The Female Genital Mutilation Controversy

In the world today UNICEF estimates that in 30 nations throughout Africa, Asia, & the Middle East that over 200 million women have fallen victim to female Genital Mutilation.  I have read the testimonies of women such as Ayan Hirsi Ali (a native of Somalia) and Mende Nazer (a native of the South Sudan), who underwent female genital mutilation.  Their testimony of the pain & the psychological trauma that followed is enough make anybody cringe.  Today, many critics of the practice laid the blame on Islamic Law (Sharia), stating it is a practice mandated by Sharia.  However, Islamic apologists such as Reza Azlan & Linda Sarsour insist Female Genital Mutilation is a cultural practice and isn't mandated by Islamic Law.  So who is right?

As I researched this issue I will say this in defense of the Islamic apologists, there is no text in the  Qur'an that specifically mandates the practice of female genital mutilation, nor are there any verses that prohibit the practice.  It is also true that this practice has been done by different cultures through the region since before the advent of the Islamic Faith which began in 7th century Arabia.  However, as to the issue of whether or not it was mandated by Islamic Sharia Law.  I did indeed discover that it is.  One must first understand that Islamic Sharia Law is not derived from the Qur'an alone.  There are three main bodies of literature that are essential to the building and maintaining of the Islamic Faith.  First and foremost is the Qur'an, which is a book containing a collection of supposed revelations that the founder of the faith, Muhammad, received from the Angel Gabriel.  The Second is the Sira, which are early biographies of Muhammad.  The third is the Hadith, which is a large collection describing the words, deeds, and actions of Muhammad.  It is through the Hadith that the Qur'an is interpreted.  Today there are six major collections of Hadith that are used in Islamic Jurisprudence.  Of the six, the Hadith of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim are considered to be the most reliable.

In the Hadith of Bukhari 5889 & Muslim 257, we read that circumcision is a mandated practice.  Sahih Muslim 349 further confirmed that circumcision was obligatory for both males and females.  Another Hadith Collection by Sunan Abu Dawood actually provides explicit detail in Dawood 5721 on how the female circumcision is to be done.  In addition to the clear Hadith verses, we have the book "Reliance of the Traveler," which is essentially a manual of Sharia.  The main text was written  by Shihabuddin Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn an-Naqib al-Misri in the 14th century who based his findings on previous works done by earlier scholars.  The manual confirms that circumcision is mandated for both men and women and again gives clear instruction on how it's to be done, and it very clearly states that the circumcision for women means to cut out the clitoris.  

It is very clear that the practice of female Genital mutilation is mandated in both the Hadith and in Sharia Law.  It is an Islamic practice.  If we rely solely on the writings of the Hadith and Sharia, we cannot claim that there is a dispute over whether or not female genital mutilation is haraam (prohibited) as there is no verse anywhere in Hadith or writing in the Sharia Manuals that says so.  We can only dispute over how much of the clitoris is to be cut and whether or not it is a required practice under Sharia, or just a practice that is strongly encouraged by Sharia Law.  

We must therefore conclude the following.  All of the Classic Islamic scholars and Hadith writers stated that the practice of female genital mutilation is either obligatory, or at the very least, strongly recommended.  There were no Classic Islamic scholars or Hadith that state that the practice is forbidden.  Thus the modern American Muslim apologists like Reza Azlan and Linda Sarour are either unfamiliar with the writings of their own faith, or they're willfully ignorant of what Sharia Law actually teaches about this.  It can only be concluded that this was a practice that did indeed predate Islam, but it is also a practice that was mandated to be a part of Islam.  


Acts 17 Apologetics.  "Linda Sarsour Caught Lying About Female Genital Mutilation."  Published April 25, 2017.  YouTube Video, 14:53.  Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qle_4qiH4tU

Ali, Ayan Hirsi.  Infidel.  New York: Atria Paperback, 2007.

"Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Overview and Exploration of the Dynamics of Change."  UNICEF.  July 2013.  Accessed from http://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FGMC_Lo_res_Final_26.pdf.

Keller, Nuh Ha Mim, Ed.  Reliance of the Traveler.  Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1997.

Nazer, Mende and Damien Lewis.  Slave.  New York: Public Affairs, 2003.  

The Holy Qur'an

Hadith of Sahih Bukhari

Hadith of Sahih Muslim

Hadith of Sunan Abu Dawood