Dear Hadi,
Is FGM taught in the Quran?
Why do so many Muslims promote it?
Thank You.
Dear Concerned about FGM,
Thank you very much for raising such an important question. The topic of female circumcision (FC), or as it has become more correctly known in recent decades, female genital mutilation (FGM) is an important one for several reasons; among them is that it has been linked to Islam and is considered by many to be an “Islamic” practice.
In the United States, we may not pay much attention to this topic, thinking that it is an arcane practice that has essentially disappeared in the modern world.
However, this is sadly not true.
It is estimated about 125 million women alive today have undergone FMG, with rates possibly as high as 3 million per year. The practice is prevalent in close to 30 countries, mostly in a band across Africa, but also a few countries in the Middle East.
For a full overview of the statistics, see UNICEF’s Report, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Overview and Exploration of the Dynamics of Change - https://data.unicef.org/resources/fgm-statistical-overview-and-dynamics-of-change/
A map from a recent medical journal article shows prevalence rates, where for example, the practice is seen to have high prevalence in countries like Egypt and Somalia.
Source: Female Circumcision debate: A Muslim Surgeon’s Perspective, M. Ihsan Karaman Turk J Urol May 2021.
In Egypt, for example, a 2003 UNICEF survey found that 97% of all married women had undergone female genital mutilation, while a study of recent practice found that 50.3% of girls between 10 and 18 years of age had been circumcised.
The reasons for this practice are varied but seem to be predominantly cultural, aimed at lowering promiscuity among young women and, in some cases, as a mark of virtue.
That the practice is cultural rather than religious is clear, based on the fact that in countries where FGM is practiced, it is found with high prevalence in all religious groups. While usually slightly higher in Muslims, it is also widely prevalent among Coptic Christians in Egypt, among Eastern Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, and among Protestants in Sudan and Catholics in Kenya.
In Niger, the prevalence is 2%, while in neighboring Mali, it is 89%, and in Niger, the prevalence among Muslims is 2% while among Christians it is 55%.
However, many advocates of this practice lean on Islam as a justification, making it particularly important for us to set the record straight.
It is true that classical Islamic scholars viewed this as a favorable practice, with one madhab (Shafi’) even seeing it as mandatory (making no distinction in practice between men and women). However, the justification for these views is very thin.
Firstly, circumcision (for either men or women) is not mentioned in the Quran at all. Secondly, although various hadiths are quoted that acknowledge it, or even favor it, there are no hadiths that deem it mandatory.
In light of current medical knowledge, which has shown that female circumcision has no health benefits and that it, in fact, has significant health risks as well as detrimental effects on the emotional and sexual health of women, modern scholars have begun to re-examine the classical views.
The conclusion reached by many is that all the hadiths associated with female circumcision are weak and cannot be used to justify the practice.
Among these scholars are Sheik Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, and Sheik Yusuf Al Qaradawi, one of the most eminent scholars of the 20th century.
Sheik Al Qaradawi states that there is no evidence in the Quran, sunnah, ijma, or qiyas that female circumcision is required or even recommended.
He states that female circumcision was practiced by pre-Islamic tribes and that the Prophet PBUH did not prohibit it. However, Sheik Al Qaradawi continues by noting that since medical authorities unanimously agree that this practice is harmful, it should be banned based on its harmful outcomes.
Also, in 2006, Al-Azhar University in Egypt, among the most august institutions of Islamic learning, convened a conference on the topic of FGM, which was attended by experts and scholars from around the world.
Their conclusion was to advise Muslims to renounce this harmful practice, strive to raise consciousness among people, and urge governments to take legal measures against it.
Therefore, our stance, and the stance of Islam as we understand it, is clear and can be most pithily summarized in the words of Sheik Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, regarding FGM,
“It is prohibited, prohibited, prohibited.”
In peace.