I told you this was serious.
For those who have led very sheltered lives, the unmarried men (and less enlightened married ones), no, this has nothing to do with nature conservation. Well, perhaps it does. Women, by nature, are born with a certain arrangement of pleasure organs. Seriously, for anyone not sure of the geography of the female body, you might like to acquaint yourself properly before we begin. By virtue of Wikipedia, you can read up on what it's for and even look at a map to find out where it lives.
This is a clitoris.
So why does this remarkable God-given instrument of pleasure need saving? Every girl is born with one. There should be a perfect number available - one girl, one clitoris. But that is not so. Because in many parts of the world, their own mothers cut them off, or allow someone else to do so. That's right. Along with various other bits, to a greater or lesser degree, this bodily organ gets cut. Off baby girls, or even older ones. Cut right off. Yes, you might well wince. There are names, categories and types. But all come under the category of what is known variously as
"female circumcision", "female genital mutilation" or "female genital cutting". We'll use one of the most common abbreviations: FGM. Again, off in Wiki-world, you can have a look at what actually gets removed.
Yesterday, I was updating a Linoleum Surfer groupie known as Abu Haider. Abu Haider was surprised when I told him of the subject of this coming piece. "Female circumcision?", he said. "But what's that got to do with Oman?". Now Abu Haider is a man of the world. Well-travelled, a successful businessman, a reformed womaniser and now happily married, respectable, and a loving husband and father. When I told him that an estimated 20% of Omani women have important parts of their genitalia cut off, his jaw literally dropped. I am not exaggerating. Abu Haider, not an easy man to reduce to silence by the way, simply stood in the middle of the road with his mouth wide open. He was stunned. The thing is, FGM is not a normal topic of conversation, and certainly not for men. Also, in Abu Haider's particular community, the practice is alien. They don't do it. So in his mind, neither did anyone else. He was simply shocked to discover that so many others do.
And there are a lot of them. Some have brought the tradition from Africa (Kenya for example, where it is inflicted on an estimated 50% of girls at least). Some have carried it out within tribal or "qu7i" if you'll pardon the term, groups, for generations. Families of sheikhs even. A friend of mine in fact, who is the daughter of one such prominent tribal figure who lives in the Eastern region, told me that as a child she and her sisters would run and hide when a certain elderly woman was sighted in the village. They never knew why until they were older, but that lady was the genital-cutter. Those are the few then: some from East Africa, some from certain tribes or families who probably don't know where the practice originated. And it's not just an obscure village custom. In cities, among PhD holders and the urban elite, it happens too.
But if they are the few, then spare a thought for the many. I have mentioned a few times my esteemed blog-colleague Mimi, writer of the
Shy Rebellious Arab Girl blog. Mimi is a keen writer, and has covered this subject several times (please do read her charmingly frank thoughts). A couple of days ago, I commended Mimi on
the Facebook page for again raising this issue. The venerable Susan Al Shahri chipped in to say that she was also writing an article for the Muscat Daily on the subject - something of a first. That excellent, eye-opening
article is shared here. Another reader, Nadia of
Dhofari Gucci fame, added her voice saying "let's start a revolution". So why do these woman all feel so strongly? Because they are all Dhofari women. Dhofari women alone make up about 15% of Oman's women. And among Dhofari women, the practice of cutting the genitals of baby girls is basically universal.
With this one small contribution, I'd like to add my voice to that of the women, and say yes indeed, let's start a revolution to save the clitoris! Because as a man who may well marry an Omani woman, I have very strong feelings on the subject. This is for two reasons: firstly, because I like the idea of the woman with whom I am sharing intimate love, to enjoy it. She will enjoy it more if she retains the pleasure equipment with which she was born. And the second reason is that I have daughters myself. The idea of allowing anyone to cut off parts of their little bodies is simply horrifying to me. This piece of writing, then, is addressed mainly to my brother men in Oman, the GCC, the Arab world: don't you want your wives to enjoy their lives with you?
So why? Why the hell would anyone actually do this to their daughter, or allow it to be done? Mostly, ironically, the practice is perpetuated by women. Men might not even know about it, or that it is done to their daughters. And even if they do, with their ignorance of the female body, and the misleading terminology of "female circumcision" (ختان المرءة) or "طهارة" ("making clean"), they might somehow consider it equivalent to the hygienic circumcision of boys: the simple removal of a piece of ordinary thick skin, that covers the glans or head of the penis.
But, gentleman, that's not it. You see (I hope you're sitting comfortably), the clitoris is very, very similar to a penis. And the visible part of it is exactly equivalent to the glans or head of your penis. that nerve-packed, sensitive, pleasure-centre of a head. Complete with a little hood of skin over it called the "prepuce". And guess what boys? They don't cut back that little piece of skin like they do for a boy. They cut the glans - the whole visible thing - right off. So when you think of "female circumcision" applied to you, don't think of how you were circumcised. Imagine the doctor slipped, and cut the head of your penis right off. Sure, it would still be functional. But would you feel the same about it? About having had the sensitive part of your dick cut off? That's right.
That is what happened to 20% of Omani women. Although the percentages are lower, it happens all over the Gulf region to a greater or lesser degree. In Yemen it happens even more. In Iraq, it is reportedly up to 60% within the Kurdish community. In other parts of the Arab World, like Egypt and Sudan where it probably originated, the percentage is more like 70%. And what they do is simply unbelievable (look up "type three" in the Wiki article linked above - but not if you're of a sensitive disposition).
You will see from the background picture on this page, that I have some old books written by travelers in Arabia many years ago. One of them writes a detailed description of the brutal circumcision rituals carried out on boys in some tribes. In one account, a bedouin boy having just reached puberty, had the skin of his entire penis, scrotum, lower abdomen and upper thighs peeled off. The massive area of exposed flesh was then cauterised over a smoking fire. This was around 150 years ago. Such extraordinary tortures have been long-forgotten: wiped out by education, enlightenment and urbanisation. So why are women still having their sexual organs cut off?
Let's face it, no parent - male or female - wants to harm their child. Africans, Dhofaris, this tribe or that tribe, in whatever country, are not barbarians or monsters. We are all men and women who love our baby boys and girls with all our hearts. We want what's best for them. So we have to wonder, what is it that makes anyone think such a violent act against their daughter could be in her interest? Well, looking into this, there seem to be a few common reasons. One is simply that "everyone does it so it must be right". And if everyone does it, not doing it makes a bit of a statement. What if your daughter is the only one not "done"? Will this cause her social exclusion, or trouble finding a husband? Then there's two, the argument that it protects a girl's virtue by making her less likely to seek sex out of marriage. Three, in some cases, people are led to believe that it enhances fertility. And finally four, perhaps the most sensitive issue, some people think it is a religious duty. These are all reasons that can be very persuasive to parents. So it's time to shoot some big holes in them.
1. If a social group, or potential husband, are seeking a woman who is genitally-mutilated, educate them. It's as simple as that. And if a man is not willing to be educated and consider his and his wife's well-being in a serious, unprejudiced way, then he's not fit to marry your daughter. Could it really be that simple? I think so.
2. Although the most extreme forms of FGM can physically prevent sexual intercourse, they do not make any difference to sexual desire. A woman's hormones are unaffected (unlike, say, a man losing his testicles - a woman's hormone factories are inside, beyond the old witch's reach), so her sexual urge is perfectly normal. What she might suffer instead is pain or psychological problems that make her married sex life an unpleasant ordeal for her. Who wants his wife to find sex with him an unpleasant ordeal?! Some women find that they can still stimulate the sub-cutaneous (under the skin) part of the clitoris, which is equivalent to the shaft of the male penis (erectile tissue too - did you know women kind of get erections, boys?). This is despite having had the glans or head removed completely. So a mutilated girl can still fancy boys, quite possibly still masturbate and almost certainly still want to. Bit of a waste of time then, wasn't it?
3. FGM does not increase fertility. Even in its lesser forms, the build up of scar tissue, damage to the urinary tract and destruction of important tissues around the area, can make birth problematic. Also, because the procedure is often unclean, infection is likely and that can cause infertility. Add the high likelihood of the woman not enjoying sex as much as she might have, or even finding it unpleasant, and you're not doing much for her breeding potential.
4. We all know that different sects and schools of jurisprudence exist in Islam. None (let me repeat that, NONE) of the main seats of Islamic learning, none of the four Sunni schools, neither the Ja'fari school, nor the Ibadhi school, consider female genital cutting to be obligatory. Not in any way. The problem is that two of them - the Sunni-Hanbali school led in effect by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, and the Ibadhi school led by the Grand Mufti of Oman, consider it "mustahhab" or "commendable". Most Dhofaris are Sunni, and most seek religious guidance from Saudi-trained scholars. Most of the rest of Oman are Ibadhis, or also Sunni. Therefore, most Omanis might have heard some suggestion that doing this is a good idea. Shia are a much smaller minority (like TLS-fan Abu Haider above), and don't do this.
Why the difference then, and what to do about it? Well, the first thing is to reiterate that it is NOT required. But how to tackle this "commendable" thing from two sources? The fatwa in each case (a fatwa, for any infidels reading, is a scholarly religious opinion by the way, not a death sentence on Salman Rushdie...). Anyone who calls himself a mufti can issue a fatwa (a mufti, in Arabic grammar, is a "fatwa-maker" - the words are from the same root). What makes it a proper fatwa is people's choosing to follow it. Most Muslims choose to follow one school of Islamic jurisprudence, or even a particular individual within it. The Grand Mufti is a very respected individual - for good reason that he knows a lot - and so many people follow his words carefully. And as described above, although none of those schools enforce this practice, two suggest it is commendable. Why?
The origin of this fatwa is a single hadith (a report of something the Prophet, peace be upon him, has said). This particular hadith is agreed by all scholars to be weak i.e. there is a doubt over its provenance. Even the two leading schools that support FGM, personified in the Saudi and Omani Grand Muftis, would agree on that point. The trouble is that it's the only hadith in existence that discusses the subject at all. It says that Um 'Atiyah asked about carrying out the practice, and was told "When you circumcise then do not cut severely, since that is better for her and more pleasing to the husband.". Some argue that as this hadith is not considered "true" (صحيح), it is best ignored altogether. But other scholars argue that this hadith requires a small circumcision, such as removing part of the prepuce - a very literal equivalent to male circumcision, i.e. leaving the clitoral glans unharmed, and should be taken as a recommendation in itself. The Saudi and Omani scholars are in the latter category, although neither go into detail as to the nature of the procedure.
But whichever way you look at it, whichever scholar you respect or follow, what is happening in Oman and basically all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and most of North Africa, is wrong. Religiously wrong. Because even in the Dhofari tradition, they are still cutting off every girl's clitoris - not just a piece of skin; i.e. not a mere circumcision. And there is no fatwa, from pretty much anyone of note, calling for that.
Fortunately, some big name scholars have stepped up and taken an interest in the anti-FGM campaign. Their voices need to be heard, and I would like to relay some of them here. In 2006, a German NGO called "Target" organised a conference of Muslim scholars in Egypt (where the practice is both severe and widespread), and achieved something extraodinary. I can't find a list of those who attended, but they got the Sheikh of Al Azhar - the late Ahmed Tantawi (الله يرحمه), the Grand Mufti of Egypt (the largest Arab country) - Professor Ali Gom'a, and probably the most famous Muslim scholar in the Arab world and beyond - Yousef Qaradhawi. These scholars and the others attending reached a unanimous verdict: not just that FGM was not compulsory. Not just that it was not recommended. But that FGM is haram. A grave and terrible sin.
One of the interesting things about this is that Yousef Qaradhawi admitted that he had previously believed the practice to be commendable. But on learning about the damage done to a woman's body and her ability to enjoy married life and bear children in the normal, desirable way of Islam, he changed his mind completely. He explained his reasons, and used the most strident language in declaring FGM forbidden.
There you go then. FGM. What it is, why it's important to anyone even in what we like to think of as the enlightened Islamic world; why FGM is still practiced, and why all four of those common reasons are wrong. This is a message that has to be shared, please. Think about it: 20% of Oman alone is over 200,000 babies, girls and women who have been cut. Whichever country you're from, this is happening right on your doorstep. As a woman, you need to think about your daughter. And as a man, you need to think also of your sister and your wife. There are four excuses given, and four good reasons above why they are just wrong.
Along with sisters Mimi, Susan and Nadia I'm writing about this to do my little bit to help. So can you. Mimi is setting up a Facebook page
"Stop FGM in Oman" - keep an eye on it, support it if you can. And you can share this article on your Facebook page, forum, email, or anywhere else you can think of. Don't worry about copyright, permission, credits or whatever. Just take this in its entirety and pass it on. Pass it on especially to your male friends - we're the ones most ignorant about this, and the ones who can demand its end. We can let women know that we don't require it; even more, that it offends and disgusts us. We demand our women as God made them.
And/or please read and forward, these:
And if you're of the "Electric Mufti" mindset, you might be interested in forwarding these fatawa in their full and original texts:
It's a subject that can easily make you squeamish, but the reality would make you more so. So please pass this on. The Facebook/Twitter share buttons are just below the end of the post. There is a "StumbleUpon" share button to the right at the top of the page, just between the Google follow and Facebook boxes. Use them however you can.
Thank you.
