Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah, the nation’s semi-official arbiter of Islamic law, has issued a fatwa calling for a nationwide ban on the widespread practice of female genital mutilation, which the organization says has no religious basis for Muslims.
Dar al-Ifta is assigned to draw upon the Quranic scripture and prophets’ teachings, consulting jurists throughout history to help Muslims live their lives according to the principles of Islam.
“This act has no religious origin,” the ruling said. “It only dates back to inherited traditions and customs, and the biggest evidence for not being a religious duty for women is that the Prophet Muhammad had not circumcised his daughters.”
The organization of imams called for taking “decisive action by passing laws which ban the practice of this gruesome custom, declaring it a crime once and for all. Both the actual perpetrators as well as the initiators of instances of FGM must be subject to the full punitive extent of the law in view of the seriousness of the crime against society’s most vulnerable members. International institutions and organizations are encouraged to provide help in all regions to facilitate its elimination. Islam is, without doubt, a religion that adapts and develops to the changing conditions of the world, and the state of scientific knowledge. The enduring commitment to human rights and dignity demand action on our part towards the eradication of FGM.”
The Dar Al-Ifta ruled that FGM is not mentioned or alluded to in Islamic laws and that it is based on cultural traditions rather than any religious foundation. Still, it is currently practiced by 61 percent of the population in Egypt – down from 74 percent in a UNICEF study in 2014.
The clerics said FGM is an attack on religion through damaging the most sensitive organ in the female body. In Islam, said the ruling, protecting the body from any harm is a must and mutilation violates this rule; therefore, if the parents of females who undergo FGM consent to the abhorrent surgery, they should be punished with imprisonment if necessary.
Earlier, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and the Administrative Court of Justice ruled that “FGM should be banned in hospitals and public/private clinics. And it should only be done if the female suffers from a serious disease, which is decided by the head of the department of gynecology based on a doctor’s recommendation.” The Court of Justice found that the surgery will not be against the law only if it is approved by the minister of health himself.
The surgery has three types:
- Type 1: Total or partial removal of the prepuce.
- Type 2: Total or partial removal of the inner labia.
- Type 3: Removal of external genitalia and fusion of the wound.
Type 1 is the most common in Egyptian rural areas.
Statements by the government, along with Dar Al-Ifta’s fatwa, call for FGM to be banned in Egypt. Egyptian Minister of Health Ahmed Emad presented six steps to eliminate FGM by 2030:
1. Criminalizing FGM in the penal code; it should be punishable by imprisonment.
2. The attorney general should record these crimes as a reference in the investigation of FGM incidents.
3. Hospitals are required to inform the police when they receive female circumcision cases.
4. The Ministry of Health’s sectors are required to carry out training programs and educational programs on the law, covering the penalties and negative consequences of circumcision.
5. The implementation of the Supreme Council of Universities’ approval in 2017 to add educational material against the crime of FGM to the curriculum of obstetrics students in medical school programs.
6. The commitment of all ministries and agencies to integrate the curriculum against FGM within their training and service programs.
Dar Al-Iftaa stressed that if the surgery doesn’t have the necessary tools, sanitary requirements and the approval of a certified doctor that the patient requires the procedure, then it’s considered illegal and religiously forbidden.
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Highly-ranking Egyptian Muslim institution Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah recently confirmed in a press statement that female genital mutilation is religiously forbidden due to its negative impact on physical and mental well-being.
The statement came as a response to the Tadwin Center for Gender Studies, who has urged the Sheikh of Al-Azhar to reconsider unreliable fatwas released by some members of the faculty of Al-Azhar University who claim FGM is a religious necessity based on weak Hadith.
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Dar Al-Ifta added that female genital mutilation has been practiced by some Arab tribes due to certain circumstances that has now been changed, and its negative physical and psychological effects have been detailed by most doctors. The statement pointed out that Dar Al-Ifta supported its position with scientific research issued by accredited medical institutions and objective international health organizations, which prove the severe harm and negative consequences of FGM. The organization also warned people against listening to unreliable fatwas issued by those who are medically and religiously unaccredited and urge people not to let their daughters undergo FGM.
“Prohibiting this act in this era is the most adequate decision that comes in accordance to Islamic Sharia,” the statement said.
Dar al-Ifta al Misriyyah describes itself as “among the pioneering foundations for fatwas, or religious rulings, in the Islamic world. It was established in 1895 by the high command of Khedive Abbas Hilmi, and affiliated with Ministry of Justice in 1895. Since it was first established, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah has been the premier institute to represent Islam and the international flagship for Islamic legal research. It fulfills its historic and civil role by keeping contemporary Muslims in touch with religious principles, clarifying the right way, removing doubts concerning religious and worldly life, and revealing religious laws for new issues of contemporary life.”
