U.K.: Over 22,000 girls at risk of being taken abroad for female genital mutilation

The politically correct article of faith included at the end of this report is that "there are no legitimate cultural or religious reasons."

By Western standards, there is indeed no legitimate reason. As for its prevalence in the Muslim world, authorities may find false reassurance in the notion that FGM is not spelled out as an obligation in the Qur'an.

But Islam is not a sola scriptura faith. The practice of Islam also depends on traditions handed down in ahadith and biographies of Muhammad, and schools of jurisprudence. That, for example, is why Sunnis and Shi'ites can read the same Qur'an and differ on so much.

With FGM, one finds that the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence holds FGM to be obligatory, with other schools also failing to condemn it "Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna [commendable according to the word or example of Muhammad, but not obligatory], while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband." - Umdat al-Salik e4.3.

Muhammad himself did not condemn it: "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." - Sunan Abu Dawud 41.5251

Therefore, as long as practitioners do not consider their version "severe," or as long as they can imagine a way it could be worse, they have an excuse to continue mutilating girls. It should be clear that, wishful thinking aside, the practice does have something very much to do with Islam. "UK Girls At Risk of Mutilation Abroad," by Jessica Elgot for the Independent, July 4:

Thousands of British schoolgirls as young as eight face being taken abroad this summer to have their genitals mutilated and stitched up to preserve "purity".

A campaign by the Metropolitan Police and Foreign Office will suggest that more than 22,000 girls under the age of 15 risk being taken abroad by their family for "cutting", based on data from The International Centre for Reproductive Health.

Campaigners say the victims are being failed by a lack of awareness from teachers and neighbours.

Girls may have their outer genitals removed and stitched up to preserve their virginity, with an opening as small as a matchstick head, meaning it can take up to 20 minutes to urinate.

The World Health Organization recognizes four categories of FGM. What is described in the preceding paragraph is Type III of the four: excision and infibulation. This practice is common in Somalia. In Egypt and other areas, clitoridectomy -- the severing or excision of the clitoris -- is standard practice, as described in Umdat al-Salik, a Shafi'i jurisprudence manual certified as "reliable" by al-Azhar University in Cairo. As many as 130 million women worldwide have suffered one form or another of FGM.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is most common in Muslim areas, from North Africa to the Far East, although Koranic scholars have proclaimed it incompatible with Islam. Engaging or assisting in it carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years in the UK.

There have been some recent rulings against FGM. Enforcement, and repudiating centuries-old Islamic traditions, is where the greater challenge lies.

A specialist with the Metropolitan Police, Detective Sergeant Vicky Washington, said: "There are no legitimate cultural or religious reasons for FGM -- it's child abuse."

Source : Jihad Watch