Protestors demonstrate against Female Genital Mutilation. Sheikh says FGM is against Muslim teachings. [Photo.voanews.com]
Sheikh Hussein Mahat, an Islamic scholar has castigated Female Genital Mutilation saying it’s against the Quran teachings.
Sheikh Mahat said the practice commonly witnessed among the Somali community has nothing to do with religion.
The Sheikh said female circumcision is purely a cultural practice that has been sneaked into the religion by a few selfish individuals.
“Islam is against the cut and it is nowhere in the Holy Quran or even in the countries where the religion started. This is a cultural practice,” he said.
Sheikh Mahat was speaking during a workshop conducted in Bula Mzuri sublocation that was attended by the area administration, NGOs fighting FGM, clerics, scholars and the Nyumba Kumi initiative.
They said that they will embark on a continuous awareness program to educate the community on FGM and its adverse negative effects on girls, women and other members of the society.
They further said that many underage girls in Garissa County were in danger of harmful cultural practices that are conducted silently away from government officials especially during this Christmas holiday.
Assistant chief Hubba Abdullahi said perpetrators of female genital mutilation in Garissa County will soon be arrested by law enforcement agencies.
Mr Abdullahi said they have information that some Somalis, from as far as Britain and Nairobi, are taking their girls to either villages in Tana River or in the refugee camps in Dadaab to undergo the cut.
“We will arrest those still carrying out the illegal exercise. The circumcisers are making a killing out of the exercise. They charge between Sh1,000 and Sh2,000 per girl for the cut,” he said.