Morning Star

The FGM debate reignited

Hundreds of millions of girls worldwide undergo a mutilation of their genitals based on both religion and tradition. The religious component is related to somewhat obscure Muslim ahadith, which say: 

Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama's father relates that the Prophet said: "Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women" (Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75; Abu Dawud, Adab 167);

Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband (Abu Dawud 41:5251);

There is another hadith (which we'll leave aside because of the explicit content -- common to Islamic discussions of marital relations) and it is equally firm, and then there is the Reliance of the Traveller, on which Shari'a law is based:

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris (this is called Hufaad).

Whether parents can name the specific religious source or not, the tradition has taken hold, and now the affected populations are bringing the practice to the West through immigration. Doctors in Europe, Canada, and the United States have a choice: inviting the parents to bring the girls into a sterile environment to make a "ritual nick" in the appropriate place, or to reject the practice as unethical and unnecessary. In all honesty, the latter will merely lead the parents to take the girls to back-alley practitioners or to send them back to the country of origin for the procedure--again without benefit of hygienic safeguards. It's a horrific choice, and there are compelling arguments on both sides.

Interestingly, there are many who would reject the doctor's offer of a "nick," leaving no lasting effect, because the tradition has an important point: to reduce the libido of the girls by making sexual intimacy less desirable (either through the pain involved or by removing those components that are integral to sexual pleasure). Unfortunately, there is more than reducing the sexual drive: "It can cause urinary difficulties, cysts and infection, infertility and complications in childbirth."

For a first-hand account of the trauma and horror, here is a portion of supermodel Waris Dirie's testimony (found here):

In a nomadic culture like the one I was raised in, there is no place for an unmarried woman, so mothers feel it is their duty to ensure their daughters have the best possible opportunity to get a husband.

And since the prevailing wisdom in Somalia is that there are bad things between a girl's legs, a woman is considered dirty, oversexed and unmarriageable unless those parts--the clitoris, the labia minora, and most of the labia majora--are removed. Then the wound is stitched shut, leaving only a small opening and a scar where the genitals had been-a practice called infibulation.

Paying the gypsy woman for this circumcision is one of the greatest expenses a household will undergo, but is considered a good investment. Without it the daughters will not make it onto the marriage market.

The actual details of the ritual cutting are never explained to the girls--it's a mystery. You just know that something special is going to happen when your time comes. As a result, all young girls in Somalia anxiously await the ceremony that will mark their becoming a woman. Originally the process occurred when the girls reached puberty, but through time it has been performed on younger and younger girls.

One evening when I was about five, my mother said to me, "Your father ran into the gypsy woman. She should be here any day now" ...

Untouchable

One 20 yr old woman dead:

Deputy Director of Dubai Police’s Search and Rescue Department Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Burqibah said it was an incident he would never forget. “The father took his wife and kids to the beach for picnic and fun. The kids were swimming in the beach when suddenly, the 20-year-old girl started drowning and screaming for help. Two rescue men were at the beach, and they rushed to help the girl. However, there was one obstacle which prevented them from reaching the girl and helping her. This obstacle was the belief of this man who considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her. It cost him the life of his daughter.”

He continued, “The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them. He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man.”

This is not the only death I remember under such circumstances:

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred. 

According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.

One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya." The Saudi Gazette quoted witnesses as saying that the police - known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - had stopped men who tried to help the girls and warned "it is a sinful to approach them."

Lest one confuse this with the Christian notion of purity that led to the martyrdom of particular women saints, keep in mind:

• in Christianity, martyrdom is a choice -- it cannot be imposed;
• simply touching a stranger doesn't make one unchaste;
• there is a difference between saving and attacking (with impure intentions);
• even when unchaste behaviour has occurred, Christians believe that sins can be cleansed through confession;
• "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile” (Mark 7:15);
• "To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted" (Titus 1:15).

It's that last snippet from Saint Paul's letter to Titus that is so revealing about the mentality at work here. To infer wickedness (either on the part of the would-be rescuers or the ensuing status of the women they touched) is to belie a world view at odds with the Christian reality. Each person has an inviolable dignity that cannot be erased, and to suggest that a daughter could be "spoiled," and become the source of dishonour is tragic.

Blessed be the true God who embraces all who turn to him, and who -- though our sins be as scarlet -- makes us white as wool through the generous shedding of his blood. Blessed be the true God who would have died trying to save those girls, and who already did just that on Calvary. That's true love and authentic chivalry.

The price of a young girl

On the market seems to be the equivalent of about $140, and of course marriage is legal under shari'a law at the age of nine:

At various forums on Internet, Arab men are seeking Syrian girls for marriage, and the requests are rife. According to commentators, not a single imam or religious scholar has renounced the abuse. On the contrary.

There is nothing wrong with such marriages if men can afford to pay, said the Libyan imam, Sheik Ashraf al-Aqrabi.

"Flesh and blood Mona"

Just a woman who wants Muslims to read the Quran:

 

Her own series of videos are here (and this one is in English). God bless her and keep her safe!

Using Islam as a shield

There is a horrific account of a girl in Arizona being married against her will and subsequently assaulted:

Police noted in the court documents that the victim is Abdullahi's wife via Muslim custom. Police did not release her age, but Sgt. Trent Crump said she is a young adult. Police said the victim's parents married her to Abdullahi in November without her knowledge. She learned of the marriage in December and fled the state but returned two weeks later to finish high school.

The victim's family members reportedly took her to Abdullahi's residence against her will on Monday. Police said Abdullahi punched, bit and strangled her before sexually assaulting her.

"I just heard someone screaming and crying and there were these guys carrying a woman and like dragging her onto the sidewalk," said neighbor Trina Childs. "So I go out into the living room and I look into the peephole and they take her and throw her into the apartment," she continued.

To begin with, we cannot ignore the fact that this young woman was married against her will in a ceremony at which she was not even present. Evidently, her Muslim family thought this ceremony sufficed to force her into an apartment with the putative husband, because in a culture in which purity is paramount in women, this indicates that he had a right to intimacy with her.

 

The horror of the assault is complicated by a bizarre explanation that is self-contradictory:

A spokesperson for the Arizona chapter of the Center for Arabic Islamic Relations (CAIR) said what Abdullahi allegedly did has no basis in the Islamic faith. "Even though (he is) using the Islamic ceremony as a shield, all Muslims are subject to the laws of the land they're living in," said Kristy Sabbah.

Let's unpack that statement:

• If he is using Islam as a shield, then he has found a basis in Islam for his action;
• If her family is Muslim and acted thusly, they also believed their faith allowed it;
• Ms. Sabbah doesn't deny that Islam allows such behaviour, BUT
• She defers to "the law of the land" [the US] to show that this is not allowed, but that doesn't follow--a perfect example of a non sequitor.

Then let's ask some key questions:

• Who performed the ceremony that wed a woman against her will despite her absence?
• What have these people misunderstood about their religion to allow them to act this way?
• Where is a clarification from CAIR about marriage, so that others will not make this "mistake?"
• And will the justification be that Islam doesn't allow it, or that American jurisprudence forbids it?

CAIR has unwittingly revealed that the source of the problem is only that shari'a has not come to Arizona. When it does, there will be no refuge for such women.

The heart of faith is sacrifice

For Muslims, sacrificing others; for Christians, sacrificing themselves in union with Christ.

 

 An interview with the young man who created the film is here.

Where the "true religion" is

ISIS insists that they live Islam in the purest sense, and it's not a pleasant life for women, as these two former collaborators came to understand:

Two former members of Islamic State's elite women's police unit, known as al Khansa Brigade, who were married off to foreign fighters are now in hiding. The women escaped the Syrian city Raqqa, an IS stronghold, and were smuggled to southern Turkey earlier this year. They are afraid IS fighters will find them.

Doaa (not her real name), 20, left Syria after her Saudi Arabian husband, an IS fighter, blew himself up in a suicide attack. She has told Sky News she grew to love her husband and he convinced her that life in the so-called Islamic State was the right path.

Her role in the brigade was to punish women who didn't follow IS's strict rules. She even carried out the lashing herself.

She explained the different levels of punishment: "If the woman tries to escape when we arrest her then she'll get 60 lashes. "Otherwise, when it comes to clothes, if she's not wearing the abaya (Islamic dress) or she's wearing high heels then it's the standard 40 lashes."

Doaa says she now regrets what she did. "What upset me most was lashing old women when they weren't wearing the proper clothes. These women were like my mother. I mean for girls, yes, they should wear the proper attire but old women no. They'd lash them and humiliate them."

They note that women attached to ISIS are from all around the world. The Arab women would be charged with running and policing the cities, the non-Arab women were often put on the front lines.  Leaving their posts has saved them from performing duties they now deeply regret, but they are now in hiding in Turkey, knowing that ISIS is searching for them. A ghastly existence either way.

Prayers for this poor child

She has paid a tremendous price for her father's fidelity:

Five Muslims in eastern Uganda gang-raped the 17-year-old daughter of a pastor because the church leader ignored their warnings that he stop worship services, she said.

The daughter (name withheld) of the pastor of New Hope Church was approaching the church building at Kiryolo, Kaderuna Sub-County, Budaka District, at about 7:30 p.m. on March 28 when the men took her into bushes and assaulted her, an area church leader told Morning Star News. The site is about 300 yards from her home.

“The five Muslims took hold of me, and they raped me there,” she told the Morning Star News source. “I tried to scream, but they threatened to kill me. One of them said, ‘Your father should stop this prayer meeting of trying to change Muslims to become Christians and close the church building – we have warned him several times.’”

We pray that she gets the help she needs to deal with this traumatic attack, and that the community stays firm in their faith. It's one thing to pay a price for the faith, but to have a child punished in this vile way would test any parent's forbearance. The Lord hears the cry of the poor, but at times it's difficult to see his protective hand.

Her father (name withheld) said her injuries are so serious that he would like to send her for specialized treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala. He said she continues to be traumatized. “The girl still has problems communicating,” he said. “She just says a few words and then keeps quiet. She needs trauma counseling.”

If this happens when the Muslim population is so small, what happens when the Christians are even more marginalised. Mary, lay your mantle on her and heal her quickly. Such trials!

FGM in Egypt

There is legislation, and there is the private activity that ignores the law:

Despite a 2008 ban on the brutal practice, 90% of women under the age of 50 have been mutilated in Egypt. FGM is the partial or complete removal of a female's external genitalia. It is considered to be a "sacred" ritual by many African tribal communities and by various Islamic sects.  FGM serves no positive medical purpose. On the contrary, women who have been subjected to this practice experience recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, infertility, lack of sexual desire, an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths, and the need for later surgeries. Immediate side effects include severe pain, bleeding and psychological trauma, shock, hemorrhaging, tetanus or sepsis and bacterial infection.

When a woman has undergone such an ordeal, it would seem that she would like to spare her daughters, but often she is unable. Customs are pervasive, the religious authorities add their weight, and a husband's rule is law -- unless the women is very determined, as Nahla was:

“I lived with my husband for seven years. He was ‘the master,’ and I had no problem with what he did. I let him make all the decisions in every matter that had to do with my life and the life of our daughter and son. I tried to obey him so that he would not hurt me – physically or verbally.

“I was subjected to FGM as a child. I can still remember until now the details of that crime that was committed against me. Because of the FGM, I suffered as a married woman. That is why I promised myself that I would not circumcise my daughter under any circumstances. I will not expose her to the physical and mental pain of FGM.

“That’s why, when she reached the age of six and my husband wanted her to be cut, I refused and  stood up to him, because of my experience and because it could cause her complications.

“I tried to use experts to mediate, but it didn’t help. He still insisted. So I said to him, let’s take her to the doctor. The doctor said that she doesn’t need circumcision, an opinion that was rejected by my husband.”

Nahla finished her story: “My husband gave me two options: Either to listen to him or to bear the consequences of what he will do to me. He told me that he would circumcise my daughter to make her e a better person as the sharia obligates.

“As a result, our lives were turned upside down. Everything became much harder than it used to be. Every day we argued. I ran away and left the house after years of torture, taking with me my daughter and my son. I filed for divorce, not only because of the circumcision, but because life with a person like him is impossible. He wants a ‘mute’ woman that walks on a straight line that he plans for her, and I’ve have enough of it.”

God bless her courage, and prayers for their continued safety and well-being. Her path is singular and difficult.

Sharia courts -- in Britain

Thankfully, Baroness Cox is digging into the injustices imposed by allowing immigrants to bring their own judicial systems into England:

A Peer is calling for a judge-led inquiry into Sharia courts, in a revealing new report on discrimination against Muslim women across Britain. In the report, Baroness Cox also outlines the provisions of her Private Members’ Bill, which would curb the growth of quasi-legal systems such as Sharia courts, in England and Wales. She is seeking to re-introduce the Bill in the next session of Parliament.

Her report, published by conservative think-tank The Bow Group, refers to Sharia court policies on inheritance, polygamy, access to divorce and domestic violence that have adversely affected British Muslim women. The report includes testimonies from women who have been subjected to various forms of abuse, including one woman who said: “I feel betrayed by Britain. I came here to get away from this and the situation is worse here than in the country I escaped from.”

According to the report, many Muslim women can be left unaware of their legal rights or feel under pressure not to seek professional help that could bring ‘shame’ or ‘dishonour’ on their families or communities.

The difficulties, it seems, is the fundamental support for religious liberties, which they believe need to honour Islam. Unfortunately, Islam is an entire social-political project which is antithetical to the foundations of British common law. A choice will have to be made, and if the rights of women are to be considered, then these courts must not be given jurisdiction.

A conundrum, to say the least.

One veil is not enough

The arrival of ISIS is a nightmare for women, obviously:

Women living under Islamic State’s control in Iraq and Syria are facing increasingly harsh restrictions on movement and dress, which are rigorously enforced by religious police and are leading to resentment and despair among moderate Muslims.

Residents of Mosul, Raqqa and Deir el-Zour have told the Guardian in interviews conducted by phone and Skype that women are forced to be accompanied by a male guardian, known as a mahram, at all times, and are compelled to wear double-layered veils, loose abayas and gloves.

Their testimonies follow the publication this month of an Isis “manifesto” to clarify the “realities of life and the hallowed existence of women in the Islamic State”. It said that girls could be married from the age of nine, and that women should only leave the house in exceptional circumstances and should remain “hidden and veiled”.

All of these veils are worn, of course, in stifling heat no matter what. The hierarchy is essential, so that while the women may be freely attacked and beaten, it is their husbands (or fathers, or brothers) who pay the price, and thus add their weight of authority over the women, who have no recourse. Ever.

Women in labour in maternity hospitals in Mosul are forced to comply with dress codes. “When I was in labour, I went to the hospital wearing a veil though it was too hot. Isis Hisbah were at the front door of the hospital. I saw some women in labour who seemed to be in a panic and did not have time to wear a veil. I was shocked to see that they were denied access to the hospital unless they put veils on their faces,” said Salah.

Hospitals in Raqqa are almost empty of female doctors, according to residents. The few female nurses are forbidden from lifting their veils or wearing anything but Islamic dress. All woman visiting doctors must be accompanied by a mahram, who has to wait outside the clinic. If Hisbah discovers a man inside a clinic, he will be arrested. A woman is permitted to be checked by a male doctor but is not allowed to lift her veil during examination.

There is no escape.

Women over the age of 45 are exempted from the order to wear the veil, but often find themselves in difficulty. On a routine trip to Mosul University where she teaches, Saleh shared a taxi with an older woman who was not wearing a veil. “The taxi driver turned to the woman and said: ‘Why are not you wearing a veil?’ She told him that Isis said the veil was imposed on women who are less than 45. The driver answered: ‘I’m afraid if I have you in my car, Isis Hisbah will stop me at a checkpoint and fine me.’”

Buses are also stopped for passengers to be checked. If a woman is found without required dress or mahram, all passengers are forced to disembark and the bus is refused permission to proceed. “If Hisbah spot a woman without a mahram in a bus, the whole bus is evacuated and sent back because the driver accepted her,” said Maher.

Not even for safety, which should trump concerns about chastity, for isn't that the point?

Women over the age of 45 are exempted from the order to wear the veil, but often find themselves in difficulty. On a routine trip to Mosul University where she teaches, Saleh shared a taxi with an older woman who was not wearing a veil. “The taxi driver turned to the woman and said: ‘Why are not you wearing a veil?’ She told him that Isis said the veil was imposed on women who are less than 45. The driver answered: ‘I’m afraid if I have you in my car, Isis Hisbah will stop me at a checkpoint and fine me.’”

Buses are also stopped for passengers to be checked. If a woman is found without required dress or mahram, all passengers are forced to disembark and the bus is refused permission to proceed. “If Hisbah spot a woman without a mahram in a bus, the whole bus is evacuated and sent back because the driver accepted her,” said Maher.

While this is horrific to those who have drifted away from strict orthodoxy, it has been the way for women in Saudi Arabia without ISIS, and the experience of women who have had to submit to the ways of Muhammed for over a thousand years. Poor dears!