Skip to main content

Female circumcision un-Islamic

A Egyptian conference of Muslim scholars from around the world declared female circumcision to be contrary to Islam and an attack on women, and called today for those who practice it to be punished.

 Regarding religious differences, it is now generally recognized that even though a number of the countries where female genital surgeries are found are predominantly Muslim, the practices are not prescribed by Islam and are, in fact, found among non-Muslim groups such as Coptic Christians of Egypt, several Christian groups in Kenya, and the Falasha Jews of Ethiopia. In CDI [Côte d'Ivoire], the prevalence is 80 percent among Muslims, 40 percent among those with no religion and 15 percent among Protestants, and in Sudan the prevalence is highest among Muslim women ... In Kenya, by contrast, prevalence is highest among Catholics and Protestants compared with other religious groups ... Thus, there is no unequivocal link between religion and prevalence. - Carla Obermeyer, 1999.
The conference, organised by the German human rights group TARGET, recommended that governments pass laws to prohibit the tradition and that judicial bodies prosecute those who mutilate female genitals.

 "The conference appeals to all Muslims to stop practicing this habit, according to Islam's teachings which prohibit inflicting harm on any human being," the participants said in their final statement.

 Egypt's two top Islamic clerics, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, the foremost theological institute in the Sunni Muslim world, and Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, attended the conference, which drew scholars from as far afield as Russia.

 Tantawi's and Gomaa's edicts are considered binding.

 Female circumcision, which involves cutting the clitoris, continues to be practiced in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa as well as Egypt, Yemen and Oman, despite numerous campaigns against it.

 Those men who support the tradition believe it lowers a girl's sexual desire and helps maintain her honour. They also believe it is required by Islam.

 The scholars said circumcision inflicts physical and mental harm on women. Furthermore, they said, Islam considers it to be an aggression against women. Those who perform it should be punished.

 "The conference reminds all teaching and media institutions of their role to explain to the people the harmful effects of this habit in order to eliminate it," the scholars said in their recommendations.

 "The conference calls on judicial institutions to issue laws that prohibit and criminalise this habit ... which appeared in several societies and was adopted by some Muslims although it is not sanctioned by the Quran or the Sunna," the scholars said, referring to Islam's holy book and the sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

 Although many countries have outlawed female circumcision, the law is poorly enforced and prosecutions are rare.

 In the 1950s, the Egyptian government tried to stop midwives from performing the custom, while allowing doctors to do so - fearing that otherwise families who insisted on circumcising their daughters would have the operation carried out in unsafe conditions. But in 1996, the health minister imposed a total ban on the practice.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/muslim-scholars-rule-female-circumcision-unislamic/2006/11/24/1163871589618.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_female_genital_mutilation

  1. Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is Un-Islamic - YouTube

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL7p2omnw_g‎

    American Society for Muslim Advancement The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council.

    3. Female Genital Mutilation has NO basis in ISLAM:Christopher Hitchens proven wrong! - YouTube

    1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6pijHfSxBo‎


      1. Being sarcastic and arrogant about it won't make it right Mr Hitchens!

           Free eBook: 
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Arguments For and Against Niqab (2 of 3)

Arguments Against Niqab: <<<< اردو میں  . پڑھیں ..  نقاب ، حجاب: قرآن , حدیث اور اجماع >>> There is no clear-cut Quranic verse or authentic hadith to the effect of making the face veil obligatory. The conclusions drawn by scholars are based upon their interpretations (human work) of practice by  wives of Prophetﷺ ( mothers of believers) and other women who followed them. The honourable wives of  Prophetﷺ are not like ordinary women (Quran;33:32), their status is much higher. Some instructions are peculiar to them, i.e they were not allowed to remarry after death of  Prophetﷺ. Other women may like to emulate them after death of their husbands but its does not become obligation for others. If the wives of  Prophetﷺ covered their face, it would only become obligatory for all other women if it was commanded in Quran or by the  Prophetﷺ otherwise it remains optional practice. Read:   Niqab Is NOT Required, Extract from "he Book "Jilbaab Al-Ma
Read more

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir - Classic Book Summary

Simone de Beauvoir, the French existentialist and feminist philosopher, wrote, the book:: “The Second Sex”, in 1949 to investigate popular definitions of femininity. She concluded that those definitions had been used to suppress women, through the ages.  Simone de Beauvoir at the age of 40, was the author of several well-received novels but "Le Deuxième sex" which became the bestseller from the start, and de Beauvoir found herself the most controversial woman in France. S he began to realize that people saw her as Sartre’s inferior merely because she was female. When she sat down to write The Second Sex, she was surprised to find herself putting down the most essential fact of her existence: “I am a woman.” Although she relatively enjoyed privileged position – teaching career, university degree, movement in Parisian intellectual circles – de Beauvoir herself had never felt much of a sense of injustice or inequ ality. The Second Sex is not simply about the role of women in
Read more

Women in the Western Culture

The women in the western culture have always been oppressed. The women had to launch the movements, to get the rights. There are diverse social movement, largely based in the U.S. , seeking equal rights and opportunities for women in their economic activities, personal lives, and politics. Though one can not agree with the all the aspects of the Nazi philosophy, but the one good aspect was that, it advocated the role of women to domestic duties and motherhood. Adolf Hitler set up Organization in 1933, named as Hitler-Jugend  (Hitler Youth); for educating and training male youths aged 13–18 in Nazi principles. A parallel organization, the ‘League of German Girls’, trained girls for domestic duties and motherhood. Though women were not totally segregated but this philosophy did not have any negative effect on the economy, rather positively contributed in the social sector. The famous saying. “give me good mothers, I shall give you strong nation ” stands validated again.  House
Read more