Islamset - Islamic Ruling on Male and Female Circumcision

Foreword
Hussein A. Gezairy, MD, FRCS
Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region of
the World Health Organization

God created human beings in the best mould and wanted them to keep the nature in which they were created, forbidding them to make any changes in God' s creation. Such a change, as God makes clear, would be an atrocity inspired by the devil. As the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says: "God curses females who alter His creation".
In His infinite wisdom, however, God has allowed us to remove what is known in medicine as adnexa cutis whenever they get too long, in order to maintain : personal health and hygiene. He considered such removal part of normal human nature and even called them "norms of human disposition". They include the trimming of nails, removal of armpit and pubic hair, and trimming the part of moustache hair that dangles over the mouth and gets soiled by food

and drink. Another norm of nature is the removal of the foreskin called the prepuce, a fold of skIn which forms a seffil-cavlty surroundIng and covering the balanus ill the male , sexual organ. Hygienic negligence of the prepuce, which is quite frequent, may, cause inflammation and fungal growth. In some cases it might cover the balanus too tightly and stifle it. Arabs before Islam used to remove the prepuce, and this r was a practice remnant of the traditions introduced by Abraham. It is also a familiar practice of Judaism, where it is likewise inspired by the guidance of the Father of Prophets.

" It seems that before IsIam, some Arabs had the idea that such a practice should also be followed in the case of females, and so they introduced what they called khifadh (female circumcision), which originally meant the removal of what is known as the clitoris prepuce, so called after the penis prepuce. The prepuce of the clitoris, however, is much smaller and, therefore, it is inevitable that the clitoris itself, or the area that surrounds it, would be impaired, and this is a very serious and harmful matter.

Other pre-Islamic cultures, particularly the Ancient Egyptian, introduced a greatly more odious atrocity. In their traditions, most of the female external genitals were cut off. This evil custom is still practised in some of the African countries which were ruled by the Ancient Egyptians. Known as "Pharaonic circumcision" (or infibulation), it is an outright amputation, an outrageous deformation, a violation and an act of aggression which would be rejected by any sensible person.
    It is deplorable that such unenlightened, pre-Islamic practices, to which women are subjected in the specific area of the world mentioned above, including some countries of our Region, are falsely attributed to Islam, which is entirely blameless, in order to bestow on them some sort of sanctity where they are practised. What makes this even more deplorable is that some of those who undertake to give Islamic rulings endorse and promote such actions, supporting their opinion with fabricated or poorly-supported hadith, falsely attributed to the Prophet (pbuh). He would never have approved, let alone ordained, practices which harm the gentler sex, the good treatment of whom he commended even as his soul departed his body, saying: "I urge you to take good care of women". He would never have ordained or approved such a deed, for he prohibited the infliction of all kinds of harm and injury on oneself or on others. He also and forthrightly condemned females who tamper with God's creation. What tampering with creation is more abominable than this violation against one of the main systems of the female body?
    Even those hadith which some people use as evidence, although lacking in authenticity, do not, by any means, order clitoridotomy. All that they contain is an instruction to any woman who undertakes such an action to avoid the violation of the female genitals and to cut only a small, hardly noticeable part of the clitoral prepuce. He uses the expression "sniff', and sniffing, as we know, is a very superficial and transient sensation that is hardly felt. If those hadith are correct, the most they recommend is a refinement of that pre-Islamic custom. The fact remains that they are not authentic. Religious rulings can be deduced only on the basis of highly authentic text.
    It is an urgent task to make this fact known to people, to clear Islam of an accusation with which some people are trying to charge it, to emphasize that any practice of this sort which is likely to cause harm, be it little or much, to a woman is prohibited, and to enlighten all people as to the truth regarding this matter. What makes the task so urgent is that the subject relates to one of the most important concerns of the World Health Organization, namely the promotion of women' s health. The Organization opposes all ignorant customs which harm women's health or which expose them to risk at any stage of their lives.
   For this reason we requested a most authoritative scholar, Dr Muhammad al-Sabbagh, Professor of Islamic studies at King Saud University in Riyadh, to allow us to publish a short. valuable treatise he had written on the question of male and female circumcision. In this paper, he proves with sufficient documented evidence that hadilhs related to female circumcision are lacking in authenticity. We are indebted to him also for his wish to add to his treatise a paper written by Professor Al-Amin Dawood, and for welcoming the idea of also adding the important article published by Dr Muhammad Salim al-Awwa, a renowned scholar, under the title Female circumcision: neither asunna nor a sign of respect.
    In conclusion, I pray that God will let people profit from these three papers, each of which has a firm basis and will have good consequences, God willing. I also pray that this issue of the Health Education through Religion series will serve as the final word on this subject, which causes much worry and concern to all health workers, as well as to those with common sense and a merciful heart.
    It is God who guides us to the right path.