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Is female circumcision
allowed in Islamic culture?

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Female circumcision used
to be a practice before Islam,

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and when Islam came,
the Holy Prophet approved it.

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It is a Sunnah. It is not compulsory,
but it is a Sunnah,

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because there are so many Hadith

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pointing out that the Prophet

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was talking about this circumcision.

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He said, 'Circumcision is a way
of cleanliness for the male,

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and a way of promoting the respect
and chastity of the woman.'

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I'm from Africa, from West Africa,
from Sierra Leone,

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where this thing
is still practised.

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The reason for doing it;
what the woman gave was

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because if that thing is allowed,
especially in warm countries,

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the labia grows very fast in women
that live within the desert countries.

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If this thing is allowed
to just continue to grow,

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the women will not be able to
control themselves sexually.

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So, in order to enable her
to control herself,

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they have to reduce that thing.

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I think it's the men who can't
control themselves sexually.

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It was practised in the
early days of Islam.

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In those days, the mode of transport
was camels and horses,

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and when they had female riders,

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because of the way in which
the rider mounts the animal,

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it was creating arousal,
sexual arousal,

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within the people who were travelling

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and so in order to help that,
to reduce that possibility,

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perhaps this was one of the reasons
why the Arab communities practised this.

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Dare I say, you wouldn't cut the penis
off a man who got aroused on a bumpy bus!

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- No, that's not...
- That's the equivalent!

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It is now a forbidden practice,

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it's un-Islamic ...
you know, it's forbidden.

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I would endorse that, yes.

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If a woman becomes an adult and she's
unhappy with her bits and pieces down below

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and she wants to have some
cosmetic surgery or anything,

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that's entirely up to her,

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but to take a child and mutilate her

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by the equivalent of
cutting off the male penis,

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it's not the equivalent
of male circumcision,

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it's far, far worse than that,

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and then the horrendous
way that it's done,

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and the horrendous problems
that follow on from that,

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it's so hurtful, it's so shameful,

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that I take the line that the
Prophet said you must not do this.

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There are things that
Shariah says you have to do,

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and there are things
where Shariah is quiet,

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where it's left to the
individual's choice,

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as Ruqaiyyah said,

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if you're not happy about
your bits down below

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and you want to modify them,
whatever it is,

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Shariah is going to say,

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'Yes, fine, as long as it's not
harmful to you, etc.'

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It's when you get an influx of
Somali and Sudanese people

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who then try to impose on other
cultural groups around them

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that this is the true Islam,
you must do this

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because this is what our families
have always done and so on,

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but where you have a community
where you are

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Iraqi or Kurd or Bosnian or Asian,

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the idea is just horrendous!

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If the Prophet thought, for one second,
that a woman should have it done,

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can you imagine, for one second,

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that he would have had
his own daughters done?

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He did not!