Same is applied in human society or this is what is should be; Man and Woman integrates together for fulfilling the reason of creation which is urbanising Earth, this simply means that equality is in rights and obligations however they are not alike.

So what about circumcision?
It is the same case of not alike. Male Circumcision -which is known as “Khitan” in Arabic- is an obligatory act for men in Islam and the other divine religions. However as for women, I do not feminise the term to be “Female Circumcision” (FC) for three reasons:

1. Juristically: no cite that Islam had marked it as an obligatory act for women;
2. Linguistically, the week hadith that told about had implemented the term “Khifad” not “Khitan”;
3. Technically; what is practiced for men is totally different from what is practiced for women.

So I prefer to use the term FGM which is shorthand for “Female Genital Mutilation”. It is a four degrees procedure that ascends from excising of the prepuce to the excision of the female genital parts or even cauterisation.

As for the hadith of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) to a Woman named Umm Attiyah -which is doubted by the majority of Muslim scholars- states that: “If you circumcise do not go deep (i.e. do not encroach on the clitoris) because it would be useful to the wife and desirable to the husband.”

A careful reading might reveal the truth. Here the case of equality appears; women have the equal right of having their desire fulfilled exactly as men within framework of marriage in the Muslim society.

On the other hand, in case this hadith implemented, the Kihfad is supposed to be limited-like physicians say- for the abnormal cases found in some females which require a surgery to excise the undesired appendage. Consequently, according to the hadith itself if implemented, I see that if encroaching happened, compensation should be implemented.

By the way, Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) had four daughters named Fatimah, Zainab, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthum. There’s no proof or evidence that they were circumcised. Therefore, no one has the authority to apply FGM against women in the name of protecting Miss Virginity and Mr. Traditions proclaiming that this is Islam. Sorry, this is totally wrong! This is one hand.

On the other hand, it is really disgusting that some societies sill perceive women as females whom should be excommunicated in one way or another because they are shameful, sinful and not equal in humanity to Man; Hello! they are humans like men -surprisingly for some people- with heart, soul, body and mind too.

Finally; yet the society should be based on the modesty however modesty is not implemented by applying FGM; it’s rather a comprehensive way to fulfill the purpose of creation based on the alike features of both Man and Woman. You can read more about this topic within my published article entitled “Hijab and Liberty”.