“Reduce the size of the clitoris but do not exceed the limit, for that is better for her health and is preferred by husbands”

* Like ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ (except when there is) the horrific and insane practice of female genital mutilation continues, despite the lies and denial to the contrary and the recent fatwa by sheik Gomaa from Al Azhar university in Cairo, a hotbed of Islamofascist indoctrination. Sheik Gomaa became world famous by declaring that ‘drinking the prophets urine cured the believers…’

* Here is the ‘legal Islamic ruling’ from ‘Islam Online’

The eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states:

Actually, this is a controversial issue among jurists and even among doctors. It has sparked off fierce debate in Egypt whereby scholars and doctors are split into proponents and opponents.

However, the most moderate opinion and the most likely one to be correct is in favor of practicing circumcision in the moderate Islamic way indicated in some of the Prophet’s hadiths – even though such hadiths are not confirmed to be authentic. It is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a midwife: “Reduce the size of the clitoris but do not exceed the limit, for that is better for her health and is preferred by husbands”. The hadith indicates that circumcision is better for a woman’s health and it enhances her conjugal relation with her husband. It’s noteworthy that the Prophet’s saying “do not exceed the limit” means do not totally remove the clitoris.

*

Because of the above, the practice continues. Quite obviously, there are are many who ‘exceed the limits’- as we can see here:

Egyptian girl dies during female circumcision

CAIRO (AFP) – A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during an illegal operation to mutilate her genitalia, the Al-Masri Al-Yom daily reported on Saturday.AFP/File Photo: A young woman walks past a campaign banner against female genital mutilation (FGM) at the…

AFP/File Photo: A young woman walks past a campaign banner against female genital mutilation (FGM)
Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya. Her death was discovered after her father sought a death certificate from another doctor.

The medical practice where the operation took place has been closed, and the doctor is being interrogated, the newspaper said.

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that dates back to pharaonic times in Egypt. It is common in a band that stretches from Senegal in West Africa to Somalia on the east coast, and from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south.

The practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate “in exceptional cases.”

Female circumcision can cause death through haemorraging and later complications during childbirth. It also carries risks of infection, urinary tract problems and mental trauma.

In June, following the death of 12-year-old Bedur Ahmed Shaker, Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali issued a decree banning every doctor and member of the medical profession from performing the procedure.

The ban must still be translated into law and could face a tough debate in parliament, but is likely to be passed.

A government survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country’s women aged between 15 and 45 years of age.

Religious leaders, usually silent on taboos relating to female sexuality, have also started to speak out against the practice, which many Egyptians believe is a duty under Islam and Christianity.

After the death of Shaker, chief mufti Ali Gomaa declared female circumcision forbidden under Islam.

Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the sheikh of Al-Azhar university, the top Sunni Muslim authority, and Coptic Patriarch Chenouda III also declared it had “no foundation in the religious texts” of either Islam or Christianity.

*

Tantawi is lying:

Tantawi doesn’t   mention the fact that his own Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence has traditionally viewed female genital mutilation as “obligatory” (cf. ‘Umdat al-Salik e4.3) — which is one key reason why it is so widely practiced in Egypt.