User:Flynnjed/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

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{{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'}}
{{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 is bowdlerised to make its content more acceptable to Western eyes and translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris' (see section [[#Defining Bazr|Defining Bazr)]].'''
'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 is bowdlerised to make its content more acceptable to Western eyes and translates the word 'bazr' ( بَظْرٌ ) as 'clitorial prepuce' instead of simply 'clitoris' (see section [[#Defining Bazr|Defining Bazr)]].


===Hanbali Madhab===
===Hanbali Madhab===
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==Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM==
==Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM==
There are two broad categories of causes for FGM: doctrinal causes and social causes. Doctrinal causes operate when people practice FGM because they believe their god requires them to do so (see the sections on [[#hadith|FGM in the Hadith]], [[#quran|FGM in the Qur'an]] and [[#law|FGM in Islamic law]]). However, as the previous section makes clear, FGM existed before Islam and, therefore its existence can not be explained only by its being advocated in Islamic doctrine. In fact FGM is
There are two broad categories of causes for FGM: doctrinal causes and social causes. Doctrinal causes operate when people practice FGM because they believe their god or religion requires them to do so (see the sections on [[#hadith|FGM in the Hadith]], [[#quran|FGM in the Qur'an]] and [[#law|FGM in Islamic law]]). However, as the previous section makes clear, FGM existed before Islam and, therefore Islamic doctrine does not completely explain its existence.
 
Much of what follows is based on the work of Gerry Mackie, who has conducted the most insightful work into the social origins of FGM, using comparative-historical sociology and game theory. <ref>[http://webarchiv.ethz.ch/soms/teaching/OppFall09/MackieFootbinding.pdf Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account - Gerry Mackie]</ref>


===the function of FGM===
===the function of FGM===
In polygynous societies it is only the richest and most powerful men who are able to afford to keep multiple wives. However, these high-status polygynous men face a problem guaranteeing the fidelity of their many wives - and the more wives they have the greater the problem becomes. In a monogamous marriage a husband and wife can spend much of their time with one another, and become close to one another, and their sexual and emotional needs are more-or-less proportional. A polygynous man may have two, four, hundred or even a thousand wives (note that under Islamic law places a limit on the number of wives a man may have, however it places no limit on the number of concubines/sex-slaves a man can own), whom he must satisfy emotionally and sexually, and whose desire for motherhood he must also satisfy. If one of his wive's needs are not satisfied, she may be tempted be unfaithful, and this may result in the high-status man rearing a child that is not his own. Which, evolutionary speaking, is a disaster.
FGM has its roots in polygyny, and only polygynous societies practice FGM. In polygynous societies it is only rich and high-status men who are able to afford to keep multiple wives. However, these high-status polygynous men face a problem guaranteeing the fidelity of their many wives - and the more wives they have the greater that problem becomes. In a monogamous marriage a husband and wife can spend much time together, become close to one another, and their sexual and emotional needs are more-or-less proportional. A polygynous man may have two, four, hundred or sometiems even a thousand wives/sex-slaves (note that Islamic law places no limit on the number of sex-slaves a man can own), whom he must satisfy emotionally and sexually, and whose desire for motherhood he must also satisfy. If one of his wive's needs are not satisfied, she will be tempted be unfaithful, and this may result in the high-status man rearing a child that is not his own. Which, evolutionary speaking, is a disaster.


In order to assure themselves of the chastity and fidelity of their many wives, polygynous men have developed a variety of Chastity Assurance practices:
In order to assure themselves of the chastity and fidelity of their many wives, polygynous men have developed a variety of Chastity Assurance practices:
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*'''footbinding''' (as once practiced by the Chinese) - which keeps wives from being unfaithful by reducing their mobility and independence;
*'''footbinding''' (as once practiced by the Chinese) - which keeps wives from being unfaithful by reducing their mobility and independence;
*'''chaperoning and gender segregation''' - which hamper and eliminate interactions between the sexes;
*'''chaperoning and gender segregation''' - which hamper and eliminate interactions between the sexes;
*'''arranged marriages''' - which obviate the dangers that romance and courting poses to a girl's chastity and reputation;
*'''arranged and child marriages''' - which obviate the dangers that romance and courting poses to a girl's chastity and reputation;
*'''veiling''' - which makes girls less interesting and identifiable to males;
*'''veiling''' - which makes girls less interesting and identifiable to males;
*'''Female Genital Mutilation''' - which reduces a girl's capacity for sexual pleasure both physically (through the removal of the clitoris and labia) and mentally (through the effects of trauma). Where a girl has been infibulated her chastity is further guaranteed because her vaginal opening is sealed with a covering of skin, the penetration of which is extremely painful and which leads to severe hemorrhaging that is difficult to conceal.
 
FGM is, of course, a Chastity Assurance practice. It reduces a girl's capacity for sexual pleasure both physically (through the removal of the clitoris and labia) and mentally (through the effects of trauma). Where a girl has been infibulated her chastity is further guaranteed because her vaginal opening is sealed with a covering of skin, the penetration of which is extremely painful and which leads to severe hemorrhaging that is difficult to conceal.


Marriages to high status men are highly advantageous, to both potential brides and their families, who will benefit from having a high status male as a relative. The urge for women to marry into higher strata of society is called ''hypergyny''. It is universal to all societies, but is much more intense in polygynous societies. This is probably because in monogamous societies, once a high-status man marries he is no longer available, whereas in polygynous societies a married high-status man remains available.
Marriages to high status men are highly advantageous, to both potential brides and their families, who will benefit from having a high status male as a relative. The urge for women to marry into higher strata of society is called ''hypergyny''. It is universal to all societies, but is much more intense in polygynous societies. This is probably because in monogamous societies, once a high-status man marries he is no longer available, whereas in polygynous societies a married high-status man remains available.
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A Moslem with four wives and ninety-six sex slaves faces the same fidelity-assurance challenges as a non-Moslem with a hundred wives. And four wives are as likely to be a source of anxiety as four sex-slaves. They are therefore are both equally likely to require wives who are mutilated (though a slave-trader may be more disposed to employing the practice on a ''captured'' female than a loving parent on a daughter).
A Moslem with four wives and ninety-six sex slaves faces the same fidelity-assurance challenges as a non-Moslem with a hundred wives. And four wives are as likely to be a source of anxiety as four sex-slaves. They are therefore are both equally likely to require wives who are mutilated (though a slave-trader may be more disposed to employing the practice on a ''captured'' female than a loving parent on a daughter).
=== the persistence of FGM ===


==FGM in the modern Islamic world==
==FGM in the modern Islamic world==
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