Comments by "Sandy Tatham" (@sandytatham3592) on "I Suffered Female Genital Mutilation u0026 Was Forced Into Marriage | Extraordinary Lives | @ladbiblestories" video.

I am extremely grateful for Shamsa speaking out against this barbaric practice but she's incorrect when she says at a little after 3:42 mins that "religion has nothing to do with it". Yes, it is a cultural practice that pre-dates Islam and Christianity. However it has become part of Islamic doctrine for some Sunni schools of jurisprudence, and this is based on sahih Hadiths (authentic traditions). There is NO scriptural support for the practice in Christianity, so it's possible that child genital mutilation (of both girls and boys) can be eradicated sooner amongst Christians, even though in many African countries "it has become the social norm". Wherever Islam spread, the practice of male and female child genital mutilation was introduced into the culture. For example in South Asia the cutting of genitals of either girls or boys was NEVER practiced prior to contact with Arab Muslim traders. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Southeast Asia follow the Shafii school of law, which declares FGC as wajib, or 'obligatory'. Whereas the other three Sunni schools, and most Shia schools, consider FGM a 'recommended' act. Genital cutting is also 'obligatory' for boys in each of the Sunni school of jurisprudence. I doubt that the practice will be eliminated without acknowledging that ALL genital cutting of children is abusive. If a boy or girl wants to have surgery on their genitals to satisfy a religious covenant when they are mature, then that's fine. But NO parent should be permitted to cut healthy body tissue from their children in the name of their god or their prophet.
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