VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 233, June 23, 2013

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

EDITORIAL:

In this E-Zine, we have highlighted the shameful decision by the Chinese government to prevent Uighur students returning for summer vacations in northwestern China from fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, followed by interfaith issues including  three major victories against HATE in the U.S., Malawi Muslims falling in love with hijab and Saudi Arabia's plan to build “Pilgrim City” in Medinah.

PART I:

‘Banned’ Ramadan for Uighur Muslims

www.onislam.net

14 Jun 2013

It’s not exactly breaking news that China has serious issues with freedom of religion and as an officially Atheist state is often very repressive against those observing religious rites.

China has once again leveled restrictions on the persecuted Uighurs when it comes to practicing Ramadan. (h/t: GF)

via. OnIslam

BEIJING – Unlike millions of Muslims around the world, Uighur students returning for summer vacations in northwestern China are banned from fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

“They are extracting guarantees from parents, promising that their children won’t fast on Ramadan,” Dilxat Raxit, Sweden-based spokesman for the exile World Uighur Congress (WUC), told Radio Free Asia on Thursday, June 13.

Chinese authorities have reportedly imposed restrictions on Uighur Muslim students returning for summer vacations in the northwestern region of Xinjiang ahead of Ramadan.

Under the restrictions, Uighur students under 18 are banned from fasting during Ramadan or taking part in religious activities. Students defying the restrictions are being reported to authorities for punishment.

“They have also made groups of 10 households responsible for spying on each other, so that if a single child from one family fasts for Ramadan, or takes part in religious activities, then all 10 families will be fined,” Raxit said. “It’s called a 10-household guarantee system.”

Religious officials have confirmed that Ramadan fasting is banned for Uighur Muslim students. “Fasting is not allowed,” an official at a religious affairs bureau in Hotan’s Yutian County told Radio Free Asia. “The students and the teachers have to report to their schools every Friday, even during the vacation. “It’s like regular lessons,” he said, adding that the students would also be eating there.

Activists have also complained that Uighur students are being stripped off their mobile phones ahead of Ramadan. “After the students get back to their hometowns, those with cell phones and computers must hand them in to the police for searching,” said Raxit.

“If they don’t hand them over and are reported or caught by the authorities, then they will have to bear the consequences.” The pre-Ramadan restrictions come ahead of the fourth anniversary of deadly riots in Xinjiang, which left nearly 200 people dead.

Chinese authorities have convicted about 200 people, mostly Uighurs, over the riots and sentenced 26 of them to death.

PART II a:

INTER FAITH ISSUES:

3 Victories Against Hate In the United States

www.parliamentofreligions.org

 

FIRST VICTORY:

FAITHS AGAINST HATE PREMIERING PUBLIC TRAINING DAY IN NEW YORK

In partnership with the Interfaith Institute of the Islamic Center of Long Island, CPWR Executive Director Dr. Mary Nelson and Chair Imam Malik Mujahid will join Long Island and New York City’s leaders of interfaith action against hate to deliver front line training on hate crime and hate culture. On Saturday, June 22, 2013 – we welcome all participants to share training, inspiration, free meals, and action planning to mobilize a Faith Against Hate Task Force to overcome hate, fear, and anti-religious violence in the New York/Long Island area. Sponsors speaking at the event from The Interfaith Center of New York, The Sikh Coalition, the Holocaust Memorial Museum and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, the Muslim Consultative Network, and more will be on hand to share formal and informal time to all. The training will empower and foster interfaith relationships for concerned citizens, clergy and civic leaders. Come concerned, leave prepared!

SECOND VICTORY:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation that tracks hate crimes in the United States announced on Wednesday, June 5, that it will finally include Hindu-, Sikh, and Arab-American categories in future annual uniform hate crime reporting. This win is celebrated by hundreds of organizations which were heard en masse by the Senate Judiciary Committee last summer at the overdue hearing on domestic extremism and hate crime, which was expedited after the murders of Sikhs at the Gurdwara in the Oak Creek, WI (Wisconsin) last August. Data on hate crimes motivated by 9/11 backlash and Islamaphobia will finally quantify widespread violence targeting several communities perceived “other,” “Middle Eastern”, “South Asian.” It also signifies more attention by the U.S. government on this pervasive and complex illness in American society.

For more on this, check out our webinar with the chief organizer of the petitions and government relations at the Sikh Coalition, Rajdeep Singh, on “How Interfaith Coalitions Can Strategically Combat Hate.”

THIRD VICTORY:

Pandora Refuses to Run* Hate Ads After Immigration Reform Supporters Protest

by Janelle Tupper

www.sojo.net

 

Earlier this month, Pandora internet radio ran ads from a group called the Federation for American Immigration Reform. This group’s name sounds innocent enough – after all, Christians have been advocating for immigration reform for years. But FAIR is operating under a different definition of “immigration reform” – severely limiting all forms of immigration and creating an even more punitive system for undocumented immigrants.

FAIR’s messages have often hinged on fear and dehumanization of immigrants and their home cultures. Some have alleged they have ties to white supremacist organizations, and their leaders are credited with any number of disturbing quotes.

FAIR’s recent ad campaigns have attempted to whip up fear and hatred for immigrants by claiming that they will steal jobs from working Americans. This kind of thinking has been debunked numerous times – immigrants contribute to the economy and help start small businesses.

Pandora radio has 70 million users listening 1.31 billion hours each month. That’s a lot of people who were hearing ads based on fear rather than facts.

Along with other groups, Sojourners contacted Pandora and asked them to stop playing these ads. We understand that everyone has the right to say what they want – free speech – but we’re glad that civil society and consumers can put pressure on companies to limit the amount of harmful speech we hear every day.

Pandora has ended the relationship after reviewing FAIR’s record. Thousands of Sojourners readers signed a petition asking them not to accept hateful ads in the future, and donated to help Sojourners run ads with positive messages highlighting the contributions immigrants make to our communities and their inherent dignity as human beings created in God’s image.

This is especially important as bipartisan immigration reform legislation advances in Congress. People of faith and the public in general have rallied in support of reform legislation with a road map to citizenship for aspiring Americans, and to hear hateful messages during this time is especially difficult for those who are waiting expectantly for Congress to decide their fate.

Thanks to the efforts of those who care about our immigrant sisters and brothers, Pandora radio will no longer be a source of harm and pain to our neighbors.

Thank you, Sojourners activists and Pandora!

Janelle Tupper is Campaigns Assistant for Sojourners.

PART II b:

“How Interfaith Coalitions Can Strategically Combat Hate.”

Mar 18, 2013

Parliament Webinar Series presented by Rajdeep Singh, Director of Law and Policy at The Sikh Coalition for Faiths Against Hate/Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions - March 18, 2013

In August 2012, in response to the massacre of six worshipers at a Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the Sikh Coalition petitioned the U.S. Senate to hold a hearing on hate crimes and the threat of domestic extremism. The appeal was endorsed by over 150 organizations and resulted in a hearing the following month that paid tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in Oak Creek and also highlighted the growing dangers of extremism and religious intolerance in the United States.

Rajdeep Singh, Director of Law and Policy at the Sikh Coalition, discusses his organization's strategic engagement with government, media, and community groups to make the hearing a reality. Using the hearing as a model, this discussion focuses on advocacy strategies that interfaith organizations can use to combat bigotry and promote social justice.

PART II-c:

Chaplain's News

May 31, 2013

Interfaith conference promotes dialogue, peaceful coexistence

Chap. (Lt. Col.) David Deppmeier

Army News Service

Over 300 leaders from religious groups, academic institutions, governments and nongovernmental organizations from 70 countries attended the 10th Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue last month in Doha, Qatar. The event was sponsored by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue.

"We have been examining ways we can collaborate to provide opportunities for interested U.S. service members to participate in programs on interfaith dialogue and religious and cultural awareness,” Chap. (Col.) Jonathan C. Gibbs III, Third Army/USARCENT Command Chaplain said. "I was able to participate in additional discussions with DICID staff and with the Director, Dr. Ibrahim Salih Al Naimi, during the conference. I look forward to continued engagement with DICID in the future."

This year marked the tenth anniversary of the interfaith forum for DICID, which has been a leading international organization in the region promoting interfaith dialogue as a means to counter the rise of violent sectarianism. DICID's primary mission is to promote the culture of interfaith dialogue, the peaceful coexistence of humanity and the acceptance of others of different religious traditions.

Religious leader liaison engagements promote mutual respect, contribute to the chaplain’s core task of advising the commander on religious affairs issues, and support the USARCENT campaign plan by building relationships that help foster common capabilities with partner nations in the region.

PART II-d:

“So a Muslim, a Christian and a Buddhist enter a marathon race” is not the start of bad joke: Kyoto marathon to feature interfaith teams

Jun 1, 2013

by Mike

The city of Kyoto is considering including a special interfaith relay race segment to the third annual Kyoto marathon to take place in February 2014.

Kyoto dispatched a city worker to observe the June 2012 interfaith race at the Luxembourg Marathon that saw 50 participants from 11 countries and seven religions taking part. That race garnered plenty of media attention with its high profile runners and sponsors that included the Dalai Lama and the world’s oldest marathon runner, 101-year-old English Sikh, Fauja Singh. The Japan Buddhist Federation is also expressing interest in an interfaith race at next year’s Kyoto marathon.

Officials say they want to hold a long distance race with interfaith teams tied together with threads, with the ultimate goal of promoting world peace and the city of Kyoto. The RocketNews24 team hopes the interfaith race will give rise to similarly themed races.

Maybe in 2015 we can look forward to Chinese and Japanese politicians running as one alongside teams of Manchester U and Manchester City fans, and teams of Linux and Windows users.

PART III:

Malawi Muslims Fall in Love With Hijab

Posted by Rafiq A. Tschannen

By Khalid Abubaker

June 13, 2013

(condensed version)

OnIslam Correspondent

Today, hijab has become a common sight in Malawi with many Muslim women proudly donning the outfit

LILONGWE – Long treated with ridicule and scorn in the southern African country, hijab is now becoming a common sight in Malawi streets, a shift attributed to the political empowerment of the Muslim community in the predominantly Christian state.

“We have gone through a painful and dehumanizing experiencing,” Mwalone Jangiya, one of the only two Muslim women legislators in Malawi’s National Assembly, told OnIslam.net.

Malawi Plans First Islamic University

“Even while I’m in here in parliament, I put on my hijab, without any person raising eye blows. We are now part of the society,” said Jangiya. “Islam in Malawi has taken on a path that will never be detoured or reversed.” Hijab, an obligatory code of dress in Islam, was rarely seen in Malawi streets before the 1990s as Muslims wearing the outfit often encountered scorn and ridicule.

But today, the Muslim headscarf has become a common sight with many Muslim women proudly donning the outfit.

Walking around the streets, market places, schools, colleges and other public places, it is very easy today to recognize a Muslim woman or a girl from distance. Looking at the state of affairs, a person visiting Malawi for the first time would wrongly conclude that this has been the case all along.

“We are now free people in a free society,” Khadija Hamdan, an executive member of the Muslim Women organization in Malawi, told OnIslam.net.

“We are free to worship Allah the manner we want. We are proud Muslims. 

 

“Today, hijab has become a symbol of liberation among Muslim women in Malawi. You can find a woman in hijab almost everywhere. You walk into an office, schools, you can easily identify a Muslim woman.”

Islam is the second largest religion in the southern African country after Christianity. Official statistics suggest Muslims constitute 12 percent of the country’s 14 million people, but the umbrella Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) puts the rate at 36.

Empowered Muslims

Scholars cite political empowerment of Muslims for the public shift on hijab in Malawi. “In the past, a hijab was a source of public ridicule and a recipe for embarrassment,” Sheikh Dinala Chabulika, national coordinator of the Islamic Information Bureau (IIB), told OnIslam.net.

“Women in hijab were considered very primitive and backward. This was a time our society was getting increasingly intolerant towards Islam and Muslims. “This affected Muslim women both emotionally and physically. They were robbed of self-esteem,” he recalled. But the political empowerment of Muslims in the past two decades has helped change the public view about the headscarf.

“For the past few years, we have been able to empower our women for them to understand that just like their Christian counterparts; they too have their own place in the Malawi society,” he said. “We have fully empowered them to value their identity as Muslims.”

Chabulika opines that because of this level of empowerment, Muslim women can today stand up and walk tall without fear of victimization.

“They now realize their rights, and nobody can victimize them, either verbally or physically.”

The ascendancy to the presidency of Malawi’s first Muslim President, Bakili Muluzi, in 1994, until 2004 when he constitutionally retired is seen as a milestone in changing views about Muslims in Malawi. “The fact that he was a Muslim President changed people’s mindset towards Islam and Muslims. For the first time, Muslims started having a sense of pride,” said Chabulika. He recalled that it was during Muluzi’s time that Muslims were able to be recognized as people who could equally contribute towards the country’s development.

“Ever since that time, we have been able alongside our Christian brothers and sisters to co-exist and participate in matters of national building, without being discriminated against on the basis of religion.”

“We have reached a point of no return.” Dr. Imran Shareef Mahomed, one of Malawi’s revered Muslim scholars, agrees. “It was during this time that Muslims and non-Muslims realized that Islam was not a barrier to any form of progress, even in a society, where you are in a minority,” he told OnIslam.net. “As Muslims, we will remain eternally grateful to his leadership in this regard.”

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/463106-malawi-muslims-all-in-love-with-hijab.html

PART IV:

Saudi Arabia to build ‘pilgrim city’ in Madinah

by Courtney Trenwith

www.arabianbusiness.com

(condensed version)

June 13, 2013

Saudi Arabia will build a “pilgrim city” for 200,000 Muslims who travel to Madinah for Haj and Umrah, Arab News has reported.

The state-of-the-art city would cover 1.6m square metres and include hotels, furnished apartments, a railway and bus station, government offices and a 400-bed hospital.

Saudi Arabia is spending billions of dollars renovating and expanding the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, to allow it to hold 2 million pilgrims at a time.

It is estimated about 6m pilgrims travelled to Madinah and Makkah for Haj or Umrah last year.

THE END

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 232, June 16, 2013

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

EDITORIAL:

In this E-Zine our spotlight is on the recent declaration (see below article I-a, June 11, 2013) by the American Society for Muslims Advancement / Global Muslim Women's Shura Council that Female Genital Cutting (FGC)  is UN-ISLAMIC. 

We really feel very sorry for the utter ignorance by the anti-Islamic extremists who out of their personal bias & hate are waiting for any and all opportunities to demonize Islam. Even though FGC has been practiced by Muslims, Christians and Jews, because of their above bias, their focus is only to blame Islam for such practice. Most of them are not even aware that FGC is not a Islamic practice but a social and cultural practice that predates the birth of both Islam and Christianity. Origins of the practice have been traced to Pharonic Egypt based on evidence found on mummies. Further the fact remains that the majority of the Muslim countries DO NOT practice FGC including Saudi Arabia and Iran except for some of  its immigrants. Further FGC is common in several Christian majority countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Central African Republic. In fact in Kenya and Tanzania, a higher percentage of Christian women than Muslim women undergo FGC. The best we can do is to pray that Almighty Allah brings the anti-Islamic extremists out of their darkness of ignorance  and enlighten them on facts based on history and science.

We applaud the American Society for Muslim Advancement / Global Muslim Women's Shura Council for having done an excellent job to eloquently bring out the facts (see below article Part I-d), in a logical manner demonstrating that FGC is not only UN-ISLAMIC, but also (a) contradicts the Holy Quran (b) contradicts the Prophet Mohamed's (SAW) examples & words (Sunnah & Hadith) (c) Not supported by legal consensus (Ijma) or legal opinion (Fatwa) (d) Not supported by Analogy (Qiyas) and last but not the least (e) Contradicts the principles of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Muslims should play an important role to work actively towards the goal of eliminating the inhumane act of FGC which we know originates from a cultural practice and NOT from Islam. It is really unfortunate that some of the immigrants who have settled in  the US are having a difficult time to let go of their barbaric cultural practice of FGC. True assimilation should include eliminating above cultural practice of FGC.  The US is one of the most fertile social landscapes in the world to practice universal Islam that ideally should be Quran centered and free of being polluted by certain negative cultural practices. Muslims from the mainstream Ummah must actively work to assist the immigrants to abandon such UN-ISLAMIC practice. It could be argued that the victims of this sick practice  who are females have to essentially go through tremendous cultural sanctioned  physical and sexual abuse. This is an important issue that unfortunately tends to be pushed under the social rug again and again when it is supposed to be highlighted & aggressively condemned by the Imams and Islamic leaders in the local Mosques in the strongest possible terms.

We also deeply appreciate Lisa Anderson in her report published on March 11, 2013, (see below article 1-b and 1-c) in which she has rightly pointed out that  female genital mutilation (FGM) is on the rise in the United States. Of particular concern is that up to 200,000 girls and women in the United States are at risk of FGM and that the number is growing. We fully support the federal law that was passed against sending young women outside US for the so called “vacation cutting”.

In general, one of the many areas of improvement for the Global Ummah is to pay much more attention to the other HALF of our Ummah in terms of addressing the historic & cultural injustices perpetrated on them and thereby impacting millions of Muslim females in a myriad of ways. FGC is just one of the many injustices that needs to be aggressively confronted and eliminated.  Global Ummah can literally never bring out its best in this conflict ridden world without first getting its own house in order and addressing blatant injustices perpetrated on half of its own Ummah primarily through cultural practices. Almighty Allah out of his mercy had through our beloved Prophet Mohamed (SAW)  introduced Islam to mankind for many reasons and one of which was to fight against injustice. Thanks to our loving Prophet Mohamed (SAW), who abolished burial of live female infants, gave inheritance rights to women, advocated for women's rights and even  stated that “Women's rights are Sacred”. To what extent our Muslim brothers are really implementing above honorable statement in practice, especially with their loved ones ?

Unfortunately the cultural scum that has nothing to do with Islam had been and continues to be masquerading either directly or indirectly under the umbrella of Islam and it has  brought great injustice, oppression to our Muslim sisters across the world. In general, while it may be convenient and easy to maintain the “status-quo”, we must transcend above our “convenience” and instead practice Islam for what it was really meant to be “to fight against injustice”. A true Muslim cannot turn a blind eye to the injustices faced by his mother, sister, wife and daughter. In a way it may be a test from Allah to find out whether a Muslim truly prefers ISLAM or abandons Islam for his CULTURE.

In above backdrop, as indicated in the beginning of this Editorial,  the announcement by American Society for Muslim Advancement / Global Muslim Women's Shura Council that Female Genital Cutting is UN-ISLAMIC is a positive step in the right direction. We would like to go one step further and state that anyone who involves in the act of FGC is committing a crime and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. (we acknowledge the sad reality  that in most cases primarily in Africa & to some extent in Asia, such  laws don't exist because FGC is accepted as a cultural practice). This is an area that we not only need Islamic scholars and leaders to take this issue extremely seriously  but also the governments in the countries where it is widespread to educate & initiate aggressive campaigns against it and declare this practice to be a crime and promulgate a punishment as they deem fit. 

PART I-a:

Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is Un-Islamic

American Society for Muslim Advancement

The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council
June 11, 2013 

Global Muslim Women’s Shura Council

Declares Practice of Female Genital Cutting Un-Islamic

(Suhair al-Bata’a, 13, died while she was being circumcised in a village northeast of Cairo. (Photo courtesy of Egypt Independent)

June 11, 2013 - New York, NY: Suhair al-Bata'a, a thirteen year old Egyptian girl, did not have to die. Her parents were looking forward to her future and so was she. However, the Female Genital Cutting (FGC) operation took her life far too early.

The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council (The Council) stands together with the Egyptian National Council for Women in demanding the eradication of this practice. The Council condemns FGC as a harmful and un-Islamic practice that contradicts the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet's Example (Sunnah). 

Laleh Bakhtiar, a Council member and the author of the English translation The Sublime Quran, states: "There is no mention of FGC in the Qur'an, it is a cultural practice growing as it did out of local customs in Egypt and elsewhere."

Daisy Khan, Executive Director of American Society for Muslim Advancement, said, "FGC violates human rights of over 130 million women worldwide and continues to pose a threat to three million girls every year, and as a tradition, it is an absolute corruption of the Islamic doctrine and must be eliminated from all Muslim societies."

In August 2010, 96% of Muslim women polled worldwide declared FGC to be an un-Islamic practice which must be eliminated. The Council has prepared various educational tools to help in the elimination of this practice. The Council appeals to the public to read/view and disseminate the three minute long video, the two-page digest "Female Genital Cutting: Harmful and Un-Islamic," and the ten-page full report.

PART I-b:

Female Genital Mutilation is on the Rise in 

the United States – Report. 

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation 
11 Mar 2013

 Lisa Anderson

 

NEW YORK (TrustLaw) 

The ancient, brutal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), once considered primarily a problem of the developing world, is a growing threat to girls and women in the United States, according to a new report.

The United States has longstanding laws against the practice of FGM on U.S. soil and in January, passed a federal law against sending young women outside the country for so-called "vacation cutting". However, girls living in America increasingly are at risk of the procedure both at home and abroad, according to research by Sanctuary for Families.

The New York City-based non-profit organisation, which specialises in gender-based violence, said up to 200,000 girls and women in the United States are at risk of FGM and that the number is growing.

"People in the United States think that FGM only happens to people outside of the United States, but in all actuality, people here all over the country have been through FGM," said Jaha, 23, formerly from Gambia and now a survivor and advocate against FGM.

"Kids that were born in this country are taken back home every summer and undergo this procedure," she was quoted as saying in the report.

The study cited analysis of data from the 2000 census that found between 1990 and 2000 the number of girls and women in the United States at risk of the procedure - which involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia - increased by 35 percent.

SADNESS, EMPTINESS

Most prevalent in immigrant African and Middle Eastern communities, FGM generally originates in the belief by some cultures that it preserves a girl's virginity before marriage and discourages her from promiscuity after she is wed. In many communities, a girl is deemed unfit for marriage if she has not undergone FGM.

The report said FGM has been performed in the United States by health care providers who support FGM or do not want to question families' cultural practices.

Whether performed covertly on U.S. soil or in ceremonies held in ancestral homelands during school vacations, the procedure often is done by traditional practitioners using crude implements, such as razor blades and broken glass. They often operate in unsanitary conditions, far from medical facilities, without anesthesia, antiseptics or antibiotics.

The physical and psychological effects can be devastating and even fatal. FGM can cause severe pain during sexual intercourse, hemorrhage, shock, complications in childbirth and fistula. It can also lead to depression and anxiety.

"FGM has affected me emotionally throughout my entire life. Those terrible moments stay with me and I just cannot forget them," a 53-year-old woman named Nafissatou, originally from Guinea, told researchers.

"When I went to the hospital to give birth to my children, my experience with FGM was what I remembered most. Every time I shower, I think about it. There is a sadness and emptiness I fell every day because of what FGM took from me," she said.

LACK OF PROSECUTIONS

The United Nations last December called for a global ban on FGM, but, as with laws in the United States, implementation is extremely difficult and, to date, prosecutions have been rare.

The United States has had a law against FGM since 1996 and 20 states have passed their own statutes. But, according to the report, as of 2012, there have been no prosecutions under federal law, and only one criminal case has been brought forward under a state statute.

One problem is that families in the United States, even those who oppose FGM for their daughters, often find themselves under severe pressure from their extended families to subject girls to the procedure.

Another obstacle is a lack of reporting of FGM either by victims, girls at risk or their families. Part of the reason may be due to ignorance of the law, the report found.

"However, reasons for under reporting likely also include reluctance on the part of the girl or her family to come forward, precisely because they know and fear the legal penalties for doing so," it said.

"Many girls fear that innocent family members, especially their mothers, will be considered complicit in their family’s efforts to force them to undergo FGM, or worry that if they report their relatives, they will be arrested, prosecuted, and possibly deported," it added.

The report makes a number of recommendations on ways to prevent FGM in the United States.

Key among them:

--Outreach and education to immigrant communities about the legal, physical and psychological consequences of FGM.

--Encouraging community and religious leaders to educate their communities about the harm and illegality of FGM

--Guidelines and training to assist front-line professions, such as law enforcement agents, teachers and health care workers to identify and protect girls at risk.

--Robust enforcement of laws prohibiting FGM, not only on U.S. soil but in the case of girls sent abroad for the procedure

For the full article, please check out: http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/factbox-female-genital-mutilation-in-the-united-states

PART I-c:

FACTBOX: Female Genital Mutilation in the United States

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation 
11 Mar 2013

Author: Lisa Anderson

(Condensed version)

NEW YORK (TrustLaw):

The most recent figures, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1997, estimate that up to 200,000 young girls and women in the United States are at risk for female genital mutilation (FGM).

Here are the top five U.S. states where girls and women are estimated to be most at risk of FGM:

California - 38,353 girls and women at risk

New York - 25,949

New Jersey - 18,584

Virginia - 17,980

Maryland - 16,264

(Source: Population Reference Bureau analysis of data from the 2000 Census cited in the Sanctuary for Families report)

PART I-d: 

Female Genital Cutting:Harmful and Un-Islamic

The Digest

A Statement of the WISE (Muslim Women’s Shura Council)

(July 2010)
(condensed version)

FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING: HARMFUL AND UN-ISLAMIC

The Shura Council is a global and inclusive council of Muslim women scholars, activists, and specialists. The Council endeavors to connect Islamic principles to society's most pressing issues and develop holistic strategies for creating positive social change.

In the following statement, the Shura Council condemns Female Genital Cutting as a harmful and un-Islamic practice and suggests ways to eliminate it. In doing so, the Council is in accordance with the rising religious consensus on the issue, the views of the international human rights community and published medical research.

INTRODUCTION

.....This Shura Council statement uses The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for the definition of FGC. The World Health Organization classifies FGC into four major types, based on severity of excision. FGC, therefore, describes a varied range of practices, including the following: slight pricking or nicking of the clitoral hood; hoodectomy (excision of the clitoral hood); clitoridectomy (excision of the clitoris); the excision of the clitoris and labia minora and majora; and infibulation (suturing) with excision of the external genitalia.

Commonly cited reasons for the practice include the faulty beliefs that FGC is "a good tradition" or a religious requirement or that it ensures “cleanliness”  and prevents excessive clitoral growth. FGC is also deeply connected to marriage rituals and ideas about protecting virginity and preventing promiscuity. 

 

FGC is practiced openly in 28 different African countries, as well as secretly in parts of the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the United States. Over 130 million women worldwide have been affected by some form of FGC, and three million girls are at risk every year.

Most children are subjected to FGC between the ages of four and ten years. However, there has been a recent downward shift in the age of victims, as parents try to reduce trauma to their children, avoid government interference, or forestall resistance from the children themselves. 
 

Some women who escaped FGC during childhood may later under go FGC as a prerequisite for marrying into a community.

FGC has been widely condemned by political and religious authorities and is banned by a broad network of local, national, and international laws. Countries with national laws against FGC include Burkina Faso,Central African Republic, Djibouti, Ghana, Great Britain, Guinea, Sudan, Sweden, and the United States. In other countries, child abuse laws cover FGC. The governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côted'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda have declared their commitment to eradicating the practice.

The WHO, United Nations Children's Fund, and United Nations Population Fund have issued joint statements against FGC, recognizing it as a major human rights violation against girls and women.

Major international treaties that ban the practice include Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child. Regional treaties that forbid the practice include "The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights" (the Banjul Charter) &  its Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

High-level Islamic religious scholars from around the world have denounced FGC with legal opinions (fatwa). A 2005 report entitled, "Children in Islam: Their Care, Development and Protection," issued by UNICEF and the International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research at Al-Azhar University, also strongly condemns the practice.

FGC IS HARMFUL:

Medical consequences of FGC include, but are not limited to, the following: death through shock and/or excessive bleeding; infection; sepsis; urine retention; ulceration of the genital region; injury to adjacent genital tissue; scarring; infertility; cysts; painful sexual intercourse; increased risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS; and a range of resulting psychological and psychiatric problems.

Although all FGC procedures carry health risks, infibulation (suturing) with excision, which accounts for 10% of all FGC cases in Africa, is by far the most dangerous to children and women.

FGC procedures are often performed in unsterile environments and with little or no anesthesia. In areas of the world where medical facilities are ill-equipped or inaccessible, children who develop uncontrolled bleeding or infection die within hours of the first incision.

Women who have undergone FGC are significantly more likely to die during childbirth and give birth to a stillborn child.

In fact, FGC-practicing regions have the world‟s highest maternal and infant mortality rates. Research suggests that FGC can be eliminated very rapidly if communities themselves decide to do so. Unfortunately, FGC continues to endure because of cultural and political reasons and is often fallaciously justified on religious grounds.

FGC IS UN-ISLAMIC

Muslim proponents of FGC often try to justify it on the basis of religion and the practice is wide spread in several Muslim-majority countries. According to a UNICEF report based on Demographic and Health Surveys, FGC is most prevalent in the following countries:

Guinea (99% prevalence in 1999); Egypt (97% rate of prevalence among ever-married women in 2003); Mali (92% percent in 2001); and northern Sudan (90% prevalence in 2000). Somalia and Djibouti are estimated to have prevalence rates of around 90%.  

FGC is also common in several Christian-majority countries in Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya, and The Central African Republic (CAR).

In Burkino Faso, Côte d‟Ivoire, Mali, and Niger, Muslim women are more likely than Christian women to have undergone FGC. However, in Kenya and Tanzania, the reverse is true, with a higher percentage of Christian women than Muslim women undergoing FGC.

Exposure is also determined by ethnicity, locale and education. This diversity stems from the fact that FGC is a social and cultural practice, not a religious one. It predates the birth of both Islam and Christianity. Origins of the practice are unclear; however, it is generally traced to Pharaonic Egypt, based on evidence found on mummies.

FGC is virtually absent in many Muslim-majority countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, where it can be found mainly among immigrant populations.

It is performed by Christians, Muslims, and Jews, as well as by members of non-Abrahamic religions in the areas where it is common.

FGC as it is currently practiced has been overwhelmingly condemned by religious authorities and rendered illegal by government statutes and international treaties.

Based on every single source guiding Islamic ethics, it is clear that FGC is unjustifiable on Islamic grounds. These sources include the Qur'an, the example and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (sunnah and hadith), the objectives and principles of Muslim religious law (maqasid al-shari'a), religious consensus (ijma), legal opinions (fatwa), and analogical deduction (qiyas).

I. FGC Contradicts The Holy Qur’an:

The Qur'an does not specifically mention female genital cutting. However, the Qur'anic messages of health, justice, and compassion, which permeate the holy text, clearly contradict the practice of FGC.

Several other Qur'anic verses strongly condemn acts that negatively affect the human body (2:195; 4:119; 30:30), as FGC clearly does. Furthermore, the Qur'an promotes mutual pleasure during marital sexual intercourse (2:187 and 30:21), which is severely limited by FGC. According to the Qur'an, humans were created in “the best stature” (95:4). Therefore, the human body is to be left as it was created by God, unless there is an acceptable reason for interfering with it.

“Tradition” is not an acceptable reason, as the Qur‟an strongly condemns those who blindly follow harmful traditions:

But when they are told, "Follow what God has bestowed from on high," some answer, "Nay, we shall follow [only] that which we found our forefathers believing in and doing." Why, even if their forefathers did not use their reason at all, and were devoid of all guidance? (2: 170)

Islam forbids all harmful and destructive cultural practices. One relevant example is female infanticide, which was “traditional” to pre-Islamic Arabia but came to be banned under Islam. The Qur'anic injunction against female infanticide and hurting innocents , therefore, is worth repeating here:

“and when the girl child who was buried alive shall be asked for what sin was she killed” (81: 8-9).

II. FGC Contradicts the Prophet’s Example and Words (Sunnah and Hadith):

There is no mention of any female members of the Prophet‟s household being cut, whereas there is evidence that his two grandsons, al-Hassan and al-Hussein, were circumcised at the age of seven days.

The Prophet was exemplary in his kindness and gentleness towards all members of his family and is known to have said, “Whoever becomes the father of a girl, he should neither hurt her nor treat her with contempt.”

Speaking of one of his daughters, the Prophet noted, “[she] is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me.” 
 

Several hadith, the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed, mention female genital cutting. The hadith most commonly used by proponents of FGC is the following:

Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah said: “A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (pbuh) said to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband‟.” This is considered a “weak” hadith and can be found in only one of the six hadith collections generally accepted as authentic.

Therefore, this hadith is not suitable for legal argumentation. In addition, there is also a great deal of contention as to its wording and interpretation.

Sayyid Sabiq, renowned scholar and author of Fiqh-us-Sunnah, has debunked as un-authentic every hadith concerning female circumcision.

However, even if one were to entertain the possibility that this particular hadith is authentic, it does not justify FGC, because it does not encourage the practice, but instead curbs it: the Prophet is advising against cutting a woman‟s genitalia severely enough to harm her and her relations with her husband. All but the most symbolic forms of FGC would be banned on the basis of this supposedly sympathetic hadith alone, even if it were authentic.

According to the International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research at Al-Azhar University, “the use of the general term, Sunnah Circumcision‟ [for FGC] is nothing but a form of deceit to misguide people and give the impression that the practice is Islamic.”

III. FGC is Not Supported by Legal Consensus (Ijma) or Legal Opinions (Fatwa)

There is no consensus within the four classical fiqh schools on FGC. Classical Islamic scholars who mention female circumcision allowed cutting only the uppermost skin of the clitoral prepuce.

Therefore, Islam amounted to a regulation and curbing of a pre-existing practice. In keeping with this curbing, currently the majority of Muslims do not practice any form of female genital cutting.

In accordance with the principle of protecting life and in confirmation of the important hadith, "there should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm," Islamic law forbids any attack on the human body , including any form of corporal harm or sexual assault.

It is likely that scholars who have called FGC permissible(mubaah) were not aware of its harm, because only a cultural practice that does not hurt an individual or the society can be called permissible under Islamic law.

With the increase in scientific and medical knowledge on the effects of FGC on children, women, and families, extensive scholarly consensus has begun to form among contemporary scholars. Numerous learned fatwas have been issued against the practice worldwide, and an increasing tide of Islamic scholarship has been wearing down the cultural walls of FGC. In a global 2006 conference, an impressive array of high-level Islamic religious scholars from around the world declared FGC to be both contrary to Islam and an attack on women.

Among the scholars present were Egypt's two top Islamic clerics: Dr. Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, the foremost theological institute in the Sunni Muslim world, and Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa.

Other participants:

included Hamdi Mahmoud Zakzouk (the minister of religious affairs in Egypt), Sultan Abdelkader Mohamed Humad of Djibouti, and Sultan Ali Mirah Hanfary of Ethiopia, as well as distinguished scholars from Somalia, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Eritrea, Nigeria, Djibouti, Morocco, and Turkey. Prominent religious scholar Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had previously been ambivalent on the issue, noted that the Qur‟an forbids the mutilation of God's creation and unequivocally declared, "We are on the side of those who ban this practice.”

In 2009, Egypt's Dār alIftā', the international flagship for Islamic legal research, released an extensive statement that denounced “female circumcision” as a harmful cultural rite: “Anyone who is acquainted with the reality of the matter cannot speak except in favor of its prohibition.”

In January 2010, a group of thirty-four West African Muslim scholars and clerics assembled for the purpose of issuing a fatwa against female genital cutting. Other prominent scholars who have spoken against FGC include Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq, Sheik Mohammad Arafa, Sheikh Shaltoot, Sheikh Abubakar Aljazaairy, Dr. Su'ad Saleh, and Dr. Selim al-Awwa. 

Currently, religious scholars worldwide–including those in Egypt, Iraqi Kurdistan, Somalia, Gambia, and Kenya, to name a few are working alongside health professionals and social workers to eradicate FGC.

IV. FGC Cannot Be Supported by Analogy (Qiyas)

Proponents of FGC sometimes try to justify it by using qiyas, the Islamic legal tradition of analogy, arguing that FGC is analogous to male circumcision and therefore Islamic. However, FGC is not analogous to male circumcision for the following reasons:

1. As explained above, FGC has no basis in Islamic texts, in stark contrast to male circumcision.

2. Unlike male circumcision, FGC is practiced only by some Muslim communities, and even these disagree on the extent and parameters of the cutting. Had FGC been as connected to Islam as male circumcision, the extent of cutting would have been as clearly defined and the practice would have been equally widespread.

3. FGC cannot be compared to circumcision because what is cut in males is skin that has no essential function, whereas in females, functional organs are often removed and modified.

4. There are proven medical benefits to male circumcision, but absolutely no benefits have been reported for FGC–on the contrary, only harm. For example, published medical research suggests that male circumcision is protective against STDs, including HIV/AIDS.

In stark contrast, FGC is directly correlated with the spread of STDs, including HIV/AIDS; it has been proven to play significant role in actually facilitating the transmission of HIV infection through numerous mechanisms.

In fact, according to Dr. Su'ad Saleh of Al-Azhar University, FGC resembles not male circumcision but “the custom of burying girls alive, before the advent of Islam.”

V. FGC Contradicts the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (maqasid al-shari'a)

According to scholarly consensus, the six objectives and principles of Muslim religious law (Shari'a) include the protection and promotion of religion (al-din), life (al-nafs), mind (al-‘aql), family (al-nasl), wealth(al-mal), and dignity (al-‘ird). FGC violates at least five of these principles:

The Protection of Life:

FGC harms infants, girls, and women, endangering their lives and the lives of their future children.

The Protection of Mind:

FGC harms girl's minds by undermining their mental and psycho sexual health, causing psychosis and trauma.

The Protection of Family:

FGC prevents the proper fulfillment of conjugal relations and precludes a mutually pleasurable sexual relationship between a husband and wife. Medical evidence clearly indicates that healthy sexual relationships promote health, stress, relief, stronger immune systems, better sleep, and even longer life. In contrast, FGC precludes these health benefits and has been linked to infertility and divorce.

The Protection of Dignity:

FGC harms women's dignity, condemning them to a life of serial infections and intimate scars. Disfiguring genitalia, on the unproven assumption that it prevents promiscuity, denies humans their divine right to free will and dignity.

The Protection of Religion:


In many cases, suturing and scars make it impossible for the cut female to attain ritual cleanliness (tahara), denying her the right to worship. The unnecessary health problems caused by FGC prevent a woman from enjoying the two blessings the Prophet has praised: “health and free time for doing good.”

CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS

The Shura Council absolutely and unconditionally condemns FGC as a harmful practice that contradicts both the spirit and the letter of Islam, violates international laws on children's rights and women's rights, and endangers populations in need. The Shura Council underlines that even minor forms of FGC are not mentioned in the Qur‟an, and, unlike male circumcision, even limited female hoodectomy has not been declared as sunnah by the Prophetic tradition. The Council also stands against the “medicalization” of the practice, that is, its execution by health care professionals in clinical settings.

Immediate risks associated with FGC are reduced but not eliminated when the practice is performed in modern medical facilities. Moreover, there is no evidence that FGC creates fewer long-term complications when performed by health-care professionals.

Therefore, the Council condemns this unnecessary and harmful practice in all its forms, in every context, worldwide. Extensive religious, scholarly, and judicial consensus exists on all forms of FGC, deeming it both un-Islamic and in violation of children's and women's human rights as currently defined by the international community. Yet, activists have discovered that those living in areas where FGC is widespread still believe that FGC is mandated by religion; moreover, they are unaware that FGC is not practiced in most of the world.

The Shura Council believes that the dissemination of religious information of FGC will help eliminate FGC, especially when combined with context -specific, culturally sensitive, grassroots measures. The Council suggests that activists seek the collaboration of local, national, and international religious authorities in the struggle to eliminate FGC.

CAMPAIGNS and ACTIVISM

As a part of its ongoing Jihad Against Violence campaign, Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) is collaborating with the Egyptian Association for Society Development (EASD), an NGO in Giza. WISE and EASD are working to eradicate FGC by providing religious education against the practice, as well as financial incentives and replacement economic activities for those currently performing FGC within the community.

For more information a bout current campaigns, to connect with organizations and activists working to eradicate FGC, and to find tools for activism, please visit http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/currentissues/femalegenitalcutting.

(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

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