Female Circumcision

Of Mauritania's four ethnic groups (Maures, Pulaars, Sininkes and Wolofs) all except the Wolofs practice circumcision. 

Among the Maures, clitoral circumcision takes place seven days after birth, at the time of baptism. 

Tetanus from using dirty razors is always a danger. Urinary problems as the result of careless operation or excessive amounts of scar tissue are also commonplace. 

The beliefs surrounding female circumcision are deeply entrenched in the Mauritanian culture. The women says that no man would marry an uncircumcised woman.

They believe that if left intact, the clitoris greatly arouses a woman and causes her to chase uncontrollably after any man as soon as her husband's back is turned.

In fact, the word for clitoris in Hassaniya is 'zaman' or penis. Many women believe that if the circumcision is not performed, the clitoris could grow into a full size penis.

One of the words for female circumcision in Hassaniya (the dialect of Arabic spoken by Maures) literally means 'to beautify'. 

Maures women use two words to refer to female circumcision, 'tizian' which means to make more beautiful and 'gaaad' which means to cut off and make even. The latter is also used to describe male circumcision.

Islam does not advocate this harmful practice. 

Many people think that female circumcision is an Islamic practice. They are wrong!

The Qur'an makes absolutely NO MENTION about female circumcision, and the few statements falsely attributed to Prophet Muhammad are declared unreliable centuries ago.

The Qur'an states that any and all attempts to "alter God's fair creation" can only be an evil act. Therefore, women who perform female circumcision are performing an evil act.

We know from centuries past, that religion in general can be used as a force for good or one for evil. 

Therefore, critical thinking has the potential to be a powerful tool for educators to help future generation to understand more deeply any religious teaching. 

Critical thought does not consist of setting aside faith, but rather faith is using critical thought to come to know truth for oneself.

Therefore, Islam must never be used to justify female genital mutilation. Islam does not advocate female genital mutilation and has a key role to play in eradicating this brutal practice.

Scholars from 35 Islamic countries came to the conclusion that female genital mutilation is a habit that is NON-OBLIGATORY in Islam. It has never been mentioned in the Qur'an and there are no citations in Prophet Muhammad's hadith. 

Female genital mutilation cannot be considered as a beautification process since God has created humans in the best stature: "We have indeed created man and woman in the best of moulds"

Additionally, the removal and cutting away of important parts of the human body means altering the creation of God, rather than being a virtuous deed. 

We must eradicate all traditional practices involving violence against children and women.