BABY girls: to circumcise or not to circumcise – that is the question.

One of the most enduring arguments to perpetuate female circumcision in Malaysia is that the way girls are circumcised in the country is a far cry from the savage mutilation experienced by girls in Africa. In Malaysia, it really is just a matter of a prick so small that the infant will probably have no memory of the ordeal at all.

So, why are we making such a big deal about it, really?

You see, there seems to be quite a bit of discrepancy around the notion of “harm” – and what it really means at the physical, psychological and societal levels.

The truth is, the physical harm factor does exist. At the 69th CEDAW Session in February last year, the representative from Malaysia’s Health Ministry reported that 83% to 85% of Muslim baby girls had been circumcised by medical professionals at private clinics with no complications at all.

But, how about the other 15% to 17%?

And, let’s flip the table on this for a moment: are there any physical benefits that warrant circumcising girls? It is medically clear that circumcision for boys is done for hygiene purposes. But, this is not true for girls.

In fact, for most girls, there is hardly any scarring or physical evidence. All allegations of girls’ circumcision being done for cleanliness are disputable, and frankly, do not make sense, given that it is simply a prick.

If something has a more than 15% chance of going wrong, and has zero medical benefit, why are we still doing it?

Because our mothers had it done. And our grandmothers had it done. And all our aunties and their cousins.

And they think your daughter should have it done, too. Because it is part of the customs that we make practice whenever babies are born.

As a firstborn daughter, I remember my family telling me about all the traditions they proudly upheld in initiating me to the culture.

They held a big kenduri around the first time they brought me outside the house in the upacara pijak tanah, where the soles of my feet touched the blessed earth for the first time. At the same kenduri, I also experienced tahnik, whereby a tiny piece of date was placed in my mouth, and adat naik buai, where I was placed on a suspended cloth swing and lulled to sleep. Needless to say, it was quite the party for me. For my family, on the other hand, it was a joyous day of celebration with all the merriment one would expect whenever friends and loved ones gather.

Customs are important to us as a matter of identity. They encapsulate a sense of inclusiveness in a culture and community. To have all these has a psychological effect – obviously not on the baby, but the parents.

To have participated in the perpetuation of the customs of our ancestors brings a sense of pride to parents.

They have not only fulfilled their “obligation” to their traditions, but have officially, with all these practices, passed on the torch to the next generation.

The truth is, the baby has zero recollection of her circumcision experience. But the parents can now boast that she has done it, and another “culture checkbox” is ticked off. Particularly for the mother, who is often on the receiving end of such inquiries, it is quite a relief.

What is most disturbing, however, is how at a societal level, Islam is still being used to justify circumcising girls.

In the first place, we are not even doing it the way the prominent fiqh references of the Syafie school of jurisprudence (mazhab) in the Nusantara region tell us to.

In Kitab Nihayah Al Zain Fi Irsyad Al Mubtadiin, Tuhfah Al Mauduud Bi Ahkami Al Mauluud and even Fiqh Al Sunnah, the circumcision of girls clearly describes precise cuts (in most cases, the removal of flesh) to the clitoral area above the vagina. The area where the tear is to be made has been described to be in the shape of a rooster’s crown.

These cuts are a far cry from a mere prick, as dismissed by many proponents of the circumcision of girls. Why have cuts been reduced to pricks? Did the realisation of harm occur along the way? Or better yet, the realisation that it really does not make any difference? Because if this is so, then at least, what we can agree on at this point is that the act is merely symbolic.

This explains why there is such variation in the methods applied when performing female circumcision today. Some people use scissors, blades, scalpels, razors, knives, needles, nails – all of which make and leave different scars.

Secondly, there is a very open disagreement among scholars of the Syafie school on whether circumcision is even mandatory (wajib) for girls. The reason for this stems from the fact that the Quran neither condemns nor promotes the circumcision of girls. In fact, the Quran does not mention circumcision for girls at all.

Every hadith that has ever claimed to promote the circumcision of girls has been disputed as dhaif (weak). According to Sheikh Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, an Islamic theologian, in Fatawa Mu’ashirah, there is no evidence that is sahih (authentic) and sareh (clear) from either the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma’ or Qiyas that makes circumcision religiously mandatory for girls.

Darul Ifta Al Masriyah points out that the clear evidence that circumcision is not necessary for girls is the very fact that the Prophet himself never had any of his own daughters circumcised.

In the absence of textual evidence, we must look at the maslahah (greater good) that the practice has for baby girls and society at large.

Recently, there has been this thing going around, saying uncircumcised girls are the cause of teenage pregnancies, dumped babies and zina (adultery). These allegations stem from the ancient belief that girls are born with such insatiable lust that they must be tamed through circumcision, which is thought to reduce sexual prowess to more “controllable” levels.

Firstly, unless one seriously mutilates a girl in such a way that her genitalia becomes practically unusable (as in the case of how circumcision is done in some African nations), there is no medical evidence that proves that circumcising girls does anything to reduce their sexual expressions.

Secondly, and more importantly, isn’t it unfair that these so-called “social issues” are all the fault of girls? With the rising number of rape cases, why aren’t we doing anything about the sexual appetite of boys?

Because the answer lies in control. Specifically, the control that society wants to have over girls.

It may come as a surprise to some, but sex – of all things – seems to be at the core of society’s grip on women.

When they are young girls, they are told to be quiet and submissive.

When they are young women, they are told that their bodies are a source of shame and sin.

When they become wives, they are told to be dutiful and obedient to their husbands.

And when they get daughters, they are told that they must be tamed through circumcision.

Oh, one last thing to dispel before I end this article: that the call to end female circumcision is liberal Western propaganda encroaching on our conservative Eastern values. Malaysia’s insistence on continuing the practice drew flak from both the United Nations CEDAW Committee in February last year, and the Universal Periodic Review in November the same year, with many Muslim-majority countries echoing the call to end the practice.

While Malaysia retreats to the playground retort that “their circumcision is not the same as our circumcision”, what we need to wake up to is the fact that when those countries ended their brutal versions of female genital mutilation, they did not replace it with our docile “pricking” version of circumcision. Not even for symbolic purposes.

Ultimately, the absence of the requirement for female circumcision in most of the Muslim world proves that Muslim women can live dignified and respectful lives without having been circumcised.

It is high time Malaysia ticks off this box on the to-do list. There are so many other more important things we should be exerting our energy doing. Ending female circumcision is just a no-brainer. – February 1, 2019.

* Majidah Hashim is communications manager for Sisters in Islam.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.