Islamic scholars in the country have come out strongly to oppose the notion that their religion supports Female Genital Mutilation.
Led by the deputy Chief Kadhi Rashid Ali Omar, the scholars said that people mostly mistake the cultural practices of the pastoralist communities who are mostly Muslim and assume the practice of FGM is in Islamic law.
“From the Islamic Law there is nothing called FGM and it prohibits the mutilation of any organ of a person and even of an animal,” Omar said.
Omar explained that they have studied the Islamic texts and there is no law which allows any mutilation of any part of a human being.
He explained that the pastoralist communities have borrowed these things not from Islam but from the cultural aspects especially the Egyptians long time ago and they amalgamated it to Islam.
“We have traced and read texts on the first, second and third generation of Muslims and their literature and found that it does not support FGM, therefore FGM has no basis in Islam,” he said insisting that from the Islamic perspective FGM is sinful.
Speaking during a press briefing organized by the Anti-FGM board today, Omar said that the objective of the Islamic law is to protect the dignity, health, wealth and mentally capabilities of individuals and the community as a whole.
“In this regard consequently, the Muslim scholars hold that FGM has no basis in Islamic law contrary to the culture and norms of the African communities and the pastoralists who practice the same,” he said.