By a concerned Gambian anti-FGM/C advocate
Sharing why anti-FGM/C advocates like myself maintains the position that FGM/C remains un-Islamic in light of the current events, all of which failed to bring a single authentic evidence from both the Qur’an and Hadith and by extension from any Islamic literature to indicate that the wives and daughters of the messenger of Allah (SAW) were circumcised and that he ordered his followers to do it to their daughters, not even in his biography, known as the Sīrah which details all information about the Prophet’s (SAW) life, such as his birth, events, manners, and death.
All praise and thanks be to Allah the Almighty and peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad (SAW).
While I uphold the Prophetic exhortation of “Ballighu ‘Anni walau Ayah” (convey from me even you know a single verse of the Qur’an), this is not in any way a fatwa (rulings) in Islam, but something developed through the combination of all my submissions on FGM/C motivated by the efforts of Islamic Scholars within and outside the Gambia and anti-FGM/C advocates through various interactions on the online platforms.
In view of the above, scholars are mere conduits going by the fact that it is Allah’s grace, that people now have access to the same knowledge in the comfort of their homes that would have taken people in the past so many years and efforts to access as He sanctioned by saying {“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?”} reinforced by the messenger of Allah SAW when he said “This matter will certainly reach every place touched by the night and day. Allah will not leave a house of mud or even fur except that He will cause this religion to enter it, by which the honorable will be honored, and the disgraceful will be disgraced. Allah will honor the honorable with Islam and He will disgrace the disgraceful with unbelief.” So this is beyond all of our scholars pro or anti FGM/C combined, because everyone really has the access to this knowledge themselves and it is left to individuals to blindly follow their scholars or follow Allah and His messenger (SAW) which takes precedence whether we accept it or not.
It is also worth saying that as a Muslim, a religious matter should not be discussed with an intention to determine who is going to win the conversations or to seek for recognition and or gain more or maintain a following but to share your religious convictions with the hope that by Allah’s grace it’d be received with acceptance, albeit the rate of acceptance is entirely out of your hands.
To begin with, the insensitive arguments go as “if your mothers, daughters and sisters are not circumcised keep that to yourself but you cannot stop us from circumcising ours”, and I’d say how is it Islam that you are only concerned about yourself and your family? Did the Messenger of Allah SAW hoard Islam and limit its beautiful mercy to only his family? Secondly, how did they know? And how did they know that some of us advocating against this practice aren’t having it very difficult to talk about this subject not only on the online platforms but even in our homes but we get through with it for religious, medical and other reasons?
Again they say “if all our mothers, daughters and sisters have long been subjected to this practice, how comes the complications and sufferings complained today were never the case” I’d say just because someone doesn’t complain about their pain doesn’t mean they are not in pain or have complications. For example, Polygamy is very recommended in Islam but is it not a painful experience for many women even though they bear their struggles in pain and stay in such marriages for the simple reason that it is a religious thing? Another example is when you have lost a person so dear to you and even though the religion allows you to cry, is it not the same religious reasons we’d proffer for you to take patience by not crying and if you do, does your patience take away your pain? How does this two example relate to the assertion that people are made to accept FMG/C because they are made to believe it is religious or it is a religious obligation? But even if the silence of the “majority” of women would indicate the absence of the complications and sufferings alleged, is it a wise thing to dismiss the cries of the “few” as well as the voices of medical and health practitioners? And how do we know that these complications forwarded by these practitioners has long being the cause of serious health issues and fatalities many years ago and may have long being misdiagnosed and treated for something else simply because we do not have the capacities medically then or use to dismiss them as QadaralAllahu wa Ma Shaa Fa’al (it is the will of Allah and He does what He will)?
Now let’s flip the coin to the other side, perhaps this might give us a better understand. In the late 20th century it was discovered that inhaling asbestos dust causes serious pulmonary diseases and cancer. Many countries, therefore, began phasing out its use as well as removing it from existing structures. For example, it was on July 12, 1989 that a ruling was made to ban most asbestos-containing products in the United States and was fully banned in the United Kingdom in November 1999 and a host of other countries: Countries with asbestos bans | Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (asbestossafety.gov.au) . In The Gambia, although I am not sure it is banned, significant strides have been registered by Government in efforts to remove asbestos from public buildings.
Through project entitled” Institutional Capacity building for the implementation of the Multilateral Environment Agreements in The Gambia”, funded by the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening, was launched in May 2018 to facilitate the implementation of measures to address the establishment of policies that address the management of asbestos and its removal.
To achieve the project’s goals, the Gambian Government had planned to conduct a nationwide inventory exercise to locate, map and characterize all sites where asbestos can be found. The data collected will be used to develop a national policy and legislation on asbestos in order to ensure the protection of human health and the environment. The project also focuses on awareness raising and training of relevant stakeholders, including politicians, security forces, women and vulnerable communities along both sides of the border, on the dangers of asbestos contamination.
The project was scheduled for completion in early 2020 and it is expected that achieving the project’s objectives will contribute to the fulfilment of The Gambia’s obligations towards Multilateral Environment Agreements, such as the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions and the Minamata Conventions which The Gambia is a party to, as well as enhancing and protecting its environment and health of Gambians.
Let’s go further, we all know that immunisation is not a new concept in The Gambia. Many will recall the nation-wide activities of the World Health Organization (WHO) against smallpox in late 1970’s when the disease was claimed globally eradicated and measles controlled. In 1970, a report submitted by the Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (ESU) of the Ministry of Health division, revealed high rates of childhood morbidity and mortality. Further analysis of this report indicated that a large proportion of these conditions were attributable to communicable diseases, many of which were vaccine-preventable. Among these were measles, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough and diphtheria. The government of The Gambia requested assistance from USAID, WHO and other appropriate agencies to contain outbreaks caused by diseases such as measles and yellow fever. Consequently, in 1979 the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) was established. Since 1979 The Gambia has been augmenting its EPI activities by increasing access to routine vaccination, strengthening of the cold chain through solarization, decentralisation of storage facilities through the creation of divisional stores, and the conduction of National Vaccination Campaigns (NVC). The duration of the NVCs ranges from a week to two of special emphasis on vaccinations. These activities are aimed at creating higher levels of public awareness and commitment towards the EPI while at the same time mobilising the public to receive the target vaccines. During this week when various sectors of the public including other Government Ministries, the Media, Religious organizations, NGO, community organizations and Donor Agencies join efforts to promote both the EPI and mass vaccinations throughout the country.
Now tell me how is the above campaigns for such an important health undertaken in light of the financial support and The Gambia being a party to conventions different from those for FGM/C? It is quite surprising that we all embraced these solutions in order to protect ourselves and our families from such deadly diseases without batting an eye or seeing the treachery of the “toubab” or this mentioned organizations in them, and with these solutions used until today, we have never for once suggested that our traditional medicines are there for us and it is indeed so convenient to say it about possible FGM/C complications.
Now isn’t it safe to say that the fight against FGM isn’t a fight against Islam? Yes, the enemies of Islam are fighting against Islam but should it be seen in everything including those that The Gambia herself has made commitments to uphold? One such instrument like the 1951 Geneva Convention states that a refugee is identified as someone unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Have we ever then taken a moment to reflect on how many Gambians have successfully secured asylum in the west on the grounds of FGM/C, LGBTQ+ (it may happen that in some cases, an applicant may not even be gay), etc.? and then perhaps reach the conclusion that besides ensuring that Gambia fulfils her obligations to the treaties (hence the financial support as done for other commitments already discussed above), if there is another vested interest, it is to ensure that the law on FGM/C remains and that there are new ones that protects the rights of the LGBTQ+ so that people will no longer be able to seek for asylum on those grounds and not necessarily a fight on Islam. Does the externalization of the EU borders now such that embarking on migration through the irregular migratory route is either suicidal or getting stranded in transit countries give us the hint? Yet we feel so confident to say that anyone who holds a different religious position on FGM/C or any other religious matter even as minute as attending to the call of nature is devoid of the fear of Allah or motivated by money. Is this how lowly we should think of all our fellow Muslims with a different religious position?
Watch out for part two (2)
