User:Flynnjed/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

There exist numerous fatwas supporting and commanding the practice. However, over the past half century there has been a growing unease in the Islamic world concerning the practice (largely attributable to a growing awareness of the practice by organisations such as the UN and UNICEF). The earliest fatwa that is clearly critical of FGM appears to have been issued in 1984.<ref name=":1">p54 [https://books.google.fr/books?id=qof6J4n1860C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Sheikh+Abu-Sabib+1984&source=bl&ots=-apLOOha6B&sig=dpINFFLI-N9KO8_FmEET-MDFKbI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXh5Gi5OfcAhVOyoUKHeSgDWUQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sheikh%20Abu-Sabib%201984&f=false "Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy" By International Symposium On Sexual Mutiliations 1996]</ref>

The following is a selection of Fatwas, mainly extracts, from the 20th and 21st Century. They have been, as far as possible, arranged in chronological order. Note that many are secondary or even tertiary sources  

'''(2002)''' ''“Ibn Quddamah said in al-Mughni: As for circumcision, it is obligatory for men and it is good in the case of woman, but it is not obligatory for them'' [...] ''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””'' [https://islamqa.info/en/9412 Circumcision: how it is done and the rulings on it], Islamqa  

'''(date unknown)''' ''“I personally support'' [FGM] ''under the current circumstances in the modern world. Anyone who thinks that circumcision is the best way to protect his daughters should do it'' [...] ''The moderate opinion is in favor of practicing circumcision to reduce temptation.”'' Yusuf al-Qaradawi (born 1926) cited in ‘Modern Fatwas’ (1987)

'''(date unknown, but citation from modern film footage)''' ''“I don’t know why a German, British or American entity (thinks it can) come to us to decide for us the circumcision of our daughters! Why should they decide on matters of our girls and women? We base our religion on Allah’s book and the sayings of our beloved prophet and our scholars'' [...] ''Look at any of the books of fiqh from our imams, respected leaders, and scholars–ask them. You will find that our scholars have said that circumcision of women–there are some who say that it is obligatory while others say that it is commendable'' [...] ''this does not mean that I am subjecting the religion to inspection from a doctor. No, my brothers, this does not mean that I subject evidence from the shari'a to review from a doctor!””'' Muhammad Hassan Female Circumcision - <nowiki>https://youtu.be/4gloOIDTrkA</nowiki>

'''(date unknown)''' ''"The calls which urge the banning of female circumcision are call [sic] that go against Islam, because there is no clear text in the Qur’aan or Sunnah and there is no opinion of the fuqaha’ that says that female circumcision is haraam. Female circumcision is either obligatory or recommended'' [...] ''The words of the doctors and others are not definitive. Scientific discoveries are still opening doors every day which change our old perceptions."'' [https://tteonb.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/fgm-female-genital-mutilation-islam/ Fatwa of Shaykh ‘Atiyah Saqar – the former head of the Fatwa Committee in al-Azhar]

'''(date unknown)''' ''“Some (e.g. the late Rector of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Gad Al-Haque) argued that since'' [Mohammed] ''did not ban female circumcision, it falls within the category of the permissble. As such, there is no ground for a total ban on it.”'' [http://www.jannah.org/genderequity/equityappendix.html IS FEMALE CIRCUMCISION REQUIRED]

The following are extracts from fatwas that are critical, or ''appear'' critical, of FGM. The extracts were originally compiled to catalogue the arguments critical of FGM found in modern fatwas. All engage in some form of error, obfuscation or deception which are debunked in the section [[#arguments|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam]]  

(see [[#equivocation|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: FGM not required by Islam]])

(see [[#before|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: FGM existed before Islam]])

(see [[#noFGMQur|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: there is no FGM in the Qur'an]])

(see [[#Qforbids|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: the Qur'an forbids mutilation]])

(see [[#wivesnd|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: There is no record of Muhammad having his wives or daughters circumcised]])

(see [[#weak|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: the FGM Hadith are weak]])

(see [[#couldnot|Arguments de-linking FGM from Islam: Muhammad wanted to forbid FGM but couldn't]])

Long-term prisoners and boys in single-sex boarding schools, when deprived of contact with female coevals, tend to direct their sexuality at the next best thigns available viz other boys or other prisoners. Under Islamic restrictions boys and girls are deprived of contact with unrelated coevals of the opposite sex. The next best thing available - those whose faces are visible, to whom they can talk, whom they might touch - will be mothers, aunts or sisters - or other boys, babies and children, or even livestock. The evidence for the effects of this on sexual health is anecdotal, but one can hypothesise that rates of incest, bestiality, paedophilia and otherwise deviant sexuality will be higher in polygynous societies, especially where multiple chastity assurance practices are in place, and that paedophilia, incest and bestiality are considered more acceptable than in monogamous cultures, where chastity assurance practices are absent. FGM, infibulation in particular, may serve as much to protect a girl's chastity from the attentions of immediate family members, as from sexual violence of the wider community.{{Quote|New York Times (2004) - cited in 'Marriage and Civilization' by William Tucker|'In a 2004 New York Times article, a graduate student in his twenties described what it was like growing up in Saudi Arabia. He said that he had never been alone in the company of a young woman. He and his friends refer to women as “BMOs – black moving objects” gliding past in full burkas. Brideprices are steep and men cannot think of getting married until they are well established in a profession. All marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to meet at their wedding.'}}

*more step-parents.  

All these factors correlate with increased neglect of, and violence towards, children, either from the father or from step-mothers. Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries finding that children of (rich) polygynous families were 24.4% more likely to die compared with children of (poor) monogamous families. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives, and even less involvement with their even more numerous children (Osama bin laden’s father had 54 children by 22 wives and is reputed to have not known many of his children's names). Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered barbaric and perverted in the non-Muslim world.

All this and the physical violence and wife-beating that is common in polygynous/Islamic families normalises the cruelty of FGM.

===A history of FGM as Un-Islamic===

As Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Maligi says in the above quote, the idea that FGM might be in any way un-Islamic first arose in past three or four decades. Islam is 1400 years old. The various schools of Islam made their pronouncements on FGM in the centuries immediately following Mohammed’s death. This having been done, Islam appears to have given the practice little thought till very recently. The earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM appears to be one from 1984<ref name=":1" />.

 

There has been a flurry of fatwas concerning FGM in recent decades. This flurry appears to be a response to the non-Islamic world's increasing sensitivity to the rights of women and children, and a growing international awareness and revulsion at the practice of FGM.

An Ngram for the terms ‘fgm’, ‘female genital mutilation’ and ‘female circumcision’ shows a sharp and steady rise in the more condemnatory term (‘mutilation’ rather than ‘circumcision’) in English-language literature starting around 1989. This coincides with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which identified female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice, and mandated that governments abolish it as one of several “traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.” Islam saw itself reflected in the non-Islamic world’s eyes and felt ashamed at what it saw – leading to, for the first time in Islamic history, to some questioning and criticism of this practice.

The 'FGM as un-Islamic' narrative is bolstered by the fact that it is a minority of Muslims that practice FGM. And that most Muslims who migrate to the West come from non-practicing schools and traditions - and Muslims from the Maghreb, and Muslims  from Pakistan and Turkey, who belong to the Hanafi school of fiqh, The Hanafi school is the school of Islam under which there is the least incidence of FGM.

However, debates with Muslims is subtly skewed. Where non-Muslims are generally concerned with understanding the practice, and how to eradicate FGM and protect girls and women from this practice, Muslims are more concerned with showing that FGM is un-Islamic. Their aim appears to be to protect the 'perfection' of Islam from being associated with FGM, rather than the protection of girls and women from the practice. Indeed it is not infrequent to hear the argument that 'FGM is nothing to do with Islam, but it should be legal'.