By James Wakahiu
Islamic scholars in the country have come out strongly to oppose the notion that the religion supports Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Led by the Deputy Chief Kadhi Rashid Ali Omar, the scholars said 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,” said Omar.
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, adding that Islam propagates the sanctity and dignity of the human beings.
He explained that the pastoralist communities have borrowed these things not from Islam but from the cultural aspects especially of the Egyptians along 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, Omar said the objective of the Islamic law is to protect the dignity, health, wealth and mental capabilities of individuals and the community as a whole.
He added that they will support the Government in collaboration with the Anti FGM board to educate the communities who practice FGM and try to remove the culturally embedded vice which is hard but possible rather than being silent about the matter.
