(Header at end of article - 940924) INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS AND DISTINCTIONS 3 I. Terminology 3 II. Male and female circumcision 3 III. Practice of male and female circumcision 5 CHAPTER II. RELIGIOUS ARGUMENTS 8 I. Religious arguments in favour of circumcision 8 II. Religious arguments against circumcision 11 III. Qualification of circumcision in Muslim law 13 IV. Modality of circumcision according to Muslim law 17 CHAPTER III. REASON in aid OF RELIGION 19 I. Male circumcision 19 II. Female circumcision 21 III. Mitigated position of religious circles confronted with Reason 24 CHAPTER IV. LEGAL PROHIBITION OF FEMALE CIRCUMCISION 28 I. To judge others' customs 28 II. Right to difference or indifference 29 III. Distinction between different forms of circumcision 31 IV. Temporary and preventive measures 33 Chapter V. The Third International Symposium on Circumcision 36 I. Organizers and participants 36 II. Reasons of the symposium 36 Circumcision as a sign of alliance can only be found in two other passages of the Bible37. Elsewhere, it is more narrative: King Saul demanded one hundred Philistine foreskins from David, before he gave his consent to David marrying his daughter Mikal: "David... thought it was a good deal in order to become the king's son in law... He went to war...He killed 200 Philistine men, brought back their foreskins, counted them in front of the king....So Saul... had to admit that Jehovah was on David's side"38. This interpretation of the Koranic verses with reference to the Bible is considered abusive by Imam Mahmud Shaltut (israf fil-istidlal)39. What is more, this textual argument based on Jewish law concerns male circumcision only, not female circumcision that the Bible does not mention and that the Jews do not practice (Falachas excepted). Al-Sukkari answers that, according to Ibn Hagar, the Jews used to circumcise both sexes, which is why he rejects male and female circumcision on the 7th day, so as not to look like them. Even the authentic Bible - today's one is considered falsified - does not contain any text related to female circumcision. Nonetheless, the Muslims must practice it, if the Muslim law makes provision for it40. 3. The Sunnah We will try here to glean, from the works of contemporary Arab authors, the different sayings of Mohammed related to male and female circumcision. - The most often mentioned narration reports a debate between Mohammed and Um Habibah (or Um TAtiyyah). This woman, known as an exciser of female slaves, was one of a group of women who had immigrated with Mohammed. Having seen her, Mohammed asked her if she kept practicing her profession. She answered affirmatively adding: "unless it is forbidden and you order me to stop doing it". Mohammed replied: "Yes, it is allowed. Come closer so I can teach you: if you cut, do not overdo it (la tanhaki), because it brings more radiance to the face (ashraq) and it is more pleasant (ahza) for the husband". According to others, he said: "Cut slightly and do not overdo it (ashimmi wa-la tanhaki), because it is more pleasant (ahza) for the woman and better (ahab, from other sources abha) for the husband". We shall hereinafter refer to this narration as the exciser's narration. - Mohammed said: "Circumcision is a sunnah for the men and makrumah for the women". The term sunnah here means that it is conform to the tradition of Mohammed himself, or simply a custom at the time of Mohammed. The term makrumah is far from clear but we can translate it into a honorable deed. - Speaking to the Ansars' wives, Mohammed said: "Cut slightly without exaggeration (ikhtafidna wa-la tanhikna), because it is more pleasant (ahza) for your husbands". - Someone came to Mohammed and became a convert before him. Mohammed told him: "Shave off your unbeliever's hair and be circumcised". - Mohammed said: "Let him who becomes a Muslim be circumcised, even if he is old". - One asked Mohammed if an uncircumcised man could go to pilgrimage. He answered: "Not as long as he is not circumcised". - Mohammed said: "Five norms define fitrah: shaving of the pubis, circumcision, moustache trimming, armpit depilation and nail clipping". Other narrations name ten norms amongst which circumcision is always mentioned. The norms of fitrah are believed to be those taught by God to His creation. The man in pursuit of perfection must conform to those norms. They are not compulsory, but simply advisable (mandubah), except for circumcision which is mandatory. Based on these premises, Al-Sukkari believes Adam to have been the first circumcised man. His descendants having neglected their obligation, it was reconfirmed to Abraham and his descendants. Thus circumcision would be the sign which would differentiate the believer from the non-believer. Therefore, circumcision is the sign of Islam41. A fatwa from the Egyptian Fatwa Committee dated May 28, 1949, has declared that abandoning female circumcision does not constitute a sin68. Another fatwa from the same body dated June 23, 1951, is more rigid. Not only does this fatwa not recognise the abandonment of female circumcision as an option, but is further of the opinion that it is advisable to carry it out because it curbs "nature". Moreover, this fatwa considers doctors' opinions on the disadvantages of female circumcision irrelevant (see Chapter III, Paragraph 3, point 2)69. A third much more detailed fatwa from the same institution dated January 29, 1981, is adamantly opposed to giving up female circumcision. The author of this fatwa is the present Great Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the most famous University of the Islamic World in Cairo. He insists that it is impossible to abandon the lessons of Mohammed in favour of the teaching of others, be they doctors, because medical science evolves and does not remain constant. The responsibility of female circumcision lies with the parents and with those in charge of the girl's welfare. Those who do not abide by it do not do their duty70. 4. Motives for the difference between boy and girl Al-Sukkari tries to explain the difference between boy and girl vis--vis the religious norm: - Abraham circumcised himself and he would not have done it, had it not been a duty. But there is no evidence that Abraham ordered female circumcision71. This is instead a command from Mohammed according to the above mentioned exciser's narration. - Male circumcision is a sign which separates Muslim men from the non-Muslim ones. As for the woman, one should adopt a respectful attitude toward her and not impose a physical examination to see if she is circumcised or not. - Male circumcision helps prevent many diseases, cancer among them, and reduces having to resort to masturbation. This opinion is also put forward by Imam Mahmud Shaltut for whom the boy's foreskin hides germs harmful to his health, which is not the case for the girls72. 5. Consequences of the qualification Jurists have asked themselves if public authority can force a Muslim to submit to circumcision, especially if he is getting on years. The Zaydites and the Shafiites answer affirmatively. According to the Hanafite School, if a group rejects male circumcision, the Head of State must declare war (against this group). However, some say that a man may be spared circumcision if it endangers his health. Al-Sukkari, a modern author, is of the opinion that health nowadays is not a problem. The Muslim man who fears for his health can ask a doctor to carry out the operation under anaesthesia and with the help of modern equipment. The Hanbalites say that male and female circumcision is an Islamic ritual; the man can force his wife to be excised as well as to force her to pray. The Ibadites consider as invalid the marriage of a non-circumcised Muslim even if it was consummated. The woman may ask for legal separation. If the husband gets circumcised after its consummation, the marriage remains invalid; he must go through another ceremony in order to get his wife back. For the Hanbalites, the non-circumcision of the husband is a breach of contract giving the woman the choice of asking for divorce or continuing the marriage. For some, the non- circumcised man has no right of guardianship of a Muslim and no right to give his consent to the marriage of a Muslim relative. In this case, the marriage is dissolved, except if it was consummated. Al-Sukkari, a modern author, grants the woman the right to dissolve the marriage if the husband is not circumcised, because his foreskin can be a vector of diseases. It can also be a source of repulsion, thus preventing the realization of the objectives of marriage, id est love and understanding between partners. The woman has a right to be married to someone handsome and clean, Islam being the religion of cleanness and purity73. Ahmad Amin emphasizes the importance of circumcision in the Egyptian's mind by telling this anecdote: a Sudanese tribe wanted to join Islam. The chief wrote to a scholar of the Al-Azhar to ask him what was to be done. The scholar sent him a list of demands, putting circumcision in first place. The tribe then refused to become Muslim74. For the majority of believers, to belong to Islam implies de facto male circumcision. In Java, to circumcise a boy is translated by: to welcome someone in the bosom of Islam; in Algiers, during the colonial era, the printed invitation to the religious ceremony named it in French: baptme (baptism). In Muslim life, it is an important cause for family celebration, which is not the case for female circumcision, always carried out secretly75. According to the Saudi religious authorities, a man who converts to Islam must get circumcised, but in case he refuses to join Islam for fear of the procedure, this demand may be postponed until the faith is stronger in his heart76. E) It prevents her falling into what is forbidden This is the most frequently cited reason. Professor Al-TAdawi from Al-Azhar says that female circumcision is makrumah, that is helps (the woman) "to remain shy and virtuous. In the Orient, where the climate is hot, a girl gets easily aroused if she is not circumcised. It makes her shameless and prey to her sexual instincts, except those to whom God shows compassion"117. Judge TArnus says that female circumcision diminishes sexual instinct which, if not kept in control, reduces the person to the condition of an animal, but if this sexual instinct does not exist, then circumcision reduces her to a lifeless state. He favours moderation and notes that intact men and women have, more often than not, a "one track mind"118. Salim, Chairman of the Muslim Supreme Court (abolished in 1955), reiterates that female circumcision is a makrumah, a meritorious action, that the woman is under no obligation to submit to, but preferably she should. He adds that circumcision protects girls from infection, swelling of her external genitalia and from strong psychic reactions and sexual excitement which, if repressed, lead to neurosis or, if unleashed, lead to the path of vice. This happens especially during youth, when hormones of reproduction are at their peak. Salim goes on to describe this circumcision. The procedure consists of cutting off the bulging part of the clitoris which is out of the hood "so as not to become a cause of arousal while the girl is moving, rubbing against her clothing, riding animals, etc... Thus its name khafd: to lower the level"119. Gad-al-Haq, Great Sheikh of Al-Azhar, adds that our times call for female circumcision "because of mixing of the sexes at public gatherings. If the girl is not circumcised, she subjects herself to multiple causes of excitation leading her to vice and perdition in a depraved society"120. 2. Disastrous consequences of any kind of female circumcision Opponents of female circumcision reject it because of the seriousness of the complications which depend on the method adopted. A) Physical and mental damage Many complications may occur after female circumcision. Doctor Mahran classifies them as follows: - Immediate complications: post-operative shock, pain, haemorrhages, infections, urinary complications and accidental injuries to surrounding organs. - Later physical complications: painful scars, keloid formation, labial adherences, clitoridal cysts, vulva mutilation, kidney stones, sterility. - Psychosexual complications: in the woman: a sense of loss of her femininity, lack of libido, less frequent coitus, absence of orgasm, depression and psychosis, high rate of divorce; in the man: premature ejaculation, polygamy. - Obstetric complications121. There is no surgical technique which will ever repair this mutilation, which will ever bring back the erogenous sensitivity of the amputated receptors. The erotic function in an excised woman is destroyed for ever. The surgeon can only correct the complications; if the mutilated woman's genitalia will never again give her pleasure, at least it should not cause her undue suffering122. In 1984, the Inter-African Committee stipulated that "for understandable psychological reasons, it is the black women who should have the say in the matter". This committee asked for restraint, in order that the project might be successful, claiming that "the wave of uncontrollable and violent denunciations of those mutilations on the part of Western countries" was doing more harm than good154. On the subject of legal prohibition, this same committee, in 1984, warned against "untimely haste which would result in rash legal measures that would never be enforced"155. As for the health professionals, they were quite satisfied with themselves in condemning "the medicalisation and modernisation of the female circumcision procedure, as non-conform to medical ethics" and to advise that "no medical or paramedical personnel be allowed to practice it", for the same reason156. This problem is puzzling for the Western countries. Dominique Vernier writes: As soon as the first preliminary investigations of cases on excision started [in France] (the Press mentions them as early as 1982-83), the Justice Department was put in an awkward position and has been ever since157. This perplexity is due to the principles of the French penal code. Indeed, the parents have no intention to do violence to their children or to batter them, but rather intend to respect a custom, without the application of which their daughters, once adults, would not be able to integrate into their country of origin158. On the other hand, in practice, it is easy for a couple who want their daughter excised to take her back to her country of origin, paralysing the law of the adopted country. Last, but not least, even if the countries of origin adopt some laws against those practices, those laws would not be able to defeat a massively accepted practice, which has become an integral part of that society159. II. Right to difference or indifference This debate about the right to be different was settled in favour of the girl's right to physical integrity (but not the boy's). The WHO gave up its above mentioned reservations of 1959. It became involved in 1977 in the creation of the first Workshop on female excision. In February 1979, its Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office organized in Khartoum the first International Seminar on Traditional Practices affecting Women's and Children's Health. This Seminar recommended that specific national policies be adopted in order to abolish female circumcision160. In June 1982, the WHO made a formal declaration of its position on excision to the Committee of Human Rights of the United Nations. The WHO approved the recommendations made at the Seminar in Khartoum and added: "It has always been the WHO's opinion that female circumcision should never be performed by health professionals in any situation under any conditions, be it in hospitals or other specialized settings"161. The most recent stand was taken in 1989: the Regional Committee of the WHO for Africa passed a resolution urging the participating governments: - to adopt appropriate policies and strategies in order to eradicate female circumcision; - to forbid medicalisation of female circumcision and to discourage health professionals from performing such surgery162. A turnaround was also made by the Inter-African Committee. Whereas in 1984, it had warned against promulgating laws against female circumcision, it requested such laws in 1987, because "neither the efforts nor the research nor the campaigns ever had any real impact"163. Three years later, it reinforced its position, requesting promulgation of specific laws "forbidding the practice of female genital mutilations and other sexual abuses and making provision for sentencing anyone guilty of such practices". This law should provide "an especially severe punishment for health professionals"164. Some Western countries have timidly followed in the footsteps of the two above- mentioned organizations. For instance, in 1981, France adopted article 312, paragraph 3 of the Penal Code, stating: When acts of violence or privation have been habitually inflicted, the sentence to be imposed upon the guilty party shall be: life imprisonment if there is mutilation, amputation, deprivation of the use of a limb, blindness, loss of an eye and other permanent disabilities or death, even if the guilty party did not intend such a result. II. Reasons of the symposium As its title indicates, this symposium was the third of its kind. Although female circumcision was discussed, this symposium principally dealt with male circumcision, which demonstrates in itself that this form of circumcision is a real problem, especially in the United States. What is the nature of this problem? Infant circumcision in the United States began not for medical or religious reasons, but for social reasons. It began in the 1870s as a Victorian attempt to prevent or cure masturbation, which at the time was believed to cause bedwetting, alcoholism, insanity, curvature of the spine and other physical and mental disorders. The practice spread from England concurrently to other English- speaking countries (Canada, Australia and the United States). When the masturbation theory was dispelled and declared false in 1948 by the British National Health Service, the rate of circumcision was reduced to less than 0.5% in England. The rate of circumcision in Canada and in Australia also was lowered, but remains still around 20%. In the United States, with the development of hospitalized births, male infant circumcision remains a common practice. The American medical community has tried to find "medical" justifications for the continuation of circumcision. Even today, the United States remains the only country on earth where the majority of male infants are circumcised for non-religious reasons. This rate is today 60% with differences from one region to another. Approximately 3'300 babies each day are submitted to circumcision in American hospitals. This represents more than 1'25 million children circumcised each year. Several babies die as a consequence of the operation, which is performed without anaesthesia, and which results in numerous medical complications. Circumcision is considered today as one of the reasons for the violence which rages in American society, where the crime rate is six times larger than that in Europe: That which society does to its children, its children do to society. In effect, circumcision injures the brain of the child. It also impairs the normal functioning of the adult sexuality. On average one forth of the skin of the baby's penis is amputated. This has forced many Americans to seek restoration of their foreskin (see below). Many authorities estimate that the violence done to the infant during circumcision plays a role in the fatal conflicts in the Middle East between Muslims and Jews, two groups that practice circumcision. In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics has adopted a neutral position towards male circumcision, leaving the decision to parents. One cannot say, however, that they are properly informed of the implication of their decision. Circumcision takes place in hospitals in the first days of life. Doctors rarely give information on the benefits or risks of the surgery. They even exert psychological pressure by expressing disapproval when parents refuse to consent to the operation. The operation has become a sort of routine, notably in the lower and middle classes. It is performed in a barbarous (this word is not too strong) manner by doctors with clear financial motivations, at the request of ignorant parents, and in any case, it is forced upon infants who cannot express their wishes in the matter. Certainly, in rare instances, circumcision can be useful in the treatment of certain diseases like phimosis (but even in this case, there are medical means of treatment without resorting to circumcision). But the real practice of male circumcision in the United States, like everywhere else in the world, denotes a trivialization responsible for a contemptuous regard for the physical integrity of the child. The director of the organization (Mr. Neal Barnard, M. D.) asked that the demonstrators form a committee to meet him. The president of NOCIRC, the president of NOHARMM200, two other members of NOCIRC, a Jewish nurse, who is a conscientious objector who refuses to participate in circumcision, and myself (a Christian of Palestinian origin) were selected. The discussion lasted about 45 minutes. The director was very nice and allowed each a chance to speak. I introduced myself as a Swiss Lawyer, a Christian of Palestinian origin, and the nurse introduced herself as an American Jew, proud to be in my company as a Palestinian. This served to relax the director. He said that there were so many medical problems to regulate in the United States that he could not take up the problem of circumcision without ignoring some other problem. He also mentioned the budget problem, to which we replied, that by beginning with respect for the child, he would have less to bother with and at the same time would save a lot of money. As for our goals, we told him that it was necessary to educate parents and to make a law forbidding male as well as female circumcision. The child does not give his consent, and in the case of circumcision the parents cannot give such consent. In any case, in order for the parents to give valid consent, it is necessary that they be informed, which is never the case in the United States. I expressed my indignation at the high and unjustified rate of circumcision performed in the United States; a practice which violates the same human rights which the United States pretend to defend. After leaving the meeting with the director, the Jewish nurse and I declared before the cameras that this marked the very first time in human history that a Jew and a Palestinian stood united to protect each others children instead of killing them as in the Middle East. We were very proud indeed. This feeling of pride was shared by all the participants of the symposium. All had the sense of being pioneers and that taking this position had historic significance. It is the first time in history that a group has decided to fight to put an end to a practice unanimously considered to be barbaric and degrading. The various speeches of the symposium are being published. I fervently hope that the European medical community will take an interest in this research and will take a position against both male and female circumcision. I especially hope that European nurses will follow the example of the courageous Santa Fe nurses and will refuse to assist in any more circumcisions. CONCLUSION In our opinion, a God who demands that his believers be mutilated and branded on their genitals the same as cattle, is a God of questionable ethics. It could be legitimate to perform either male or female circumcision, as any other surgery, for specific, extremely rare, medical reasons on specific individuals. But to arbitrarily mutilate children, boys or girls, under the pretext that it is for their own good, shows an influence of cynicism and fanaticism. That is why there is no valid justification of the distinction made between male and female circumcision. Doctor Zwang goes further: "Female circumcision will never stop as long as male circumcision is going on. How do you expect to convince an African father to leave his daughter uncircumcised as long as you let him do it to his son?"201 There is no alternative but to condemn the attitude of international and non-governmental organizations which dissociate one type of circumcision from the other, giving legitimacy to male circumcision in the process. Religion has been a means of justifying both male and female circumcision. It is time to expose the irrationality behind this thinking and reveal the harmful influence of some religious circles which are in favour of it or refuse to denounce it. That is the goal of this study which, I hope, will contribute to the respect of the rights of all children. For more information I possess a great number of documents on male and female circumcision. They are at the disposal of all interested persons. I am also ready to discuss this problem with those interested. I may be contacted at the following address: Sami Aldeeb, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Dorigny, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel. 021/6924912. Fax 021/6924949. 35Sukkari, TAbd-al-Salam TAbd-al-Rahim Al-: Khitan al-dhakar wa-khifad al-untha min manzur islami, Dar al-manar, Heliopolis, 1988, pp. 13-17 and 21-22. 36Genesis 17:9-14. Talking of alliance, Doctor Grard Zwang writes: "After their circumcision, some Africans wear their foreskin around a finger, it is a ring symbolically vulvar, worn on the ring fingers of married civilized persons. It is an alliance that Jehovah has established with the circumcised". (Zwang, Grard: La fonction rotique , Editions Robert Laffont, Paris, 3rd edition, Vol. 3, Supplement, 1978, p. 271, note 2). 37Exodus 12:44; Leviticus 12:3. In other passages, circumcision is a rite of initiation to marriage and to life in a group (Genesis 34:14; Exodus 4:24-26; Leviticus 19:23). See comment about Genesis 17:10 in the Bible de Jrusalem, Editions du Cerf, Paris, 1986, p. 46. 38First Book of Samuel 18:24-28. 39Shaltut, Mahmud: Al-fatawi, Dar al-shuruq, Cairo & Beirut, 10th edition, 1980, p. 332. 40Sukkari: Khitan, op. cit., p. 97. 41Ibid., pp. 11-12. TAbd-al-Razzaq quotes comments by Christ out of the Gospel according to Barnabe: Adam, after his sin, swore to cut his body. The Archangel Gabriel is said to have reprimanded him. As he was unwilling to commit perjury, the Archangel is said to have shown him the foreskin which he then cut off. Therefore, according to TAbd-al-Razzaq, "each of Adam's descendant must fulfil Adam's oath and be circumcised". (TAbd-al-Raziq, Abu-Bakr: Al-khitan, ra'y ad-din wal-Tilm fi khitan al-awlad wal-banat, Dar Al-iTtissam, Cairo, 1989, p. 16). 42Gamri, TAbd-al-Amir Mansur Al-: Al-mar'ah fi zil al-islam, Dar al-hilal, Beirut, 4th edition, 1986, pp. 170-171. 43Sukkari: Khitan, op. cit., pp. 103-107. 44Shaltut: Al-fatawi, op. cit., p. 331. 45Excerpt from a text read during an undated broadcast of Resistance and forwarded by the Muslim Institute of the Mosque of Paris to Mr. Edmond Kaiser, founder of Terre des Hommes. 46Sukkari: Khitan, op. cit., pp. 99-100. 47Ibid., pp. 103-106. 48El-Saadawi: The hidden, op. cit., p. 42. 49Ibid., pp. 41-42. 50Saurel, Rene: L'enterre vive, in Les Temps modernes, No. 393, April 1979, Paris, p. 1659, cited by El-Khayat-Bennai: Le monde arabe, op. cit., p. 43. 51Buti, Muhammad SaTid Ramadan Al-: Mas'alat tahdid al-nasl wiqayatan wa-Tilagan, MatbaTat Al-Farabi, 2nd edition, Damascus, [1982?], pp. 33-34; Khatib, Um Kulthum Yahya Mustafa Al-: Qadiyyat tahdid al-nasl fil-shariTah al-islamiyyah, Al-Dar al- suTudiyyah, 2nd edition, Jeddah, 1982, pp. 143-146. In one of the narrations, some of Mohammed's companions were taking part in a razzia. As they were experiencing deprivation, they asked Mohammed if they could castrate themselves. Mohammed forbade it. Commenting on the narration, Ibn-Hagar wrote: "Emasculation brings among other damage much suffering and deformity as well as a probability of death; it deprives someone of his manhood and transforms God's creation. It is ungratefulness toward God's blessings because to be created a man is one of God's supreme blessings. Without it, the man looks like a woman and in fact chooses imperfection versus perfection". According to other commentators, the interdiction comes from the fact that castration changes the creation and brings an end to having progeny (Ibn-al-Dardir, Abd-al-TAziz: Li-maslahat man tahdid al- nasl wa-tanzimuh, Maktabat al-QurUan, Cairo, 1990, pp. 52, 54-55). 52Rapport sur les pratiques traditionnelles, Addis Abeba, 1987, p. 83. This verse can also be read on the cover of a Sudanese pamphlet against circumcision (Al- Darir, AsmaU TAbd-al-Rahman: Murshid muharabat al-khifad, [Khartoum, 1982]). 53Unabridged arab text on the issue in Report on Traditional Practices, Dakar, 1984, pp. 247-250; basic french translation, pp. 72-73. 54GazaTiri, Abu-Bakr Gabir Al-: Ya Tulama' al-islam iftuna, Matabi' al-Rashid, Medina, 1992, p. 28. 55Exodus 12:7-13. 56He refers here to verse 86:14: "It is not vain talk". 57Mahdawi Mustafa Kamal Al-: Al-Bayan bil-Qur'an, 2 Volumes, Al-dar al- gamahiriyyah, Misratah and Dar al-afaq al-gadidah, Casablanca, 1990, Vol. 1, pp. 348-350. 58Sukkari: Khitan, Op. cit., p. 45. 59Ibid., pp. 47-54. 60Shaltut: Al-fatawi, op. cit., p. 332. 61Sukkari: Khitan, op. cit., p. 46. 62Ibid., pp. 55-61 63Ibid., pp. 46, 62-63. 64Khallaf, TAbd-al-Wahhab: Khitan al-banat, in TAbd-al-Raziq: Al-khitan, op. cit. p. 76. 65Shaltut: Al-fatawi, op. cit., pp. 333-334. 66Birri, Zakariyya Al-: Ma hukm khitan al-bint wa-hal huwa daruri, in TAbd-al- Raziq: Al-khitan, op. cit., pp. 95-96. 67Qaradawi, Youssef Al-: Huda al-islam, fatawi mu'assirah, Dar al-qalam, Kuwait, 3rd edition, 1987, p. 443. 194National organization of circumcision information resource centers, P.O.Box 2512, San Anselmo, CA 94979-2512, USA, tel. (415) 488-9883, fax (415) 488-9883. This is the most important organization in the fight against male and female circumcision. It was founded and is presided over by Marilyn Fayre Milos, a nurse who was fired for her views on this subject. 195The tray on which an infant is strained while a doctor performs a circumcision on him. 196Contact: Nurses of St. Vincent Hospital, c/o Ann Lown, R.N., P.O.Box 8824, Santa Fe, NM 87504, USA. 197Address: Mr. Jim Bigelow, P.O.Box 52138, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA. Tel/Fax (408) 315-4326. 198Jim Bigelow: The Joy of Uncircumcising, restore your birthright and maximize sexual pleasure, published by Hourglass, Book publishing, P.O.Box 171, Aptos, CA 95001, USA. 199Address: Mr. R. Wayne Griffiths, RECAP - UNCIRC, 3205 Northwood Drive, Suite 209, Concord, CA 94520-4506, USA. Tel. (510) 827-4077, Fax (510) 827-4119. 200National organization to halt the abuse and routine mutilation of males (NOHARMM), P.O.Box 460795, San Francisco, CA 94146-0795, USA, Tel/Fax 415-826- 9351. This organization was found and is presided over by Mr. Tim Hammond. 201Conversation by phone on January 7, 1993. Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic From: an132973@anon.penet.fi Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 06:02:05 UTC Subject: 1:8 Circumcision=mutilation=crime: Integrat text of Sami (LONG) Dear Netter, The Other of this report has asked that I post it. Due to it's length I have divided it up into 8 sections. Also do to it's length and the fact that I pay for my own (expensive) link and long distance phone calls I am unable to mail it or sections of it to individuals. If someone else with a free link and storage would like to archieve it that would be helpful and probably appreciated by the author and future readers. I would say enjoy, but a better word would be learn. Merci, Dr. DL