Egypt condemns female circumcision

Egypt’s council of Islamic Scholars, Dar al-Ifta, has condemned female circumcision at a meeting in Cairo. The statement comes on the official marking of National Day to Fight Female Genital Mutilation, FGM. Dr Mohammed Wesam Khedr, who represented Egypt’s leading Mufti, Dr Shawky Abdel Karim Allam at the event, said: "Any practice proven by scientific research to cause health damage is prohibited in Islam." Khedr added that the Islamic Council, along with international health organisations and leading scientific research institutions, had concluded that women who had undergone the procedure showed evidence of "extreme physiological damage and trauma." "Although compulsory in Islam, medical research has shown that circumcision in males is beneficial to their health - however for women, this is not the case," Khedr added, stating that the practice is "prohibited in Islam." Egypt marked June 14 as National Day to Fight Female Genital Mutilation, following the death of 13-year-old Suhair al-Bata’a, in a village northeast of Cairo, whilst undergoing circumcision this June.