Will FGM Fatwa Make a Difference? (Female circumcision)

[nosmokes]

original-interpress service news

*RIGHTS*:
Will FGM Fatwa Make a Difference?
Emad Mekay

CAIRO, Nov 29 (IPS) - Om Samar didn't believe the news. "Muslim scholars banning (female) circumcision? This must be a joke," she said.

Samar, a mother of four who works as a maid cleaning apartments and houses for a daily rate, was planning to circumcise her five-year-old daughter, Shaimaa, when she turns eight or nine.

But an international conference on female circumcision funded by the German government and sponsored by top Islamic scholars here last week brought tidings she didn't expect.

"Eliminating the Violation of Women's Bodies", as the conference was publicised in Arabic, was attended by some of Islam's most senior and influential scholars. Most of them spoke against the common practice.

The main message was that "female genital mutilation was never mandated in Islam ".

"I thought Islam told us to do so," said Samar, one of many Muslims who believe that the practice is Islamic. She is not the only one who has been mistaken about what the religion says about circumcision.
~snip~
.
.
.
complete article here

[Ian David]

1. If she was willing to do this to her own daughter, then I have little sympathy if it was done to HER

"You mean I could have kept my vagina? But then I would have been tempted to cheat on my husband. Vaginas are BAD! Very BAD!"

I can understand that not everyone may read every single page of their own holy books.

But for something important like, "Should I cut off my daughter's vagina?" I'd think one would at least look it up first.

"Vaginas... vaginas... uhm, no... wait... no, that's pork... vaginas... hey, how about that! It's not in there!"

[Waya]

3. In female circumcision.....

....it's the clitoris that is 'cut off' not the vagina.....

[Ian David]

4. In some cultures, they take the vulva or even scar the vagina or sew it shut. n/t

[Warpy]

7. It's not anything like circumcision

The equivalent operation on a male would be a penile amputation.

They don't stop there in some of those old tribal cultures. They also take the labia and bind the girl's legs together so it will heal closed with a small opening for urine and menses. They repeat the process after childbirth so the husband can get his jollies opening her up again.

It's total genital butchery done to make women acceptable for total ownership by a single male.

I'm delighted the scholars have finally issued a fatwa against it 1200 years late...

[LeftyMom]

13. No, the equivalent procedure would be removal of the glans.

The same fetal tissue becomes the clitoris and the glans. The cavernous bodies and shaft of the penis are equivalent to the vaginal vault and the tissues within that engorge with blood and create pressure that causes vaginal lubrication to be secreted during the arousal phase.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Depends.

In some places it's removal of the clitoris. In others it's removal of the skin that goes over the clitoris, the "clitoral hood." The latter would be analogous to circumscision.

[Hatalles]

2. Here's another related piece... though it's from a few years ago

Muslim Women's League on "FGM"

http://www.mwlusa.org/publications/positionpapers/fgm.html

[SoCalDem]

5. It's MUTILATION.. not "circumcision" n/t

[Redstone]

6. Fucking animals. Anyone who would do that to a little girl should be shot.

Redstone

[Ms. Clio]

8. I hope so

Perhaps some influential Christian leaders should do the same, since there are Christian Ethiopians that practice FGM, for example.

It is a practice that dates back to Pharaonic Egypt, if not even earlier.

[patricia92243]

9. The first time that I heard about this I didn't believe it. I didn't think the person that told me

about it knew what they were talking about. It was just too horrible to be even contemplated. I still shudder when I think bout it.

Women that do not believe in women's rights simply do not understand how bad things can get if we are not forever vigilant.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. The practice is African, not Islamic.

So it's prevalent in African countries and been migrated back into the Middle East, the same way it has to the rest of the world.

[PsychoDad]

12. Only if the Fatwah comes from someone they respect.

The concept in the west that a fatwah is a binding ruling is simply wrong. A fatwah is an opinion from a scholar of Islamic law, not so much a ruling as an opinion.

In reality you can often find as many pro fatwahs as con.

What is important is that someone who is respected by these people for their knowledge of Islamic law declares that it is his or her opinion that it is against Islamic law and or tradition.

It would be best to start and educate the "wise women" who perform these horrid operations. Often these are the village women who are the midwives and skilled in traditional medicine who are the most respected.

Peace.