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===Hanafi Madhab=== | ===Hanafi Madhab=== | ||
This school is named after the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (d. 767) and is school with the largest number of followers among Sunni | This school is named after the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (d. 767) and is school with the largest number of followers among Sunni muslims. Abū Ḥanīfa maintained that FGM is not obligatory but highly recommended. | ||
{{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)|The Hanafi view is that it is a sunnah (optional act) 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)|The Hanafi view is that it is a sunnah (optional act) for both females and males}} | ||
The Hanafi school is the school of Islam under which there is the least incidence of FGM. Pakistani Muslims are generally Hanafi, and have, till recently, been the largest | The Hanafi school is the school of Islam under which there is the least incidence of FGM. Pakistani Muslims are generally Hanafi, and have, till recently, been the largest muslim diaspora to the West. Pakistanis are also frequently English-speaking. Both of which facts increase the prevalence in the West of the narrative that FGM is nothing to do with Islam. With increasing immigration to the West from Shafi’i countries (Somalia in particular) this narrative is harder to maintain since (see below) FGM is obligatory under Shafi’i Islam. | ||
===Shafi'i Madhab=== | ===Shafi'i Madhab=== | ||
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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=== | ||
The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Ahmad ibn Hanbal studied under Al-Shafi‘i (founder of the Shafi’i school) and inherited his deep concerns about the jurists of his time, who were ready to reinterpret the doctrines of the Koran and Hadiths to pander to public opinion and the demands of the rich and powerful. Ibn Hanbal advocated a return to the literal interpretation of Koran and Hadiths. This has made the Hanbali school intensely traditionalist. Today’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi–Salafist movement is an offshoot of this school. The Hanbali school, unlike the Hanafi and Maliki schools, reject ''Istihsan'' (jurist discretion) and ''Urf'' (the customs of | The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Ahmad ibn Hanbal studied under Al-Shafi‘i (founder of the Shafi’i school) and inherited his deep concerns about the jurists of his time, who were ready to reinterpret the doctrines of the Koran and Hadiths to pander to public opinion and the demands of the rich and powerful. Ibn Hanbal advocated a return to the literal interpretation of Koran and Hadiths. This has made the Hanbali school intensely traditionalist. Today’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi–Salafist movement is an offshoot of this school. The Hanbali school, unlike the Hanafi and Maliki schools, reject ''Istihsan'' (jurist discretion) and ''Urf'' (the customs of muslims) as a sound basis by which to derive Islamic law. | ||
{{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|[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.'}} | ||
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The hadith [[#other ladies|'One Who Circumcises Other Ladies']] suggests that FGM was practiced by the Banu Quraysh, Mohammed's native tribe, and that the FGM reported in the Hadith (which therefore took place after Mohammed's migration to Medina) was a practice carried over from pre-Islamic Mecca.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|399}}|“[…] I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba’ came out and said, ‘Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?’ Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, ‘O Siba’. O Ibn Um Anmar, '''the one who circumcises other ladies!''' Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?’ […]”}}The Hadith tells how, prior to the actual fighting, Hamza, one of Mohammed’s companions, taunts the Meccan warrior, Siba. Hamza implies that Siba is like ‘Ibn Um Anmar’ – a woman who was a known circumciser of women. The more descriptive phrase ‘muqteh al-basr‘ – ‘one who cuts clitorises‘ – is used rather than the usual KHITAN. | The hadith [[#other ladies|'One Who Circumcises Other Ladies']] suggests that FGM was practiced by the Banu Quraysh, Mohammed's native tribe, and that the FGM reported in the Hadith (which therefore took place after Mohammed's migration to Medina) was a practice carried over from pre-Islamic Mecca.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|399}}|“[…] I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba’ came out and said, ‘Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?’ Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, ‘O Siba’. O Ibn Um Anmar, '''the one who circumcises other ladies!''' Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?’ […]”}}The Hadith tells how, prior to the actual fighting, Hamza, one of Mohammed’s companions, taunts the Meccan warrior, Siba. Hamza implies that Siba is like ‘Ibn Um Anmar’ – a woman who was a known circumciser of women. The more descriptive phrase ‘muqteh al-basr‘ – ‘one who cuts clitorises‘ – is used rather than the usual KHITAN. | ||
This taunt suggests that clitoridectomy was practiced by the Quraysh, and that it was a role reserved for women, probably of low-status, hence its insulting nature when directed against a warrior. The taunt could only be effective if it humiliated Siba in the eyes of ''both'' his fellow Meccan warriors and also the | This taunt suggests that clitoridectomy was practiced by the Quraysh, and that it was a role reserved for women, probably of low-status, hence its insulting nature when directed against a warrior. The taunt could only be effective if it humiliated Siba in the eyes of ''both'' his fellow Meccan warriors and also the muslim warriors. Thus its use implies that members of both camps had knowledge of the practice and a shared culture of clitoridectomy. The fact that a circumciser of women could be famous (or notorious) also suggests that it was an established practice with the Meccan Quraysh. | ||
===Non-Islamic sources=== | ===Non-Islamic sources=== | ||
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The word ‘nympha’ usually refers the labia minora, but here seems to be being also used of the clitoris. | The word ‘nympha’ usually refers the labia minora, but here seems to be being also used of the clitoris. | ||
== The Causes of FGM == | ==The Causes of 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 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 long before Islam, which suggests that Doctrine is unlikely to completely explain its existence. | 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 long before Islam, which suggests that Doctrine is unlikely to completely explain its existence. | ||
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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). | 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). | ||
=== | ==Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM== | ||
=== Polygyny and its consequences === | |||
As we have seen FGM has its origins in the centers of empires, where rich powerful men could engage in extreme polygyny. | |||
Islam is an empire-building ideology that favours polygyny and, to this extent, reproduces the originating conditions for FGM. Indeed, Islam could be characterised as ''the codification and sacralisation of polygyny, and of the consequences of polygyny''. | |||
Polygyny make for societies 1/ which are tribal, violent and particularly sexual violence - where the safety of girls and women is put at risk 2/ where women are commodified 3/ where a disproportionate value is placed on the 'purity' of girls and women. Indeed antropologists and historians have identified the dichotomy between monogamy and polygyny to be that which seperates two streams of humanity: monogamy leading to democrcay, human rights, scientific social and cultural progress; polygyny maintaining humanity in tribalism, barbarism and the dark ages. | |||
This is because monogamous kinship systems can approach a state of equilibrium where every man and woman can expect to find a spouse. Such a state of equilibrium is impossible in a polygynous system. Females are a commodity with both an inherent value (their beauty, the pleasure they give, their reproductive capacity) and are also a status symbol (the more wives you have the higher your status). This fuels a dynamic where the demand for marriageable females always exceed the supply, and no man can ever have enough wives. This has far-reaching consequences: marriageable females become a scarce and valued asset that needs to be protected and exploited, 'bride-famines' develop amongst poor low-status men, that are alleviated by importing females into the system (baby girls, children or women) through raids on neighbouring tribes, communities and countries, or from further afield by means of the Islamic slave trade. | |||
But polygyny does not consist solely of ‘wives’, but also includes sex slaves. And Islam places no limit on the number of sex slaves a man can own. Ottoman sultans had huge harems: the Sultan Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif of Morocco (1645 - 1727 ) had four wives and at least 500 'concubines', and Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, the second Shah of Iran, also had 4 wives, but also a harem of 800-1000 'concubines'. Mohammed himself had 15 wives, 11 at the same time, in addition to at least four sex slaves. | |||
Generally polygyny is practiced by men of the social elite. These men monopolise an inequitable share of the community’s women (imagine a desert island with ten men and ten women and what happens if one or two men take three or four wives...). This results in a scarcity of females at the bottom of society, which creates a sexual, affective and marital famine which low-status men have traditionally solved by capturing females from neighbouring tribes, or by engaging in sexual violence towards girls and women of their own community. This explains the observation made by social scientists such as Joseph Heinrich et al and William H Tucker (“Marriage and Civilization: how monogamy made us human”) that polygynous societies are by their very nature belligerent and sexually violent. | |||
At the same time, the elite requires that brides (and potential brides) meet their extreme standards of chastity, purity and fidelity. So, on one hand polygyny puts girls and women at an actual heightened risk of rape, abuse, kidnap, and on the other hand places an excessive value on the 'purity' of girls and women. This places women in a double xxxxx | |||
Islam protect girls and women from this sexual violence with chastity assurance measures. These include gender segregation, veiling, chaperoning, honour culture, arranged marriages, and FGM. All these measures segregate women from young men. | |||
This establishes a positive feedback loop: Islamic polygyny deprives poor young men of sexual or affective hope; this generates desperation and sexual violence; from which Islam protects girls and women by further isolating them. | |||
Dowries (or more precisely ‘Bride-prices’) exacerbate this by mandating that the groom pay his bride in order to marry her. All Islamic marriages must include a Bride-price (mahr) paid by the groom. Islam attributes a very high value to ‘purity’ and virginity in girls and women. One of the consequences of this is that the Islamic bride-price system places a substantial financial value on a girl’s or woman’s chastity. This is exacerbated by the scarcity of women caused by polygyny, which inflates the value of dowries, making marriage un-affordable to low-ranking young men, even if they manage to find a bride. | |||
But if a girl is perceived to be unchaste or impure, or if she’s been a victim of sexual violence, she becomes un-marriageable and loses all her economic value. Leaving her family stuck with a valueless commodity that they must support for the rest of their lives. | |||
Thus this economic aspect introduced by ''mahr'' (bride-price) creates a further incentive for parents to engage in chastity assurance practices (such as FGM). | |||
Polygnynous family structures are loveless compared to monogamous ones. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives and even more numerous children (Osama bin laden’s father had 54 children by 22 wives). Tensions and rivalries arise between wives, and between the children of different wives. Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered barbaric and perverted in the non-muslim world. And cruelty required of FGM is normalised by other practices such as male circumcision, cruel and mutilating public punishments, halal slaughter, and the violent and hateful speech contained in the Koran. | |||
Child Marriage is endemic to polygynous societies – bringing little girls into the marriage market to make up for the scarcity of women. Dowry further incentives child-marriage, as it becomes advantageous for parents to ‘sell-off’ their daughters before adolescence, when her reputation is at greater risk of being spoiled and her losing her economic value. Moreover, if the bride is still a child, the dowry goes not to her but to her father. All this sexualises the perception of little girls, making them vulnerable to the sexual violence endemic to polygynous societies. This drives down the age at which chastity assurance practices such as FGM are initiated. | |||
Because of the supposed ‘perfection’ of Islam, muslims are unable to identify the real causes of the sexual violence endemic to their societies. It is instead attributed to notions that female sexuality is excessive, indiscriminate and dangerous if left unchecked by chastity assurance measures such as FGM. Islam thus creates a perfect storm of dysfunctional marital, sexual and kinship practices. It massively overvalues the chastity and purity of females whilst, at the same time, creating sexually violent societies which put that very chastity and purity at increased risk. The solutions Islam offers to this conundrum exacerbate the problems, and thus creating a social and normative context in which chastity assurance measures such as FGM, become useful or even necessary. | |||
==FGM in the modern Islamic world== | ==FGM in the modern Islamic world== | ||
In 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood worked to decriminalize FGM. According to Mariz Tadros (a reporter),"the Muslim Brotherhood have offered to circumcise women for a nominal fee as part of their community services, a move that threatens to reverse decades of local struggle against the harmful practice [...] Many of the Brothers (and Salafis) argue that while it is not mandatory, it is nevertheless ''mukarama'' (preferable, pleasing in the eyes of God)."<ref>Tadros, Mariz (24 May 2012). "[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mutilating-bodies-muslim-brotherhoods-gift-to-egyptian-women/ Mutilating bodies: the Muslim Brotherhood's gift to Egyptian women]". ''openDemocracy''</ref> | In 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood worked to decriminalize FGM. According to Mariz Tadros (a reporter),"the Muslim Brotherhood have offered to circumcise women for a nominal fee as part of their community services, a move that threatens to reverse decades of local struggle against the harmful practice [...] Many of the Brothers (and Salafis) argue that while it is not mandatory, it is nevertheless ''mukarama'' (preferable, pleasing in the eyes of God)."<ref>Tadros, Mariz (24 May 2012). "[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mutilating-bodies-muslim-brotherhoods-gift-to-egyptian-women/ Mutilating bodies: the Muslim Brotherhood's gift to Egyptian women]". ''openDemocracy''</ref> | ||
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Over the past 40 or so years, as a consequence of the scrutiny of the international community, and a heightened sensitivity to the rights of women and children, parts of the Islamic world have started to feel embarrassed about Islam's complicity with FGM. The parts of the Islamic word that feel this embarrassment are (of course) those parts that do not practice FGM. | Over the past 40 or so years, as a consequence of the scrutiny of the international community, and a heightened sensitivity to the rights of women and children, parts of the Islamic world have started to feel embarrassed about Islam's complicity with FGM. The parts of the Islamic word that feel this embarrassment are (of course) those parts that do not practice FGM. | ||
The Hanafi school is the school of Islam under which there is the least incidence of FGM. Pakistani Muslims are generally Hanafi, and have, till recently, been the largest | The Hanafi school is the school of Islam under which there is the least incidence of FGM. Pakistani Muslims are generally Hanafi, and have, till recently, been the largest muslim diaspora to the West. Pakistanis are also frequently English-speaking. Both of which facts increase the prevalence in the West of the narrative that ''‘FGM is nothing to do with Islam’''. With increasing immigration to the West from Shafi’i countries (Somalia in particular) this narrative is harder to maintain since (as we shall see below) FGM is obligatory under Shafi’i Islam. | ||
===FGM existed before Islam=== | ===FGM existed before Islam=== | ||