Kuwait's Al-Rai TV presents, as Charles Johnson says, "an Egyptian Islamic expert discussing the finer points of female genital mutilation."From MEMRI TV
Dark Ages Via Satellite
Thanks to LGF, April 01, 2006
[...]
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: Ibn Al-Qayyem recounts that when Hagar married Abraham and got pregnant, Sarah was very jealous of her. Because of her jealousy, she swore by Allah that she would cut off three of Hagar's body parts. Abraham was afraid that she would cut off Hagar's nose or ears,so he instructed her to pierce Hagar's ears and to circumcise her. This was the beginning of female circumcision in history.
Dr Zarrar: I am not talking about the intellectuals or the elite. I am talking to you about reality as it is, about the people who live in cemeteries, about the reality in which I grew up and lived. I am talking about what happens in South Egypt, about the Nuba, about the peasants and so on. I speak about a reality I am experiencing, along with every woman who has been subjected to the painful and public violation of her honour. I consider this to be a crime, in terms of both religious and civil laws. I condemn whoever tries to defend this.
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: Dr Zarrar rejects female circumcision altogether but I claim that it existed among the Arabs in the ancient times, and even among the righteous caliphs.
There are many references to this. So what caused the confusion? It is the result of some wrong actions...
Interviewer: What wrong actions?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: For example, taking my daughter to the local practitioner, who is not a professional, yet she cuts off the girls thing. I am saying to all the people who are watching that I am against the pharaonic circumcision, which is still practiced in Egypt. I'm totally against it. It's forbidden. I am against the complete removal of the clitoris. I am totally against this, because it is forbidden and does not please Allah. The caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab said to the circumciser: When you perform khifadh circumcision - leave a part of it. This proves it was prevalent among the Arabs in the days of Omar. Khfadh circumcision is not meant for all girls, only for some.Interviewer: Which girls?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: I will tell you which girls. A girl phoned me once... A woman called me once - there is no shame in asking questions about religion... A girl called me and said: When I take the Metro, wearing tight jeans... The Metro in Egypt jolts about like this. She said I get aroused. What should I do?
Dr Zarrar: I asked a doctor. I'm telling you what happened...
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: I asked a doctor, who told me this girl's clitoris was very high, and that a small part of it must be cut off. We must take all girls to a Muslim doctor who specializes in this, who will determine whether she needs a khifadh circumcision or not. If a girl needs a khifadh circumcision, we should perform it, and if a girl does not need it, we should not.
Am I supposed to deny one of the rites of Islam and the laws of Allah?
Dr Zarrar: The Prophet Muhammad had four daughters. Did you ever hear any claim that he circumcised any of them?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: The Islamic Research Center at Al-Azhar University held a meeting on November 14, 1994. I have the decision with me if you want to copy it...
It says: Regarding female circumcision - after CNN aired a report about an Egyptian girl, who was brutally circumcised... This is the report that brought the issue to public attention because the West wants to impose its culture and philosophy on us...
Interviewer: Circumcision is always brutal.
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: The research Center, the highest religious authority in the Islamic world, concluded "female circumcision, khifah circumcision, is legal in Islam and must not be forbidden or regarded as a crime."
Interviewer: How come there are religious sheik who do not circumcise their daughters? Who told you this? Do you have any daughters?
Dr Zarrar: I don't have any daughters. I wish I did.
Dr Zarrar: It's a good thing you don't!
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: If I had a daughter, I would circumcise her.
Dr Zarrar: Do you have any sisters?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: Yes, I do.
Dr Zarrar: Have they been circumcised?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: Let me tell you what we did. we took my young sisters to a specialist doctor who said that one needed a circumcision and the other didn't. We performed the khifadh circumcision on the one who needed it and we did not perform it on the one who didn't need it.
Dr Zarrar: We must declare war on Saudi Arabia. We must pick up a sword and fight them because this is not practiced in Saudi Arabia or in the gulf countries. It has been scientifically proven that all whores have been circumcised.
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: In 2001, the center for Population research at Al-Azhar University conducted research about the chastity of Egyptian girl and the unity of the Egyptian family. They took a representative sample of the Egyptian society. They determined several factors for the chastity of Egyptian girls:
The first is the khifadh circumcision of the girls.
The second factor is modesty.
The third is the mother's monitoring of the daughter's behavior and finally, the observance of prayer.
Interviewer: Is the girl asked whether she wants to be circumcised or not?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: No. we ask the doctor, who makes the decision. God help us.
Interviewer: What if she says: I don't want to be circumcised. What happens then?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: If a girl says she doesn't want it, she's free. No problem.
Interviewer: Is this what happens in reality?
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: I have no relation to reality. I am talking about how things should be.
Interviewer: You are a religious sheik, from Al-Azahar University. You cannot say you have no relation to reality.
Dr. Muhammad Wahdan: Reality is a mistake, we must rectify it.
In Egypt we have four and a half million spinsters. The definition of a spinster is a woman who has reached 30, without ever receiving a marriage proposal. We have a spinster problem in the Arab world, and the last thing we want is for them to be sexually aroused. Circumcision of the girls who need it makes them chaste, dignified, and pure.
"...in Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania etc.
FGM is carried out with knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor
blades. Anaesthetic and antiseptics are not generally used ."
From Middle-East-Info.org
There are a few types of this procedure: clitoridotomy, clitoridectomy, infibulation asnd a few others types of Female genital cutting Wikipedia
"We are circumcised and insist on circumcising our daughters so that there is no mixing between male and female... An uncircumcised woman is put to shame by her husband, who calls her 'you with the clitoris'. People say she is like a man. Her organ would prick the man..."
An Egyptian woman [1]
Testimony"I was genitally mutilated at the age of ten. I was told by my late grandmother that they were taking me down to the river to perform a certain ceremony, and afterwards I would be given a lot of food to eat. As an innocent child, I was led like a sheep to be slaughtered.
Once I entered the secret bush, I was taken to a very dark room and undressed. I was blindfolded and stripped naked. I was then carried by two strong women to the site for the operation. I was forced to lie flat on my back by four strong women, two holding tight to each leg. Another woman sat on my chest to prevent my upper body from moving. A piece of cloth was forced in my mouth to stop me screaming. I was then shaved.
When the operation began, I put up a big fight. The pain was terrible and unbearable. During this fight, I was badly cut and lost blood. All those who took part in the operation were half-drunk with alcohol. Others were dancing and singing, and worst of all, had stripped naked.
I was genitally mutilated with a blunt penknife.
After the operation, no one was allowed to aid me to walk. The stuff they put on my wound stank and was painful. These were terrible times for me. Each time I wanted to urinate, I was forced to stand upright. The urine would spread over the wound and would cause fresh pain all over again. Sometimes I had to force myself not to urinate for fear of the terrible pain. I was not given any anaesthetic in the operation to reduce my pain, nor any antibiotics to fight against infection. Afterwards, I haemorrhaged and became anaemic. This was attributed to witchcraft. I suffered for a long time from acute vaginal infections."
Hannah Koroma, Sierra Leone
Amnesty.org / WHAT IS FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION?
Amnesty.org / WHAT IS FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION?
"Circumcision makes women clean, promotes virginity and chastity and guards young girls from sexual frustration by deadening their sexual appetite." Mrs Njeri, a defender of female genital mutilation in Kenya [2]
More information:
Meet TOSTAN
"Tostan is an international, non-governmental organization based in Senegal, West Africa. Tostan empowers African communities to take charge of their own development." Check Tostan's links
Female Genitale Mutilation (and Gender-based violence)SDC - Health / Social Development Division, Medicus Mundi Switzerland.
For the international community involved in development cooperation, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of many forms of violence against women, also referred to as gender-based violence.
The WHO estimates that 130 million of girls and women world-wide are concerned by FGM, with another two million girls at risk of undergoing some form of the procedure every year. Several types of “operations” are performed to modify the normal anatomy of a woman’s external genitalia.
All types of FGM can lead to immediate and long-term medical, sexual and psychological complications. The list of medical complications is long. In addition, many women suffer from immediate or lifelong psychological traumata and disturbed sexual functions.... Read the rest here
Towards Redirecting the Female Circumcision Debate: Legal, Ethical and Cultural Considerations
From McGill Journal of Medicine Home Page (http://www.mjm.mcgill.ca)
International Journal of Dermatology 2002, 41, 253-263 Abstact and photos.
All photos : Middle-East-Info.org
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