Female circumcision debate: A muslim surgeon's perspective

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to address female circumcision (FC) from sociocultural, medical, ethical, and religious/Islamic perspectives through the understanding of a Muslim surgeon. FC is performed primarily in Africa today, and its prevalence varies across countries. None of the sociocultural justifications developed historically for FC is scientifically valid. FC provides no health benefits; on the contrary, severely impairs the physical, psychological, and social health of the victim in the short and long term. As for sexual health and satisfaction, the outcome is disastrous. Hoodectomy as another relevant surgical intervention, however, can be distinguished as an exception because it can rarely be for the benefit of the woman. When we assess FC ethically, we see that all of the generally accepted, major principles of biomedical ethics are violated. If we consider FC from an Islamic perspective, the Quran does not contain any verses to ground or adjudicate arguments on FC. The hadiths reporting about the justification of FC have been determined by the hadith scholars to be weak. They have not been accepted as sound justificatory sources that a fatwa can be based on. The author, along with many contemporary Islamic scholars, believes that FC should be abandoned.

Figure 1

Prevalence of female circumcision

Figure 2

WHO’s definition of female genital mutilation for the first three types