Establishment media treatments of female genital mutilation routinely insist that it is an East African cultural practice and has nothing to do with Islam, but actually FGM is mandated in Islamic law: “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr ‘clitoris’ [this is called khufaadh ‘female circumcision’]).” — Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64
Why is it obligatory? Because Muhammad is held to have said so: “Abu al- Malih ibn Usama’s father relates that the Prophet said: ‘Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women.’” — Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75
“Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: ‘Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.’” — Abu Dawud 41:5251
That hadith is classified as weak, but this one is classified as sahih (reliable): “Aishah narrated: ‘When the circumcised meets the circumcised, then indeed Ghusl is required. Myself and Allah’s Messenger did that, so we performed Ghusl.’” — Jami` at-Tirmidhi 108
If Muhammad had the genitals of his favorite wife, Aisha, mutilated, that is a strong endorsement of the practice from the man who is an “excellent example” (Qur’an 33:21) for Muslims.
“Female circumcision: Culture and religion in Malaysia see millions of girls undergo cut,” Malaysia Today, November 13, 2018 (thanks to S.):
(ABC) – Fa Abdul was nine years old when she found out she had been circumcised when she was just a baby.
A 2012 study found 93 per cent of Muslim women in Malaysia have been circumcised
Female circumcision is not prescribed in the Koran or Hadiths, women’s advocates say
One mother says Malaysia’s culture and society “expected us to do it”She was among the millions of girls across Malaysia whose families believe that female circumcision protects young girls from committing “sins”.
“Many Muslims in Malaysia will tell you that circumcision will protect girls from growing up and becoming wild,” Ms Abdul said….
The UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, held in Switzerland, slammed the country over continuing to practice female circumcision, or female genital mutilation….
Ms Abdul — who is a journalist and works at online news publication Malaysiakini — gave birth to her first child, a girl, at the age of 20.
Due to religious and family pressure, her daughter was subjected to female circumcision.
“The doctor pulled away the labia and used something that looked like a needle to slit the clitoral hood,” she said.
“A [flow] of blood came out and then my daughter started crying.”
A decade later, Ms Abdul’s viewpoint on female circumcision changed dramatically, after she found out that there was no medical benefit and that it was simply a religious ordain.
“We were already born into the culture and that society expected us to do it,” she said.
“Doing it becomes automatic, you just follow and stop asking questions.