I have recently held conversations with other sisters regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) and I’m not sure where the stance of Islam is on this issue is.
If FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is what the question is about, then certainly it is not condoned in Islam. Yet, the west may consider any female circumcision FGM and the mere use of that term ends the discussion before it starts.
It is the same old game of forcing concepts through terminology.
In some cultures – mainly African – excessive clitoridectomy (FGM) has been an old practice. Islam prohibited that. The Prophet said to Omm-Atteyah:
“اخفضي ولا تُنهكي فإنه أنضر للوجه, وأحظى عند الزوج”
“Cut but not excessively for this would be better for the brightness of the face and the husband.”[1]
Now, is all clitoridectomy bad?
No, because the prophet did allow it as indicated above. He only forbade excessiveness.
As for the ruling, it is controversial, the majority of the scholars regard it mustahab (preferable sunnah), some regard it allowable and some consider it wajib (obligatory) because of the previous hadeeth.
Are all Muslims doing this practice correctly?
No, many do it in ways that are excessive, unsanitary, and painful[2] and may be humiliating as well.
How do we regulate this as Muslims?
Most of the problem stems from the fact that unqualified people perform the procedure and they may do more harm than good. If it was left to the specialists, it wouldn’t have been misused and wouldn’t have gotten such bad publicity. So, it is essential that the medical doctors are the only ones to be permitted to do it. The surgeon will then judiciously remove what is excessive, and if the clitoris is already small, may decide to not remove anything.
How can we convince people in the west that it is Ok?
Male circumcision is widely practiced in the west. That is considered by the Chinese MGM (Male Genital Mutilation).
The benefits of male circumcision are beginning to be more recognized in the medical societies, even though still contested. Fifty years ago, no one knew that male circumcision has medical benefits. The same could be true with female circumcision. They may figure out the benefits of the practice in fifty or five hundred years. Some people are already recognizing some benefits in female circumcision (clitoridectomy). Catherine Blackedge[3] indicated in her book “The Story of V[4]: A Natural History of Female Sexuality”[5] that clitoridectomy can support gender identity.
What should we -western Muslims- do?
For Muslims who live in the west, since it is not mandatory and it is at the same time illegal in the west, and would bring about harm to the people who practice it, I wouldn’t advise having it done, as long as you are a resident/citizen of the west.
We however should never doubt anything in our religion because of the bad publicity the media creates about it. Would it have been sensible for Muslims fifty years ago to doubt male circumcision because it was not yet shown by science to be of benefit!?
I received the following rebuttal to my answer from a sister:
Dr. Hatem – Asalaam Alaikum,
I am up late unable to sleep and came across this e-mail. I am responding because, being the relective person I am, I have previously done research on and given thought to the issue of circumcision for males if I ever have sons -and have also read articles of FGM mostly for women in Africa.
Most of the religions acknowledge and propogate male circumcision. After previously doing research, I learned that when males are circumcised they lose a percentage of feeling in their penis. Regardless of what my religion taught, it made me seriously reflect and question the reasons why we do this and if we, as parents, really had the right to play God and take something physically away from our children this way.
Most of the modern day medical reasoning for male circumcision seems to revolve around the cleanliness issue, and I now agree to it for this reason only and not a religious one.
Men do not develop health problems after being circumcised. Women, on the other hand, often do. In a lot of countries, they are stitched up so tight that their fluids cannot be excreted properly so they get infections and their bodies also cannot lubricate properly during sexual relations, because stimulating the clitoris is one of the main ways to get the vaginal cavity ready for intercourse. I am trying not to be extremely graphic here, but some of these points just need to be said.
Islam, as a whole, has no right to have any stance on FGM except that it is wrong. It is taking something away from a human being that Allah put there for a reason,
and I would personally argue with any Islamic scholar no matter how old or educated on this issue until the day I die.
There is no medical reason to do this to women, it affects their physical and emotional health, it takes away something Allah gave them and it is corruptness of the highest order.
Why don’t the cultures that do this to women cut off the complete top of all of their men’s penises then, and see how well they function? It is the same thing.
“I did see that whoever wrote the response to the original question gave a verse from Prophet Mohammed’s (pbuh) words in the Qu’ran. “
I think that many Muslims, like many Christians, have gotten off the track in that they treat all of Prophet Mohammed’s (pbuh) words as the words of Allah and forget that he was just a man at the end of the day -NOT ALLAH. -Someone gifted by Allah trying to create law and religion in the best way he knew at the time, given the knowledge of the time.
Anyone who, in their sane mind, who respects the human body and treats it as a gift from Allah, would never mutilate something unnecessarily so that its natural function is taken away.
Here is my answer:
Sr. ……..
I am obliged to rebuttal your reply to my answer about female circumcision to clarify some misconceptions. I truly didn’t have the time now to write this reply, but the shocking statements in your comments made me fear for you.
I don’t know if you are Muslim or only supportive of Islam, but I will answer as if you were Muslim. I hope you don’t take any of my assertive answers personal. I swear by God that I don’t know you, nor do I want to insult you, but I find your statements seriously disturbing. I hope that you will benefit from some of the concepts I will present and that you will not let your anger bar you from seeing the truth – if my statements contain some of it – and accepting it. This is extremely hard for many people. I hope you will be able to overcome one of the worst human weaknesses, which is the anger that leads to obstruction of vision.
Again, I invite you to be impartial and separate between the person and the statements as I will do. The statements in your reply are utterly condemned islamically, but you, as a person, may be excused because of lack of knowledge.
And here is your reply interjected by my comments:
N.B. My answers will be in blue.
Dr. Hatem – Asalaam Alaikum,
Wa alaikum as-Salaam.
I am up late unable to sleep and came across this e-mail. I am responding because, being the relective person I am, I have previously done research on and given thought to the issue of circumcision for males if I ever have sons -and have also read articles of FGM mostly for women in Africa.
Most of the religions acknowledge and propogate male circumcision. After previously doing research, I learned that when males are circumcised they lose a percentage of feeling in their penis. Regardless of what my religion taught, it made me seriously reflect and question the reasons why we do this and if we, as parents, really had the right to play God and take something physically away from our children this way.
This statement is quite ironic, for you are supposed to think that your religion is from God. So, when you obey God you are not playing God. Unless you think that something was made up by the scholars who conspired to forge a lie against God. From your other statements, it appears that you don’t mean that. Yet, if you did, let me give you the glad tidings that God promised to protect Islam from corruption, so there is never a scholarly consensus on falsehood.
Most of the modern day medical reasoning for male circumcision seems to revolve around the cleanliness issue, and I now agree to it for this reason only and not a religious one.
You are wrong, for the medical literature is full of studies indicating that the benefits of male circumcision include:
Reduction in urinary tract infections
Reduction in cancerous changes in the penis and the cervix of future mates
Reduction of penile inflammation and scarring
Reduction in infection and transmission of some types of sexually transmitted diseases
Easier penile hygiene
And recently, they have documented in well done studies in South Africa that male circumcision also curbs the rate of spread of HIV.[1]
The statement of the Report of the Task Force on Circumcision by the AmericanAcademy of pediatrics says:
“Properly performed newborn circumcision prevents phimosis, paraphimosis, and balanoposthitis and has been shown to decrease the incidence of cancer of the penis among US men. It may result in a decreased incidence of urinary tract infection. However, in the absence of well-designed prospective studies, conclusions regarding the relationship of urinary tract infection to circumcision are tentative. An increased incidence of cancer of the cervix has been found in sexual partners of uncircumcised men infected with human papillomavirus. Evidence concerning the association of sexually transmitted diseases and circumcision is conflicting. Newborn circumcision is a rapid and generally safe procedure when performed by an experienced operator. It is an elective procedure to be performed only if an infant is stable and healthy.”[1]
So, I think your statement – compared to that of the task force reporting to the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics – is inaccurate.
Your statement: “And I now agree to it for this reason only and not a religious one.” is very concerning, for that means that no matter what God or his Messenger say, you don’t see yourself bound to follow it except after you independently study the matter. This means:
- That you will use your very limited knowledge (particularly in areas where you have no knowledge or expertise) to judge the divine injunctions. If that is acceptable in any religion, I am sure it is not accepted in Islam.
- People should have rejected the commands of God from the time of the Old Testament, (and before) until the Quran until a few doctors decided in the twentieth century that circumcision is in fact of some benefit.
- People may choose what parts of the religion they wish to follow and what parts they may discard. Allah says in the Quran regarding that:
“Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For God is not unmindful of what ye do.” Quran 002.085
Men do not develop health problems after being circumcised. Women, on the other hand, often do. In a lot of countries, they are stitched up so tight that their fluids cannot be excreted properly so they get infections and their bodies also cannot lubricate properly during sexual relations, because stimulating the clitoris is one of the main ways to get the vaginal cavity ready for intercourse. I am trying not to be extremely graphic here, but some of these points just need to be said.
You are right. And don’t worry about being graphic. If that is what it takes to learn, then be it.
I believe this is not what I was addressing in my first article. I said precisely the following: “Are all Muslims doing this practice correctly? No, many do it in ways that are excessive, unsanitary, and painful[1] and may be humiliating as well.
How do we regulate this as Muslims? Most of the problem stems from the fact that unqualified people perform the procedure and they may do more harm than good. If it was left to the specialists, it wouldn’t have been misused and wouldn’t have gotten such bad publicity. So, it is essential that the medical doctors are the only ones to be permitted to do it. The surgeon will then judiciously remove what is excessive, and if the clitoris is already small, may decide to not remove anything.”
The rest of your reply is escalating in defiance to the divine, you said:
Islam, as a whole, has no right to have any stance on FGM except that it is wrong. It is taking something away from a human being that Allah put there for a reason,
v Sister, you don’t have the right to decide the rights of God. Again, that is if you are Muslim believing that Islam is from him. Otherwise, if you are not Muslim, then this is not the right discussion to have with a non Muslim. We have first to agree on the basics to have a common ground.
v And you are using a term that is biased and ends the discussion before it starts, for FGM (Female Genital Mutation) is a term crafted in the west and propagated by it.
- The west may have the right to craft their own definitions.
- They may call justifiable the atomic bombing of two cities full of civilians by a superpower which had many other alternatives. While the poor Palestinians fighting to earn liberty from their occupiers with their bare chests terrorists.
- They may call the cursing, ridiculing and satirizing cartoons of our Prophet, that are indications of the most extreme lowliness in manners and ethics freedom of speech. But, when any individual questions the scope of the holocaust, that is not freedom of speech.
- It is the old new game of propaganda and media warfare.
- They do have the right to make their own terms, but not to force them on us. And we do reserve the right to refrain from being their obedient parrots.
- If we are about to have a discussion about female circumcision, then let us call it so, or even better (partial clitoridectomy) because that is what we defend, not FGM.
As for your statement: “Allah put there for a reason”
v Didn’t you just say that you agree with male circumcision? Didn’t Allah put that piece of tissue there for a reason as well?
v Didn’t Allah create our nails to be clipped on regular basis, and he would have been able to make them permanent.
v Allah put them there and he commanded us to remove them or trim them.
And then you said:
and I would personally argue with any Islamic scholar no matter how old or educated on this issue until the day I die.
I would invite you to humble yourself and reevaluate your statements. You certainly can argue as much as you want if your arguments are based on your reflections and you will not accept evidence from the sunnah or even the Quran, as you indicated here below. This way, no scholar can win over you. Also, you can have your own convictions about the medical benefits of male circumcision and refuse the statement of the task force on circumcision reporting to the AmericanAcademy. All of this even though you are not a religious scholar or a physician!
There is no medical reason to do this to women, it affects their physical and emotional health, it takes away something Allah gave them and it is corruptness of the highest order.
- Partial clitoridectomy would not cause the aftermath of FGM.
- Most of the things in life are not pure good (or benefit) or bad (or harm), but a mixture. It remains to be determined which scale is heavier. If Partial clitoridectomy results in some loss of pleasure (not complete like FGM) it also decreases sexual excitation. This results in women, particularly before marriage being less sexually excited and more capable of preserving their chastity. Now the value of this is dependent on the set of societal values and perceptions that vary between nations. However, Islam places a great importance in chastity.
- Also, after marriage, men have much strength over women (this is the reality, which is cross cultural and generational). One of the strengths women have is that they are in less need for sex than their husbands. This may help adjust the balance.
- After all, there are emotional and psychological effects for partial clitoridectomy that are positive. I will burrow this quotation from my last article: ” Catherine Blackedge[1] indicated in her book “The Story of V[1]: A Natural History of Female Sexuality”[1] that clitoridectomy can support gender identity.”
Why don’t the cultures that do this to women cut off the complete top of all of their men’s penises then, and see how well they function? It is the same thing.
You are back to FGM, and my article was about partial clitoridectomy, which is not the same thing as cutting off the entire top of the penis. I also hope that you don’t send me articles on FGM, because I reiterate, this is not what I addressed. I also have so many of them.
Now we reach the part that made me figure that you are not defiant but you lack knowledge, or you have not yet converted. I hope you did, otherwise I would have wasted my evening. In your following statements you said:
“I did see that whoever wrote the response to the original question gave a verse from Prophet Mohammed’s (pbuh) words in the Qu’ran. “
N.B. The Quran is not the word of the Prophet Muhammad; his statements are called sunnah or hadeeth. The Quran is the word of God.
Then you said:
I think that many Muslims, like many Christians, have gotten off the track in that they treat all of Prophet Mohammed’s (pbuh) words as the words of Allah and forget that he was just a man at the end of the day -NOT ALLAH. -Someone gifted by Allah trying to create law and religion in the best way he knew at the time, given the knowledge of the time.
What you stated here – for Muslims – is a nullifier of faith, yet you may be excused because of lack of knowledge.
Prophet Muhammad was a man but he was the Messenger of God conveying His laws that He (God) dictated to His servants.
ý God said in the Quran (which is God’s revelation; this is the cornerstone of the Islamic faith)
“وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى* إِنْ هُوَ إِلاَّ وَحْي ٌ يُوحَى”
053.003 Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. 053.004 It is no less than inspiration sent down to him:
- This means that the message is not form the Prophet who tried his best to come up with laws, which may be suboptimal because at the end of the day he was a nice man living in backward times. This is the secular western approach to religion.
- They were forced into it because their religion was manipulated, and modern science proved its contradictions and myths, such as the age of the earth etc.
- They couldn’t reconcile between science and their manipulated religion, so they had to reject one of them or come up with feeble concepts like this one.
- We don’t have to follow suit because our religion was not manipulated and there is no contradiction between anything in it and unchallenged scientific facts.
- Remember there are differences between conflicting with science and beyond science. There is also a difference between scientific facts and theories.
ý Allah also said about his Messenger:
(ومَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ)(الحشر: من الآية7)
(Take that which the messenger has given you and abstain from that which he forbade you from) AlHashr:7
(فلا وَرَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجاً مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيماً)(النساء:65)
…… “But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.” (An-Nisaa’: 65).
ý The obeying of the Prophet made by Allah a sign of loving him (Allah)
(قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ) (آل عمران:31)
(Say if you love Allah then follow me that Allah may love you)(3:31)
Anyone who, in their sane mind, who respects the human body and treats it as a gift from Allah, would never mutilate something unnecessarily so that its natural function is taken away.
I hope my previous answers will spare me answering this last part.
Dr. Hatem al-Haj