Female circumcision halal?

so is it required or not?

Rulings of the Shari`ah

Taken from http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/law/shariahintroduction.html

The rulings of shari`ah for all our daily actions are five : prescribed, recommended, permissible, disliked and unlawful . The distinctions between the five categories are in whether their performance (P) and nonperformance (NP) is rewarded, not rewarded, punished or not punished (see the table). The prescribed (fard) is also referred to as obligatory (wajib), mandatory (muhattam) and required (lazim). It is divided into two categories :

• personally obligatory (fard al-'ayn), which is required from every individual Muslim (e.g. salah and zakah);
• and communally obligatory (fard al- kifaya), which if performed by some Muslims is not required from others (e.g., funeral prayers).

The recomended (mandub) is also referred to as sunnah, preferable (mustahabb), meritorious (fadila), and desirable (marghub fih). Examples are night vigil (tahajjud) prayers, and rememberance of Allah (zikr).

The performance and nonperformance of the permissible/ allowed (mubah) is neither rewarded nor punished.

Asalaamu alaikum:

I as an American Nurse abhor the thought of some person mutilatiing the body of a young woman. I do not think that Allah (swt) the Merciful, would sanction such a thing. Some of  the cultures avocate the cutting of the hymen in the female to open up the vaginal area in order to promote healthier flow and prevent infection. That was probably the original intent. Quote a hadith, and many times someone else can quote one to counteract it. I have noticed that some of the stricter madrasa teachings in your side of the world even state that the Prophet advocated that woman had no business at the mosque or even being out of the house. (are you of the persuasion that put the women in burqas in Afghanistan?)

Cutting a womans clitoris is the equivalent of cutting off the top half of a man's penis. Does this sound like something you would want done to you?

Since there is such a debate on this subject, I wish to share the following article from the Muslim American Society website, I received a copy of this in an email:


 

Date Posted: Friday, April 06, 2007

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

WASHINGTON, DC - Apr. 6, 2007 (MASNET) The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is widespread in a number of cultures throughout the world, including some that have a majority Muslim population. The MAS Freedom Foundation believes that the imposition of this practice of the forced genital mutilation of girls and women is a clear violation of human rights and equal protection under the law for people of both genders.

Further, FGM has no basis in either the Holy Qur'an or the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Accordingly, we call for an end to this cruel and painful practice, and we offer this article as an example of a progressive dialogue within a Muslim community in Africa that is confronting the issue.

ARTICLE:

Muslims in Kenya launch Campaign on Issue of Female Genital Mutilation

Muslim leaders of Kenya have decided to speak of the dangers of the widespread practice that permanently scars women and girls. The leaders say it is a tradition, not an Islamic obligation.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

IRIN 

The decision by Muslim religious leaders in northeastern Kenya to talk about the dangers of female genital mutilation (FGM) during Friday prayers has turned into a significant campaign against the practice.

"We have managed to educate people and convince many parents, including those with strong traditional beliefs, that circumcising girls is not a requirement in Islam," said Sheikh Harun Rashid of Isiolo Rahma Mosque.

"Our first assignment was to inform the parents that the holy book [Quran] teaches that the painful act is not an obligation; it is a tradition and not a religious obligation," he told IRIN in Isiolo.

The campaign, which started in a small way 10 years ago, is now spearheaded by the Muslim Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya. It still relies heavily on teachings delivered during Friday prayers, to reach the large Muslim populations in northeastern Kenya. More than 30 Mosques exist in Isiolo and Garissa towns alone, and the campaign has been extended to the coastal province as well.

"Our approach is different and cheap, unlike those [workshops] done in hotels," Rashid added. "Our simple campaigns by imams and Islamic schoolteachers are mainly conducted on Friday when large numbers of Muslims attend weekly prayers so we convince many."

It was cruel and caused the end of my marriage. I vowed the same will not be done to my two daughters 

According to council officials, the campaign has now spread across northeastern and parts of eastern provinces.

"Islam is very clear; no part of our bodies should be removed or changed. Only boys are supposed to be cut," explained Sheikh Mohamed Abdi from nearby Garissa, the largely Muslim capital of northeastern region.

"I was very young, but still remember the day I was circumcised," she told IRIN in Isiolo. "It was cruel and caused the end of my marriage. I vowed the same will not be done to my two daughters."

Her friend and business partner, Zainab Noor, disagreed, however. "The practice was introduced to protect our girls," she said. "Whoever is opposing it is evil. The community should fight any attempts to introduce immorality."

Widespread practice

FGM involves the cutting and/or removal of the clitoris and other vaginal tissue, often under unsanitary conditions. It is practised in at least 28 countries globally and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that up to 140 million girls and women around the world have undergone some form of FGM.

It is practised extensively in Africa, including in Kenya. But pressure from human-rights activists has so far compelled 16 African governments to legislate against FGM, in line with the 2005 Maputo Protocol, an African regional document that explicitly prohibits and condemns FGM.

Kenya has signed the protocol and banned the practice under the Children's Act 2001, which protects girls from early marriage or forced FGM, and charges anyone found practising FGM. But observers say the law has proved extremely difficult to enforce.

Anti-FGM activists estimate that 32 percent of all women between the ages of 15 and 49 in more than half of Kenya's districts have undergone FGM. The numbers are high among the Kisii ethnic group, the Maasai, Kalenjin, Taita/Taveta and the Meru/Embu.

Apart from legislation, Kenyan authorities and NGOs are trying to raise public awareness through education campaigns and encouraging alternative rights of passage - a practice where communities maintain the rituals that lead adolescent girls to womanhood but exclude FGM.

SOURCE: For the complete article, see: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idcategory=33& ; ;idSub=121&idArticle=8773

Crass you said:

This whole FGM issue is just another decoy for the lesbians to stick their noses in other people's business.

The ultimate authority in children's education is the family, and not a bunch of single-mother lesbians waisting taxpayer's money in an office at 15000 kilometers from the scene

Crass, patty was right. It appears that you are far more st**id than I thought. What gives you the idea that the article Sister Maryah listed had anything to due with the sexual orientation of other human beings? A woman/little girl/child has every right to be free from pain and any other displeasurable act. The difference of opinion regarding this issue stems from how certain Hadiths are interpreted. The varying levels of disagreement that Rami implied is a smoke screen to the greater underlined issue, that is the interpretation whether the practice is acceptable or not.

The excision of vaginal tissue (even part of it) does not serve a benefit to the person as I have shown it is nothing more than a cultural practice solidified by myth. Obviously by proving such an act is objectively wrong is not accepted, therefore one must prove how it is wajib according to Islamic Law and I have no problems doing that however, I'm inclined to take the higher position which is to try to argue with objective reason. It seriously makes no sense to "slightly trim" the hood of the clitorous simply because it increases sexual performance/passage from childhood to adulthood/to control the woman's virginity.

My argument refutes the interpretation made by scholars who they themselves are men and are of priviledged status who make these claims. Obviously they are comfortable because they are authoritarians and also because they don't have to have their penis shaved...Excuse my language but only priviledged men can justify such abarbaric practice.

Crasss,

 And I see by your statements that misgynocism is alive and well.

I would be afraid if you were my father or husband. Are you infering that I am lesbian because I am a western Muslim woman? May Allah (swt) be my judge, YOU are not.

Someday the clerics of Islam will look to the West. And will have more respect for the women amongst them. The largest growth in Islam is in the west and it is primarily women. We will someday outnumber you.

The article was written by knowledgeable people and the lessons against FMG are given by knowledgeable Muslim clerics.

Seems to me the only perversion there would be with FGM is with the creeps that cut the little girls and maim them. What kind of creep invades the awrah of a young female to play with their genitalia?  That really stumps me. That to me is Mabruk.

Thank you brother Israfil for your wisdom and support. I am not a scholar but I certainly have a heart!

Maryah