Female genital mutilation is part of the Sunna of the Prophet

By Sheik Yermami Two FGM Updates from MEMRITV. Egyptian Villagers Explain Why They Circumcise Their Daughters: Following are excerpts from a television program about female circumcision in Egypt, which aired on Al-Mihwar TV on May 10, 2007: [...] Interviewer: In the Islamic religion, and in the villages and neighborhoods, it is always said that girls should be circumcised just like boys. Does it come from the Sunna, or is it a custom or yours? Female villager: Circumcision is part of the Sunna of the Prophet. We used to bring a daya, and she would circumcise the children, but when the role of the daya was abolished, we stopped. Now we take our children to the doctor, and he circumcises them.

Interviewer: So it is the doctor who circumcises the girl? Female villager: Yes. If a girl is not circumcised, she cant stand it. When she is circumcised, she is calm and has self-restraint. The circumcision protects the girl and makes her calm. [...] Interviewer: So you think all women should be circumcised to protect their honor. Female villager: The Prophet said that the men go and wage Jihad for a year. He said that girls should be circumcised so they can bear it for a whole year until the men return. [...] And Al-Azhar Cleric Farahat Said Al-Munji Justifies Female Circumcision: It Replaces the Chastity Belts of Ancient Times: Following are excerpts from an interview with Al-Azhar Cleric Farahat Said Al-Munji, which aired on Al-Mihwar TV on May 10, 2007: Farahat Said Al-Munji: The Prophet said that circumcision is obligatory for men, and is noble for women. This means that for the sake of her honor, a woman can be circumcised. This noble act can be either carried out or not. Moreover, this noble act is subject to restrictions nowadays. I once had a discussion with a gynecologist, who said: A man brought his daughter to me, and I told him she must be circumcised immediately. Why? Because he discovered that her clitoris was so big that it was bound to cause her pain or bother her when she reached puberty, and therefore, she had to be circumcised. He told me that other girls came to him, and he said they should not be circumcised. Why? Because their clitoris was normal in size, and did not bother them. It would be crazy to deal with such a clitoris, which does not protrude to an extent that might bother the woman, when it rubs against her clothing and so on

A victim of genital mutilation in Somalia: How is she able to endure such pain? [SPIEGEL PHOTO GALLERY] Guys, all these things appear in Islamic law. Dont think we are making these things up. It all exists [in religious law] and is determined We say that if the clitoris is so on and so forth What am I saying? When the Prophet Muhammad met Umm Salama in Al-Madina what did he say to her? Are you still doing what you used to do in Mecca? In other words, are you still circumcising girls, like you used to do in Mecca? She said: Yes. He said: Trim it, but dont cut it off. According to another version, he said: Shorten it, but dont cut it off. Trim it means leaving room for sexual desire. That little bit on top, which looks like the roosters crest, is shortened, but just the upper part. She needs to cut off the prepuce, the little bit at the top.
ALL RELIGIONS MEANS MUSLIMS ONLY

From Islam Online: My profession is a gynecologist and during my work I examine women of nearly all religions and nationalities. For few years I worked in Makkah as well as in Kuwait where you could sample women of all religions and I found that only Egyptians, Sudanese, and Ethiopians have this habit of circumcision. * Makkah is Muslims Only- how this nutbag can claim that she could sample women of all religions is a mystery. ***** Update: Warning Graphic Images! 17 January 2009
CLIT-CUTTING TRADITION IN INDONESIA:

Warning: Graphic Images!

Female circumcisers and their attendants waiting in an elementaryschool classroom, where they do their work
* More Pics here * By SARA CORBETT/NYT
A CUTTING TRADITION

* Looks like the NYT has removed the article. Heres another link When a girl is taken usually by her mother to a free circumcision event held each spring in Bandung, Indonesia, she is handed over to a small group of women who, swiftly and yet with apparent affection, cut off a small piece of her genitals. Sponsored by the Assalaam Foundation, an Islamic educational and socialservices organization, circumcisions take place in a prayer center or an emptied-out elementary-school classroom where desks are pushed together and covered with sheets and a pillow to serve as makeshift beds. The procedure takes several minutes. There is little blood involved.Afterward, the girls genital area is swabbed with the antiseptic Betadine. She is then helped back into her underwear and returned to a waiting area, where shes given a small, celebratory gift some fruit or a donated piece of clothing and offered a cup of milk for refreshment. She has now joined a quiet majority in Indonesia, where, according to a 2003 study by the Population

Council, an international research group, 96 percent of families surveyed reported that their daughters had undergone some form of circumcision by the time they reached 14.

Tears are wiped from the face of a 9-month-old following her circumcision. * These photos were taken in April 2006, at the foundations annual mass circumcision, which is free and open to the public held during the lunar month marking the birth of the prophet Muhammad. The Assalaam Foundation runs several schools and a mosque in Bandung, Indonesias third-largest city and the capital of West Java. The photographer Stephanie Sinclair was taken to the circumc ision event by a reproductive-health observer from Jakarta and allowed to spend several hours there. Over the course of that Sunday morning, more than 200 girls were circumcised, many of them appearing to be under the age of 5. Meanwhile, in a nearby building, more than 100 boys underwent a traditional circumcision as well. According to Lukman Hakim, the foundations chairman of social services, there are three benefits to circumcising girls. One, it will stabilize her libido, he said through an interpreter. Two, it will make a woman look more beautiful in the eyes of her husband. And three, it will balance her psychology. Female genital cutting commonly identified among international human rights groups as female genital mutilation has been outlawed in 15 African countries. Many industrialized countries also have similar laws. Both France and the U.S. have prosecuted immigrant residents for performing female circumcisions. In Indonesia, home to the worlds largest Muslim population, a debate over whether to ban female circumcision is in its early stages. The Ministry of Health has issued a decree forbidding medical personnel to practice it, but the decree which has yet to be backed by legislation does not affect traditional circumcisers and birth attendants, who are thought to do most female circumcisions. Many agree that a full ban is unlikely without strong support from the countrys religious leaders. According to the Population Council study, many Indonesians view circumcision for boys and girls as a religious duty.

* But of course: none of this has anything to do with Islam, right?

* Read it all