By Kubra Jawher 
Founder, Muslimahs for Circumcision

Female Circumcision! No, it’s not what you think it is! It is not Female Genital Mutilation, it does not curb women’s sexual experience, it is not a cultural tradition. It is Islamic! It is healthy! It increases the experience of sex!

Female circumcision is gaining popularity day by day as Muslim women become aware of its importance. In the early days of Islam – which were its best days- all Muslim women were circumcised. It was regarded as a fitra duty like male circumcision and treated as such. All fitra duties are applicable to both males and females. This includes shaving our pubic hair, plucking out our armpit hair and clipping our nails. Could anybody in his right mind argue that these are applicable only to males? So it’s clear that circumcision must apply to both males and females.

Imam Bukhari is best known for the compilation of the book Saheeh Al Bukhari. But did you know he compiled another book on Good Manners. It was called Adab Al Mufrad. In this great work, Imam Bukhari records two very important incidents in the days of the Sahabah which proves the blessed companions of our beloved Prophet (Sal) regarded it as necessary for women -

Umm Al Muhajir says: “I was captured with some girls from Byzantium. (Caliph) Uthman offered us Islam, but only myself and one other girl accepted Islam. Uthman said: ‘Go and circumcise them and purify them” 

Umm Alqamah says that when the nieces of Ayisha's brother were circumcised, 'A'isha was asked: "Shall we call someone to amuse them?" "Yes" she replied.

In later times, some madhhabs regarded it as wajib (obligatory) like the Shafis and a good part of the Hanbalis like Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah, while others like the Malikis saw it as recommended and the Hanafis viewed it as a good thing to do for a Muslim wife. Disagreements whether it was obligatory or not, the reluctance of male scholars to deal with a woman’s issue and the lack of awareness among women of later generations led to its decline in certain parts of the world like in Turkey, Central Asia and India where the Hanafi Madhhab dominated. Since it was thought of as only recommended, the women in these areas conveniently neglected it.

... some madhhabs regarded it as wajib (obligatory) like the Shafis and a good part of the Hanbalis like Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah, while others like the Malikis saw it as recommended and the Hanafis viewed it as a good thing to do for a Muslim wife.

But an unbiased mind shows it is a must for females as much as males. Why would Hazrat Ayisha have her nieces circumcised and Caliph Uthman order women who had embraced Islam to be circumcised if it were not obligatory?

So what must be done in circumcising the girl? Very simple really, all that is required is to remove the bit of dirty skin around her clitoris. This skin is like the foreskin of boys taken off at circumcision and breeds germs and gives out bad smells. So what are its benefits?  A lot really. It prevents smelly smegma buildup that causes infections. It prevents occurrence of Urinary Tract Infections and it protects your partner, since it prevents transmission of oral cancer-causing HPV to your spouse through oral sex if you ever think of indulging in it. Female foreskin, ew, take it off!

Why would Hazrat Ayisha have her nieces circumcised and Caliph Uthman order women who had embraced Islam to be circumcised if it were not obligatory?

Is that all? No, there’s more to it! Circumcision by removing the female foreskin exposes the surface area of the clitoris for greater stimulation during sex, and this translates to greater sexual pleasure for us ladies. Even posh American women are now going for it as a very costly cosmetic procedure known as hoodectomy paying thousands of dollars, and to think we can get it done for less than 100 dollars here in Asia.

Many clinics now offer Islamic female circumcision. Rumah Sunatan, Indonesia’s largest chain of circumcision clinics now offers circumcision for girls as well. The Fatwa Committee of the Malaysian Government, the Central Islamic Council of Switzerland and the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama of Sri Lanka have all declared female circumcision as an obligatory duty for Muslim women. These developments are bound to change women’s attitudes to circumcision positively so that they choose it for themselves and their daughters, knowing that it is for their own good.

I end this brief piece with the hope and prayer that all Muslim women will be circumcised in the near future. It gives us beauty and barakah, and makes us a blessing to our ummah, like it did in the early days of Islam- the best days of Islam!