VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

St. Louis, Missouri
Volume 31, June 8, 2008

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

FOCUS OF THE WEEK:


Female Genital Mutilation: "PLEASE, NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM"

(www.nytimes.com: INDONESIA: A girl cries during the procedure)

As the weekend approached, a Muslim college student in London reminded his roommates about their plans to go for dawa work as part of tabligh jamaat activity. In the suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, a Muslim family was preparing to host a birthday party for their two year old daughter, while in Los Angeles, one sister requested her relatives in the morning a (last minute plan) to have lunch the same afternoon at a park near Redondo Beach, she proposed to make chicken tandoori and requested other families to pitch in the potluck meals. Most of them liked the idea since their children could also play in the park and soak their feet in cascading waves of the beach while they all enjoyed the cool breeze from the Pacific ocean.

(www.nytimes.com. INDONESIA: Tears are wiped from the face of a 9 month old following the procedure)

Dear Brothers and Sisters by the time you read the above paragraph already one of our little Muslim sisters from the global Ummah has already been sexually mutilated against her will with the full support of her own parents and close family circle as part of compliance with the local CULTURAL values and customs.

According to UNICEF, one hundred and forty million women and girls suffered FGM thus far with three million girls a year at risk of it each year.

Holy Quran commands us to take good care of our children and also to fight against injustice. Over 140 million victims of FGM with a significant percentage of them being MUSLIM FEMALES , WHAT IS THE UMMAH CURRENTLY DOING TO PREVENT ABOVE PAINFUL ATROCITY TOWARDS ITS INNOCENT CHILDREN ? On an average, every 15 seconds one Muslim girl is being sexually mutilated somewhere in the world and guess what is our response ?

Would it help if we Muslims focus on self-purification of our own Ummah before pointing our fingers at the Non-Muslims ? Has Islam been literally polluted by toxic cultural values like FGM and should the UMMAH rise up to remove such toxins ?

HOLY QURAN:

"You are the best of people, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong and believing in God". Surah Al-Imran (3:110)

From the above verse, is it not the duty of the Muslims from the Global Ummah to forbid what is wrong - FGM ?

HADITH:
"It was narrated by Al-Nu'man Bin Basheer that Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said:

"The similitude of the believers in their kindness, mercy, affection and compassion toward one another, is like a body, when one organ ails, the whole body is drafted to take care of the problem".

Can a single Muslim deny the excruciating pain that a little girl has to go through involuntarily during the process of FGM. Is the global Ummah compassionate on above issue and SERIOUSLY working towards eliminating the source and cause of the practice of FGM which results in multiple psychological, physical, and medical problems.

(www.nytimes.com. INDONESIA: A girl is soothed by an attendant before the procedure)

(www.nytimes.com INDONESIA: The girl who is being soothed in above photo after the procedure)

(www.nytimes.com. INDONESIA: The annual event begins and ends with prayer service)

WHAT EXACTLY IS FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION:

According to www.rho.org (REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OUTLOOK):

TYPES OF FGM:

Type I:
Removal (excision) of the clitoral hood and sometimes removal of part or all of the clitoris

Type II:
Removal of clitoris and part or all of the labia minora (inner vulva lips)

Type III:
(Infibulation) Removal of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening leaving only a small hole for urine and menstrual flow.

Type IV:
(UNCLASSIFIED): All others including: pricking, piercing or cutting of clitoris and or labia, stretching of clitoris and or labia, burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissues, cuts in vaginal wall, scraping (angurya cuts) or cutting (gishiri cuts) of the vagina and surrounding tissues. Introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina.

Information from www.fmgnetwork.org indicates additional aspects of FGM.

DEFIBULATION OR DEINFIBULATION: – Cutting open the scar tissue that has formed around the vaginal opening to allow penetration by her husband or for the birth of a child.

REIBULATION OR REINFIBULATION: The sewing up of a circumcised woman’s vaginal opening after childbirth or periodically during her life when she feels as though her opening has gotten too big or loose.

INTROCISION: A form of FGM/C that is practiced by the Pitta-Patta aborigines of Australia where the vaginal orifice is enlarged by tearing it downward with three fingers bound with an opossum string. The procedure is performed by an elderly man when the girl reaches puberty. In other districts, the perineum is split with a stone knife. Compulsory sexual intercourse with a number of young men usually follows the introcision. Mexico, Brazil, and Peru reportedly practice this form of FGM/C. In Peru, among a division of Pano Indians, an elderly woman uses a bamboo knife to cut around the hymen from the vaginal entrance and severs the hymen from the labia, at the same time exposing the clitoris. Medicinal herbs are applied, followed by the insertion of a phallic clay object into the vagina.


IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL COMPLICATIONS OF FGM:

Hemorrhage (bleeding), wound infection, including tetanus, urine retention from pain, swelling or blockage of the urethra, shock from blood loss and intense pain, damage to adjoining organs from unskilled operation and/or use of blunt instruments and possible death.

LONG TERM HEALTH EFFECTS OF FMG:

Worsening or development of anemia, overgrowth of scar tissue, causing formation of dermoid cysts or keloids (hard ridges/bumps), abscesses, recurrent urinary tract infection, infertility (unable to have children).

IMPACT OF FGM ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND SEXUALITY:

Painful or blocked menses (periods), risk of HIV/AIDS, recurrent reproductive tract infections, difficult or impossible gynecological examination, limited contraceptive choices, painful sexual intercourse and reduced sexual fulfilment due to partial or total destruction of vulvar nerve endings. Increased risk of illness or death to mother and child due to obstructed labor, fistula formation (unnatural openings between vagina and rectum or bladder) and strain on marriage.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF FGM:

Low self esteem
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Severe depression and anxiety
Psychosomatic illnesses
Chronic physical ailments.

(www.nytimes.com: Indonesia: Female circumcisors and their attendants waiting in an elementary school classroom, where they do their work.)

(ED NOTE: The MISGUIDED sisters of Islam).

When a girl is taken — usually by her mother — to a free circumcision event held each spring in Bandung, Indonesia, she is handed over to a small group of women who, swiftly and yet with apparent affection, cut off a small piece of her genitals. Sponsored by the Assalaam Foundation, an Islamic educational and social-services organization, circumcisions take place in a prayer center or an emptied-out elementary-school classroom where desks are pushed together and covered with sheets and a pillow to serve as makeshift beds. The procedure takes several minutes. There is little blood involved. Afterward, the girl’s genital area is swabbed with the antiseptic Betadine. She is then helped back into her underwear and returned to a waiting area, where she’s given a small, celebratory gift — some fruit or a donated piece of clothing — and offered a cup of milk for refreshment.(www.nytimes.com)

(ED NOTE: International donors to ASSALAAM FOUNDATION (if they exist), can you please request above Foundation to stop such sponsorship events)

WHEN CULTURAL JUSTIFICATIONS SHOULD BE CORRECTED:

According to www.fgmnetwork.org, in various cultures: "there are many justifications for FGM. A girl who has not undergone FGM is considered "unclean" by local villagers and therefore unmarriageable. A girl who does not have her clitoris removed is considered a great danger and ultimately fatal to a man if her clitoris touches his penis."

(www.benettontalk.com: AFRICA: Instruments used for FGM)

Ms. Daff, who heads Plan International’s program against all forms of female genital mutilation in the Muslim country of Mali, stressed that it was a cultural not a religious practice. Women who have not undergone circumcision are seen as impure and dirty, Daff said. Many Malians believe that God will not listen to the prayers of an uncircumcised woman and that such a person is susceptible to witchcraft and will bring bad luck to her family and future husband, she added. (irinnews.org)

Islamic Scholars on Female Genital Mutilation

Islamic scholars disagree on FGM: some say no obligatory rules exist while others refer to the mention of female circumcision in the Hadith.

"The late rector of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Gad al-Haq, said that since the Prophet did not ban female circumcision, it was permissible and, at the very least, could not be banned. In short, some clerics condemn FGM as an archaic practice, some accept it, and still others believe it to be obligatory. IT IS THE JOB OF CLERICS TO INTERPRET RELIGIOUS LITERATURE; IT IS NOT THE JOB OF FGM RESEARCHERS AND ACTIVISTS. There is a certain tendency to confuse a liberal interpretation of Islam with the reality women face in many predominately Islamic regions. To counter FGM as a practice, it is necessary to accept that Islam is more than just a written text. It is not the book that cuts the clitoris, but its interpretations aid and abet the mutilation".

Information from www.irinnews.org gives a snapshot of FGM in the Muslim country of Mali:

"Plan International" is trying hard to put across the message that there is nothing in the Koran or other Islamic religious texts that calls for this painful and dangerous operation which can cause huge health complications, both at the time it is performed and later in childbirth.

Alhaji Zeidi Drame, an Imam who belongs to "Islamic Action", an Association of progressive Muslim intellectuals, told IRIN that "Female circumcision has got nothing to do with religion." He described it as a hangover from more distant pagan times. "People have been practicing it since the times of Abraham and the Pharoahs," he said.

“Excision poses a problem to health and it has killed people," Drame stressed. "IT IS NECESSARY THAT IMAMS IMPRESS UPON PEOPLE THAT THIS IS AN ANCIENT TRADITION THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION (ISLAM)", he said. THIS IS JUST THE SORT OF MESSAGE THAT "PLAN INTERNATIONAL" WOULD LIKE MORE ISLAMIC LEADERS TO SPREAD AFTER FRIDAY PRAYERS.

(www.jlhs.nhust.k12.ca.us)

(You don't need to have a Ph.D or be a Islamic scholar to say that above injustice towards the child is DEADWRONG)

Islam is a great religion but there is lot of room for Muslims to improve upon in terms of practically implementing the gems of Islam. In many ways, the WEST unbeknownst to itself has been able to more successfully implement the basic spirit of Islam than the Muslims have been able to. The stumbling block for Muslims in implementing the true spirit of Islam is their inability to separate the cultural non-Islamic values from the pure Islamic values as indicated in the Holy Quran and Hadith. As long as the cancerous negative cultural leech is tightly intertwined with the gems of Islam and masquerades as ISLAMIC VALUE, Muslims especially the vulnerable groups of women and children will continue to be on the front line as the first victims to suffer from various forms of injustice, oppression and exploitation.

We urge all Muslims to step up to the plate and put in their two cents worth of contribution in whatever ways it may be needed. As Editors, our two cents worth of contribution is addressing this issue of FGM in this volume of VOGU -31. We humbly request and hope that your two cents worth of contribution could be in terms of forwarding below PETITION to as many Muslims as possible worldwide. We appeal to all Muslims not to ignore this serious issue and to brainstorm, discuss, explore all possible solution-oriented options to combat FGM.

Would it be practical for the leading world Islamic scholars to address this issue jointly and issue a FATWA against FGM ? Probably not ?

DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY, IF THIS SCROUGE IS NOT REMOVED FROM THE PRACTICE OF OUR MUSLIMS, THOUSANDS OF OUR LITTLE MUSLIM SISTERS WILL BE FORCIBLY SEXUALLY TORTURED IN THE FORM OF FGM ? Is the global Ummah disenfranchised and too powerless to do anything about this gross human right violation ?

We genuinely appreciate the concerns and prayers that Imams and Islamic Scholars frequently express in their Friday speeches for our brothers and sisters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya et.c. May we respectfully suggest that they not only express concerns but also emphatically condemn the practice of FGM that is taking a toll on millions of our Muslim female children. Appeals should be made at all levels to completely eliminate FGM and as Muslims of the GLOBAL UMMAH, we should express ZERO TOLERANCE to FGM.

We acknowledge that this issue is much more complex and is not simple as it sounds and that some progress towards achieving above goal has been made. But we believe that the progress is minimal, if not every 15 seconds, one of our Muslim child would not have to face such a barbaric act. Further even if the issue is complex, should such complexity gag us to remain silent or should we take it as a challenge and move forward ?

PLEASE TELL US HONESTLY WHETHER YOU FEEL THAT CURRENTLY THERE IS ANY INTENTION AT ALL BY THE GLOBAL UMMAH TO SERIOUSLY WORK ON ENDING THIS HORRIBLE PRACTICE ? IF YOUR ANSWER IS NO, MAY WE ASK WHY ?

IT IS OUR OPINION THE GLOBAL UMMAH HAS DONE A BETTER JOB IN ADVOCATING FOR POLITICAL INJUSTICES AGAINST MUSLIMS WORLDWIDE BUT THERE IS TREMENDOUS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT WHEN IT COMES TO ADDRESSING SOCIAL INJUSTICE ISSUES SUCH AS FGM AND HONOR KILLINGS ET.C.

WHEN THE PROBLEM OF FGM IS NOT EVEN ADDRESSED AT MOSQUES AND ISLAMIC CIRCLES, THE QUESTION OF FORMULATING A FEASIBLE WORKABLE PLAN TO ELIMINATE IT DOES NOT EVEN ARISE. What this means is that under the watchful eye of the global UMMAH millions of muslim female children will continue to be traumatized physically, sexually and emotionally.

We believe that the majority of the Global Ummah still have not grasped the seriousness of such a socially sanctioned "crime" against the female children of our Ummah.

As Editors of this VOGU, we humbly appeal to you to forward this E-Mail to as many people as possible and let the global Ummah brainstorm on this matter. It needs team effort at grass root level, NGO level, aggressive involvement of IMAMS, social workers, health care professionals, Government et.c. If you already know of other Muslim entities working on above goal, please let us know. We would love to co-ordinate with them.

PETITION:

"WE THE MUSLIMS OF THE GLOBAL UMMAH unequivocally condemn the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in all its . We urge the World Muslim League, Islamic Government & Non-government Organizations, Islamic Centers & Islamic Organizations and Imams to appeal to one and all to help in ending this horrible practice and injustice to female children.

WE THE GLOBAL UMMAH WILL IN OUR OWN PRACTICAL WAYS WORK ON ENDING THE PRACTICE OF FGM. We urge all Imams and Islamic scholars to highlight above ignored issue in their speeches and strongly condemn FGM as atrocious and barbaric and take whatever action is needed to eliminate this practice.

WE THE GLOBAL UMMAH respectfully call for ZERO tolerance approach in combating above basic human right violation and will actively work in all possible ways to end this practice.

WE THE GLOBAL UMMAH will be more than happy to extend our hand of co-operation with staff from all religions and regional, state, national and global agencies to work as a team on eradicating FGM. Everybody is welcome to give additional suggestions to achieve above goal and let's move forward to gain greater support from the global Ummah with this petition being the first small baby step.

Above petition is just a foundation, feel free to modify as you please and continue forwarding it and if possible work towards contributing to acheive above goal in your own unique way in your local area. This petition is not about you or me, it is about the female child who suffers such great injustice. Remember one Muslim female every 15 seconds is a victim of this local and culturally sanctioned "CRIME".

Feel free to e-mail us with your valuable feedback on such an important issue at info@mehrunyusuficds.com.