[EliteFranceska]

Good afternoon,

I am a film maker and I am currently in the research stages of making a documentary about female circumcision.

I was hoping that you would have a few ladies within your service who would be willing to share their experiences with me.
I would keep all identity private so they can be assured that they can speak openly in confidence without any need to worry about their identity being shown.

My aim for this documentary is to understand this practice, be it good or bad.
I want to explore why it is done. Why people choose to have it done or force it upon others.
I want to get their perspective and how they feel about it now.

It is a practice that is been held in the UK and other countries illegally and i want to explore why.

What I need is females and males, both who live in the UK and abroad to give me their honest opinions on the subject.
I would also very much like to speak to any women who have had this practice done to them, how they felt at the time and how they feel now.

Your help would be amazing for this project. My aim is not to belittle the procedure but to understand the reason behind it and to make other people understand.

So please, if you could contact me via this email, it would be great.

Your help can create something beautiful out of something people see as so horrendous.

Many thank,

Kara

[primaveraloler]

Ladies within our service?

Do you think this is a brothel or a maid-employment bureau?

[patuvammnogoo]

there is no such thing as female circumcision in islam

[mobbemeatiedy]

Here is a fatwa on female circumcision : http://www.askimam.org/fatwa/fatwa.p...942c1032cdd519

[Faigokilix]

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Four types of female circumcisions are performed in the modern era. The World Health Organisation has offered four classifications of female circumcision. The main three are Type I, Type II and Type III.

Type I is the removal of the clitoral hood, almost invariably accompanied by removal of the clitoris itself(clitoridectomy) .

Type II is the removal of the clitoris and inner labia.


Type III (infibulation) is the removal of all or part of the inner and outer labia, and usually the clitoris, and the fusion of the wound, leaving a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual blood—the fused wound is opened for intercourse and childbirth. Around 85 percent of women who undergo circumcision experience Types I and II, and 15 percent Type III, though Type III is the most common procedure in several countries, including Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti.


Several miscellaneous acts are categorized as Type IV. These range from a symbolic pricking or piercing of the clitoris or labia, to cauterization of the clitoris, cutting into the vagina to widen it (gishiri cutting), and introducing corrosive substances to tighten it.[i]


With regards to the Islamic view on female circumcision, the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam said,

“Circumcision is a sunnah for men and a noble deed for women.” [ii]

According to the stronger view of the Hanafi school, female circumcision is not an emphasised sunnah for women. It is merely a praiseworthy deed which has its benefits.[iii] It has been a practice in many parts of the world for a long time. The Arab women at the time of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam would also be circumcised.[iv]

A female sahabiyyah by the name of Umm ‘Atiyyah radiallahu anhu was a renowned nurse in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. She would treat the ill, help in washing and shrouding the deceased, tend to the wounded and perform circumcision on girls.[v]

Mentioning some of the benefits of female circumcision, Dr. Haamid al-Ghawaabi says:

The secretions of the labia minora accumulate in uncircumcised women and turn rancid, so they develop an unpleasant odour which may lead to infections of the vagina or urethra. I have seen many cases of sickness caused by the lack of circumcision.

Circumcision reduces excessive sensitivity of the clitoris which may cause it to increase in size to 3 centimetres when aroused, which is very annoying to the husband, especially at the time of intercourse.

Another benefit of circumcision is that it prevents stimulation of the clitoris which makes it grow large in such a manner that it causes pain. Circumcision prevents spasms of the clitoris which are a kind of inflammation. Circumcision reduces excessive sexual desire.

Then Dr al-Ghawaabi refutes those who claim that female circumcision leads to frigidity by noting:

Frigidity has many causes, and this claim is not based on any sound statistics comparing circumcised women with uncircumcised women, except in the case of Pharaonic circumcision which is where the clitoris is excised completely. This does in fact lead to frigidity but it is contrary to the kind of circumcision enjoined by the Prophet of mercy salallahu alaihi wasallam when he said: “Do not destroy” i.e., do not uproot or excise.[vi] This alone is evidence that speaks for itself, because medicine at that time knew very little about this sensitive organ (the clitoris) and its nerves.



From Liwa’ al-Islam magazine, issue 8 and 10; article entitled Khitaan al-Banaat (circumcision of girls).

The female gynaecologist Sitt al-Banaat Khaalid says in an article entitled Khitaan al-Banaat Ru’yah Sihhiyyah (Female circumcision from a health point of view):

For us in the Muslim world female circumcision is, above all else, obedience to Islam, which means acting in accordance with the fitrah and following the Sunnah which encourages it. We all know the dimensions of Islam, and that everything in it must be good in all aspects, including health aspects. If the benefits are not apparent now, they will become known in the future, as has happened with regard to male circumcision – the world now knows its benefits and it has become widespread among all nations despite the opposition of some groups.

Then she mentioned some of the health benefits of female circumcision and said:

1) It takes away excessive libido from women

2) It prevents unpleasant odours which result from foul secretions beneath the prepuce.

3) It reduces the incidence of urinary tract infections.

4) It reduces the incidence of infections of the reproductive system.



In the book on Traditions that affect the health of women and children, which was published by the World Health Organization in 1979 it says:

With regard to the type of female circumcision which involves removal of the prepuce of the clitoris, which is similar to male circumcision, no harmful health effects have been noted. [vii]

In conclusion, female circumcision is a global practice which has its benefits. It was a practice before the advent of Islam. However, it is not emphasised in Islam, only praised.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mawlana Faraz Ibn Adam,
Student Darul Iftaa

UK


Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net
http://www.askimam.org/fatwa/fatwa.p...942c1032cdd519

[buyviagraonlineusatoday]

Good afternoon,

I am a film maker and I am currently in the research stages of making a documentary about female circumcision.

I was hoping that you would have a few ladies within your service who would be willing to share their experiences with me.
I would keep all identity private so they can be assured that they can speak openly in confidence without any need to worry about their identity being shown.

My aim for this documentary is to understand this practice, be it good or bad.
I want to explore why it is done. Why people choose to have it done or force it upon others.
I want to get their perspective and how they feel about it now.

It is a practice that is been held in the UK and other countries illegally and i want to explore why.

What I need is females and males, both who live in the UK and abroad to give me their honest opinions on the subject.
I would also very much like to speak to any women who have had this practice done to them, how they felt at the time and how they feel now.

Your help would be amazing for this project. My aim is not to belittle the procedure but to understand the reason behind it and to make other people understand.

So please, if you could contact me via this email, it would be great.

Your help can create something beautiful out of something people see as so horrendous.

Many thank,

Kara

First of all welcome to the forum. It is nice to hear that you are trying to get a proper understanding of something rather than just accepting the status quo. I don't know a lot about this subject but i would like to request that within your research you find out the islamic viewpoint on this and i rest assured that if you conduct your research without bais that you will find that the principle of Islam is different to that which is adopted by culture wether they be muslim or a different religion.
It would also be nice if you can keep us posted about your research on this thread. Also what exactly do you want to know?
Again welcome to the forum and i hope someone else can give some detailed answers to the topic at hand.

[EliteFranceska]

I apologies for any offense i may have caused. I have also been in talk with charities that address this issue and was asking them if they knew anyone with their services (their charities) that would also be willing to help me.
So many apologies, i did not in any way mean to cause offense. That is a mistake on my behalf.

Thank you so much for your replies.

My aim is to help people understand, people like me who understand nothing about the procedure and who would be mortified by how it is done. The aim for this documentary is for them to learn and understand. Understand its culture, why it is done, and what is the problems if it is not done.

I want to speak to someone who knows about the procedure and who can speak about it in a positive light. Then i want to compare what they think to the negativity surrounding it.

I also want to research into why it is illegal in the UK and why is it so important that people will carry it out illegally.

I have nothing but respect for your faith and this subject, and i think if people are taught then they can't judge, and with such bad stigma around this procedure, people deserve to understand and not be judged.

What i would love to do is actually speak to someone, both a brother and sister, who is for this procedure, and who believes it should be carried out and then two who are against it.
If you choose, i will happily keep your identity and details completely private, but it would be great to have a few faces talking openly about this as it seems like a very hush hush subject.

My email address is karalbrowne@googlemail.com

Please email me your thoughts.

[Caunnysup]

there is no such thing as female circumcision in islam

Yes, there is. Unless you are saying that the Sahih ahadith and the Shafi´i school have nothing to do with Islam?
According to the Shafi´is, there is just as much female circumcision as there is male circumcision.

wassalam

[rsdefwgxvcfdts]

Good afternoon,

I am a film maker and I am currently in the research stages of making a documentary about female circumcision.

I was hoping that you would have a few ladies within your service who would be willing to share their experiences with me.
I would keep all identity private so they can be assured that they can speak openly in confidence without any need to worry about their identity being shown.

My aim for this documentary is to understand this practice, be it good or bad.
I want to explore why it is done. Why people choose to have it done or force it upon others.
I want to get their perspective and how they feel about it now.

It is a practice that is been held in the UK and other countries illegally and i want to explore why.

What I need is females and males, both who live in the UK and abroad to give me their honest opinions on the subject.
I would also very much like to speak to any women who have had this practice done to them, how they felt at the time and how they feel now.

Your help would be amazing for this project. My aim is not to belittle the procedure but to understand the reason behind it and to make other people understand.

So please, if you could contact me via this email, it would be great.

Your help can create something beautiful out of something people see as so horrendous.

Many thank,

Kara

Dear Kara

Pharoic circumcision is definitely haram and a mutilation, there are many fatawa against it.

as I am sure that you know it began long before the arrival of Islam in Africa and has nothing to do with Islam.

Sunnah female circumcision is a light excision of skin (usually from around the clitoral hood) that often has the opposite sexual effect of Pharoic circumcision.

I am sure that you will forgive people on here for being suspicious of your intentions as nearly always films on such issues wrongly associate fgm with Islam and often Islam is wrongly attacked by Islamophobes using fgm as a weapon.

Maybe you will find that most Muslim women who practice their religion will have too much modesty to discuss these things with you.

If you want my (irrelevant) opinion on the women (and very occasionally men) who perform Pharoic fgm and the families who inflict it upon their daughters (who are not simply very ignorant about this issue) then they will almost certainly be punished by God in the hereafter for it as it is very cruel and a sinful mutilation of that which Allah has made for a purpose.

If you want my (irrelevant) opinion of those who undertake the very small and basically symbolic excision of skin that is the sunnah circumcision then I believe that those who undertake this will be rewarded for it by God in the next life.

[rsdefwgxvcfdts]

What i would love to do is actually speak to someone, both a brother and sister, who is for this procedure, and who believes it should be carried out and then two who are against it.

dear kara why don't you make a documentary focusing on Muslims who are against it and leave it at that, this is certainly a documentary that has not been made before.

brothers and sisters - beware of the fact that this documentary is almost certainly going to be edited in a way that is not favourable to Islam and if you go and support sunnah circumcision your views will likely be conflated with support for haram Pharoic circumcision.

[goolen4you]

dear kara why don't you make a documentary focusing on Muslims who are against it and leave it at that, this is certainly a documentary that has not been made before.

brothers and sisters - beware of the fact that this documentary is almost certainly going to be edited in a way that is not favourable to Islam and if you go and support sunnah circumcision your views will likely be conflated with support for haram Pharoic circumcision.

I had to prepare an essay on this in the context of cultural relativism and what you have mentioned is quite accurate.

However, Kara, I would further urge to be wary of of the terminology being used also, as FGM has a negative connotation and female circumcision less so. Again this is dependent upon the epistemology of the terminology with the first having its grounding in ethnocentrically biased research (if you study the atmosphere of most of the female writers/researchers opposed to FGM, they have a very condescending attitude, and from this stems their extreme opposition to the act and their perceived superiority over the uncouth non-white world). To take a neutral stance on this issue is often difficult, especially for Western women who see it as form of oppression.

However, from the perspective of for example some of the native tribes of Africa, they, the women themselves see it as movement into womanhood and see it as a form of pride.

Caveatted, this is NOT always the case and pharaonic circumcision, regardless of culture is utterly wrong due to the established health problems (difficulty in urinating, intimacy and often fatal pregnancies).

The criteria I used for my human rights essay on this topic was not human rights itself as constructed from a Western perspective, because again this a knowledge set/schisms founded upon Christian theology. My criteria was Islam, which is more balanced than international legal norms. Having spoken to classical Islamic scholars on this topic (note, not the modernist "lets reform Islam-types"), they simple stated from an Islamic perspective, we look to guidance in the Sunnah. There are narrations which indicate to its permissibility and encouragement. However they are unanimous on the fact that it cannot violate her Islamic right to the enjoyment of her spouse. This rules out the injurious types of the circumcisions. In fact one scholar indicated that the narrations refer to the type which exposes the clitoris, thereby enabling the woman to climax more easily, since it is often the case that women are harder to climax than males; if the male cannot climax his wife than that is a violation of her Islamic right to her marital enjoyment.

I have given the Islamic perspective because you claim you wish to do a documentary on FC and then come on an Islamic forum for information - your inherent assumptions are revealing. I do hope you do not follow the status quo and dump all the blameworthy acts of this world on Muslims.

Regards