User:Flynnjed/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

'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)]].'''

{{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.'}}

'''(1986)''' ''"Thus it is clear that female circumcision is prescribed in Islam, and that it is one of the Sunnahs of the fitrah..."'' [https://tteonb.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/fgm-female-genital-mutilation-islam/ Fatwa of Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misriyyah]

'''(2005)''' “''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.”'' [http://www.irinnews.org/q-and/2005/03/08/irin-interview-sheikh-omer-muslim-religious-leader IRIN interview with Sheikh Omer, a muslim religious leader, Ethiopia]  

'''(2014)''' “''In the Maldives'' […circumcision] ''is the ‘symbol that differentiates Muslims from non-Muslims'' [...] ''All four schools of Sunni jurisprudence however regard it as either ‘obligatory’ or ‘preferable'' [...FGM] ''is one of the five things that are part of ''fitrah'', or nature, says the fatwa by Dr. Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef, Vice President of the Fiqh Academy of the Maldives” cited in'' [https://stopfgmmiddleeast.wordpress.com/2014/03/14/maldives-cleric-calls-for-fgm-on-islamic-grounds/ Cleric calls for FGM on Islamic grounds] – MALDIVES

(2018) ''“''[The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland’s] ''Secretary-General Ferah Uluca said that while the paper justifies the practice, it does not call on Muslims to perform it as a duty. Uluca said it is up to each parent to decide”'' [https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/02/24/swiss-islamic-council-justifies-female-genital-mutilation/ Islamic Central Council of Switzerland justifies female genital mutilation]

'''(2018)''' “''Circumcision is prescribed for both males and females. The correct view is that'' […] ''circumcision of women is mustahabb'' [‘virtuous‘] ''but not obligatory'' […] ''Female circumcision has not been prescribed for no reason, rather there is wisdom behind it and it brings many benefits. Mentioning some of these benefits, Dr. Haamid al-Ghawaabi says'' […]''”'' Medical benefits of female circumcision – islamqa  

'''(date not known)''' ''“whoever finds'' [FGM] ''serving the interest of his daughters should do it, and I personally support this under the current circumstances in the modern world. Anyone who thinks that circumcision is the best way to protect his daughters should do it.”'' Yusuf al-Qaradawi (born 1926) cited in ‘Modern Fatwas’ (1987)

The following are all fatwas that are critical, or appear critical of FGM. Each of the following fatwa engages in some form or other of obfuscation or deception in order to de-link FGM from Islam. Some of the most common obfuscations and deception are detailed in the section [[#arguments|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam]]

The previous section shows that FGM existed before Islam. The fact that FGM can exist without it being justified by religious doctrine suggests that it may also have social causes. In the modern world, the most notable examples of FGM being practiced without religious justification is the FGM practiced by the Emberá people of South America<ref>[https://www.panoramas.pitt.edu/health-and-society/eliminating-fgm-embera-tribes-story Eliminating FGM: The Embera Tribe's Story]</ref> and the initiation rituals of the Liberian Sandé<ref>[https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/54bcdf574.pdf Country Profile: FGM in Liberia, December 2014]</ref> (though both ultimately appear to have their roots in the Islamic slave trade). There is also the analogous practice of Chinese footbinding, which was essentially secular.  

 

===the function of FGM===

Mackie sees FGM as having its roots in polygyny, particularly the kind of extreme polygyny that could exist at the heart of empires.   

 

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, by comparison, a husband and wife can spend much time together (and thus can monitor each others fidelity), become close to one another, and their sexual and emotional needs and capacity are more-or-less proportional. A polygynous man may have two, four, a hundred or some times even a thousand 'concubines' (note that Islamic law, whilst limiting the number of wives a man can have, places no limit on the number of sex-slaves a man can own), whom he must satisfy emotionally and sexually, keep faithful, 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, in terms of genetic evolution, is a disaster for the man.

 

In order to assure themselves of the chastity and fidelity of their many wives, polygynous men have developed a variety of practices which safeguard and assure a girl or woman's chastity:

*'''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;

*'''arranged and child marriages''' - which obviate the dangers that romance and courting poses to a girl's chastity and reputation;

FGM is 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.

In polygynous societies, marriage to high status men is 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 intensified in polygynous societies. This is partly because in monogamous societies, high-status man become unavailable (as husbands) once married, whereas in polygynous societies a married high-status man remains available.

Girls who aspire to marry high status polygynous men must meet their expectations and standards - a family wishing to marry a daughter to a high status man must persuade him that their daughter is 'pure', chaste and will be faithful to him. They demonstrate this by adopting (or having their daughter adopt) Chastity Assurance practices expected by that man, whether it be FGM or other practices in the above list.

The intensely hypergynous nature of polygynous societies means that the marriage practices of high-status polygynous men cascade down through the lower ranks of society, and are rapidly adopted by all families. Only the daughters of the poorest families, who can not afford to engage in such practices, are spared. These girls and their families are stigmatised as 'impure', contaminating and guaranteed to be unchaste, and will be considered as 'untouchables' and suffer from intense discrimination and persecution. Thus the avoidance of stigma becomes an added incentive for families to conform to the community's Chastity Assurance practices.

A Muslim with four wives and ninety-six sex slaves faces the same fidelity-assurance challenges as a non-Muslim 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).