MGM vs FGM

[Lady Whistledown]

It's a myth that circumcision (khitna in Arabic) is mandatory. The Hanafi and Maaliki schools say it is sunnah. Only the other schools claim it is waajib. The hadith which supports it classes khitna with other desirable acts like shaving your armpits, pubic hair and moustache, but it is not compulsory to shave your pubes and armpit. I suspect most of you don't. This is supported by the fact that FGM is also a sunnah, but the people who insist MGM is compulsory don't insist on FGM, which makes their inconsistency glaring.

MGM should be left to the individual's personal choice when they can make an informed adult decision. Allah said that his creation is perfect. It doesn't need human interference.

I have to admit, I do not know much about FGM or MGM, besides what I was taught in my youth. However I am skeptical about the hypocrisy of one being sunnah and the other waajib.

I don't know if leaving the decision to adulthood is wise though. Adult circumcisions are much more painful and people who were circumcised in infancy do not remember.

 

[Bidaar Wanagsan]

I have to admit, I do not know much about FGM or MGM, besides what I was taught in my youth. However I am skeptical about the hypocrisy of one being sunnah and the other waajib.

I don't know if leaving the decision to adulthood is wise though. Adult circumcisions are much more painful and people who were circumcised in infancy do not remember.

Yes, people are misinformed about circumcision. It's not in the Quran. The hadith says:

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah:

"Five things are fitra: circumcision, shaving pubic hair with a razor, trimming the mustache, paring one's nails and plucking the hair from one's armpits"

Another hadith excludes circumcision from the fitrah:

"The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Ten are the acts according to fitra: clipping the mustache, letting the beard grow, using toothpicks, snuffing water in the nose, cutting the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the hair under the armpits, shaving pubic hair and cleaning one's private parts with water. The narrator said: I have forgotten the tenth, but it may have been rinsing the mouth."

The hadiths do not agree on whether circumcision is part of the fitrah, or even the number of things which are considered fitrah. And nobody argues that using toothpicks or putting water in your nose is waajib. They're obviously sunnah.
That's why two madhabs out of the four say it is not waajib.

Personally, I would not do it because it is traumatic for a child. I'd leave it to him to decide. Prophet Ibrahim did not do it till he was eighty. Whether children remember it or not, they still feel the pain, and an adult can bear the pain better than a kid.

 

[LoveandLight]

I believe male genital mutilation should be abolished before FGM.

Can you please expound?