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→A history of FGM as Un-Islamic
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==FGM as Un-Islamic== | ==FGM as Un-Islamic== | ||
{{Quote|[https://www.memri.org/tv/egyptian-cleric-supports-fgm-cites-protocols-elders-zion 'Egyptian Cleric: Female Circumcision Has Economic Benefits; Jews Fight It in Keeping with Protocols of the Elders of Zion' (Mar 27, 2017)]|”The discussion about female circumcision goes back to the past century. The first time that this subject was debated extensively was in the past century. Who were the first to talk about it? The Jews. They do not want Islam or the Muslims to be pure, developed, and civilized, so they started talking about it.”}} | {{Quote|[https://www.memri.org/tv/egyptian-cleric-supports-fgm-cites-protocols-elders-zion 'Egyptian Cleric: Female Circumcision Has Economic Benefits; Jews Fight It in Keeping with Protocols of the Elders of Zion' (Mar 27, 2017)]|”The discussion about female circumcision goes back to the past century. The first time that this subject was debated extensively was in the past century. Who were the first to talk about it? The Jews. They do not want Islam or the Muslims to be pure, developed, and civilized, so they started talking about it.”}} | ||
As | As the above quote (dating Mar 27, 2017) confirms, the idea that FGM might be un-Islamic appears to be quite recent. The earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM appears to be one from 1984<ref name=":1" />. [[File:Fgmwordsearches.jpg|alt=NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision'|thumb|NGram for terms: 'FGM', 'Female Genital Mutilation' and 'Female Circumcision']]There has been a flurry of fatwas concerning FGM in recent decades in response to a world-wide increasing sensitivity to the rights of women and children, and a growing international awareness of 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 terms (‘mutilation’ and 'FGM' rather than ‘circumcision’) in English-language literature starting around 1989. This coincides with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which first identified female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice, and mandated that governments abolish it as one of several ''<nowiki/>'traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children'''.<ref>[https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx Convention on the Rights of the Child]</ref> Soon afterwards reports and condemnations were issued by organisations such as the World Health Organisation (1995),<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/63602/WHO_FRH_WHD_96.10.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female genital mutilation : report of a WHO technical working group, Geneva, 17-19 July 1995]</ref> the Council of Europe (1995), and UNICEF & UNFPA (1997).<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/41903/9241561866.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female Genital Mutilation - A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement]</ref> 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 the practice being criticised and questioned by some. | An Ngram for the terms ‘fgm’, ‘female genital mutilation’ and ‘female circumcision’ shows a sharp and steady rise in the more condemnatory terms (‘mutilation’ and 'FGM' rather than ‘circumcision’) in English-language literature starting around 1989. This coincides with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which first identified female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice, and mandated that governments abolish it as one of several ''<nowiki/>'traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children'''.<ref>[https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx Convention on the Rights of the Child]</ref> Soon afterwards reports and condemnations were issued by organisations such as the World Health Organisation (1995),<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/63602/WHO_FRH_WHD_96.10.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female genital mutilation : report of a WHO technical working group, Geneva, 17-19 July 1995]</ref> the Council of Europe (1995), and UNICEF & UNFPA (1997).<ref>[https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/41903/9241561866.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Female Genital Mutilation - A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement]</ref> 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 the practice being criticised and questioned by some. | ||
The 'FGM as un-Islamic' narrative is bolstered by the fact that it is a minority of Muslims that practice FGM. | In recent decades many agencies and charities have engaged themselves in the fight against FGM<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.09-035738/https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/organizations-fighting-female-genital-mutilation/ 20 Organizations Fighting Female Genital Mutilation]</ref>. These agencies and Individuals working to combat FGM face a particular challenges | ||
<s>The non-Moslems who one might call dhimmis – who have learnt to be subservient to Islam, paying lip-service to Islam's supposed perfection. They are keen to credit Islam for any virtue its followers may manifest, but reject the possibility that Islamic doctrine may also influence its followers towards malignity. This group eagerly buy in to the narratives and obfuscations of the last group, Moslems who obfuscate the link between FGM and Islamic doctrine . Unfortunately dhimmis populate the institutions such as the police, the courts, schools and universities, the media and the care sector, and thus control the narrative.</s> | |||
<s>Another factor in shaping the dominant narrative is what I call 'The Charity's Dilemma'.</s> | |||
<s>Imagine you are working for an anti-FGM charity and you are trying to persuade a roomful of Moslem Somali women not to have their daughters mutilated. You deliver a talk that makes clear the harmful nature of FGM and how its supposed benefits are spurious.</s> | |||
<s>At the end of your talk one mother asks you 'Is FGM Islamic?'</s> | |||
<s>You know the truth is that it is Islamic. But you also know that if you told them this that they would leave your talk more, not less, likely to mutilate their daughters.</s> | |||
<s>You either lie and say FGM is unislamic, or you obfuscate by saying something which appears to say it's unislamic, whilst doing no such thing (FGM is an African practice, FGM existed before Islam, not all Moslems practice FGM, Christians practice FGM too).</s> | |||
<s>But whatever you do you must steer them away from the truth.</s> | |||
<s>The same mechanism operates vis a vis terrorism –promoting an untruth and suppressing the Truth in the hope that Moslems will come to believe the untruth.</s> | |||
<s>There is also the factor of 'Moslem Privilege' – whereby they are exempted from laws, norms and moral standards that apply to everyone else – laws and norms concerinng animal cruelty, identity concealment, child cruelty, inheritance and gender equality laws, freedom of speech, polygamy, sexual slavery...</s> | |||
<s>A final factor has become clear to me from watching the Grooming Gangs cover-up. I originally thought that the cover-up was in order to pacify Moslems. However this has not happened, yet the authorites are still desperate to maintain the cover-up. I believe the real fear of the authorities is the natural and justified anger of ordinary people as the true nature of Islam becomes more and more apparent.</s> | |||
The 'FGM as un-Islamic' narrative is bolstered by the fact that it is a minority of Muslims that practice FGM. Muslims who don't practice FGM have become more aware of FGM, and generally share the same objections to the practice as do non-Muslims, and are troubled by its association with Islam. And immigration to the West has tended to come from non-practicing schools and traditions - Muslims from the Maghreb, from Pakistan and Turkey, who belong to the Hanafi school of fiqh - the school of Islam which under which there is the least incidence of FGM. It is these groups that have done the most to promote the narrative delinking FGM from Islam. | |||
Other factors favour the 'FGM as un-islamic' narrative in the West | |||
<s>However, Islam’s response to FGM is reminiscent of that of a burglar who, after having practiced his trade with impunity for a life-time, has a sudden access of guilt and repentance on his first appearance before a judge. One suspects his distress is more at being found out than guilt or repentance.</s> <s>Muslims, when discussing FGM, are generally more concerned with showing that FGM is un-Islamic than with condemning it or with protecting potential victims.</s> This is comes from a obligation to prevent Islam's notional perfection from being sullied by its association with a practice perceived to be barbaric. The protection of girls and women from FGM often appears not to be a priority at all, indeed it is not infrequent to hear the argument that 'FGM is nothing to do with Islam, but it should be legal'. | <s>However, Islam’s response to FGM is reminiscent of that of a burglar who, after having practiced his trade with impunity for a life-time, has a sudden access of guilt and repentance on his first appearance before a judge. One suspects his distress is more at being found out than guilt or repentance.</s> <s>Muslims, when discussing FGM, are generally more concerned with showing that FGM is un-Islamic than with condemning it or with protecting potential victims.</s> This is comes from a obligation to prevent Islam's notional perfection from being sullied by its association with a practice perceived to be barbaric. The protection of girls and women from FGM often appears not to be a priority at all, indeed it is not infrequent to hear the argument that 'FGM is nothing to do with Islam, but it should be legal'. | ||
<s>This results in arguments being used to de-link FGM from Islam that are, by Western standards of critical thinking, are particularly weak and incoherent.</s> The following section addresses some of the principal arguments used. | <s>This results in arguments being used to de-link FGM from Islam that are, by Western standards of critical thinking, are particularly weak and incoherent.</s> | ||
The following section addresses some of the principal arguments used. | |||
{{anchor|arguments}} | {{anchor|arguments}} | ||
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'scholars say this/Critics say this'. | 'scholars say this/Critics say this'. | ||
overview of | overview of polemical position | ||
'modern revisionist perspectives say this, and critics respond' | 'modern revisionist perspectives say this, and critics respond' | ||
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{{anchor|equivocation}} | {{anchor|equivocation}} | ||
====FGM is not required by Islam==== | ====FGM is not required by Islam==== | ||
- The Shafi'i school of Islam and some Hanbali scholars have ruled FGM obligatory. | - The Shafi'i school of Islam and some Hanbali scholars have ruled FGM obligatory. | ||