Abu al-
Malih ibn Usama’s father relates that the Prophet said: ‘Circumcision is a law
for men and a preservation of honor for women.’” — Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75
This hadith
is classified as Sahih (reliable) and indicates Aisha was circumcised: “Aisha
narrated: ‘When the circumcised meets the circumcised, then indeed Ghusl
[purification] is required. Myself and Allah’s Messenger did that, so we
performed Ghusl.” (Jami al-Tirmidhi 108)
However,
there is no shortage of Muslim leadership strongly opposing FGM. The
Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), representing 57 UN nations called
for ending FGM in 2013. In 2005, a dean of Al-Azhar University of Cairo
declared the act of infibulation (Type III) to be criminal. An International
Islamic Conference held in Cairo
The Muslim
Brotherhood has not taken a position on FGM but has generally opposed banning
it. That is a problem throughout Islam. Although many oppose it, few dare
prohibiting it, because it is recognized as sunna. FGM’s prevalence remains
very strong in Sub-Saharan central Africa, Egypt ,
Southeastern Asia, and among Kurds Eight African nations have FGM rates over 80
percent: Somalia 98%, Guinea 96%, Djibouti
93% Egypt 91%, Eritrea 89%, Mali
89%, Sierra Leone 88%, and Sudan Malaysia Iraq Syria
and Iran
It is
obvious that high rates of FGM is highly correlated with areas dominated by
Shafii school of jurisprudence, but the high incidence of FGM in West Africa
must surely also have a connection to Maliki influence.
The British
National Health Service (NHS) has taken a strong position against FGM and
supplied valuable advice on its harmful medical and psychological consequences,
but it makes the false claim, undoubtedly bowing to prevalent political
correctness and laws against “Islamo-phobia,” that no religion requires FGM.
This is a dangerous half-truth.
Most of
Islam honors it as noble but does not require it, and a large minority makes it
obligatory. Furthermore, few are willing to ban it, because Muhammad made it
sunna, and the Golden Rule of all of Islam is to follow the example of
Muhammad. Many apologists for Islam say that FGM is cultural, originated among
pagan African tribes, and is not religious.
But
Muhammad found it thriving in Arabia and
termed it noble rather than prohibiting it. Wearing a wreath of nobility, which
could not be discarded, FGM spread primarily through the advance of Islam.
Albeit, some of the most severe forms of it found in Somalia France , Sweden , Germany ,
UK
(Courtesy:
The Tribune Papers)