{"id":927,"date":"2016-05-30T12:30:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T17:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=927"},"modified":"2016-05-30T12:30:36","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T17:30:36","slug":"leave-our-girls-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"17-Year-Old Girl In Egypt Dies After FGM: Leave. Our. Girls. Alone."},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

I first learned of this news while reading a tweet from writer and activist Mona Eltahawy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A private hospital in Egypt has been shut down<\/a> after a 17-year-old girl died from complications of female genital mutilation:<\/p>\n

Suez governor Ahmed Al-Hitamy shut down a private hospital in the city after a young girl died on Sunday while undergoing a female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure, which is illegal according to Egyptian law.<\/p>\n

Mayar Mohamed, 17, went to the hospital with her twin sister to undergo the surgery. Her sister survived, but Mayar suffered from complications during the procedure, which caused severe bleeding that eventually led to her death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I was reading this, all I could say to myself was a common Arabic Muslim phrase used to express shock: “La Hawla Wa La Quwwata Illa Billah<\/em>,” or “There is no power or movement except with God.”<\/p>\n

The statistics surrounding this barbaric practice in Egypt (the country of my ancestry) are astounding:<\/p>\n

Egypt was among the countries that witnessed a fast decline in the prevalence of FGM rates from 1987 to 2015. According to a UNICEF report, it ranked sixth among countries that practice FGM worldwide, with an overall percentage of 85% among girls and women aged between 15 to 49 years old.<\/p>\n

A government survey released earlier in August 2015 showed that 61% of girls between 15 to 17 years of age underwent FGM during 2014, compared to 74% during 2008.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While it is heartening that the numbers are decreasing, even one girl is way too many. As a father of four daughters, I am sickened and outraged.<\/p>\n

Contrary to what some may say, this practice is not about Islam. It is a cultural practice that transcends religion<\/a> and has affected millions of women and girls around the world. As a physician, I can say with utmost honesty and sincerity that this barbaric procedure has absolutely no health benefits whatsoever. It is truly mutilation, nothing less. As a Muslim trying to live a righteous life, that some would justify it using Islam offends me even more.<\/p>\n

In fact, it is Islam that motivates me to speak out against this barbarism. It calls to mind this verse of the Qur’an, which condemns female infanticide:<\/p>\n

And they ascribe daughters unto God, Who is limitless in His glory – whereas for themselves [they would choose, if they could, only] what they desire for: for, whenever any of them is given the glad tiding of [the birth of] a girl, his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed anger, avoiding all people because of the [alleged] evil of the glad tiding which he has received [and debating within himself]: “Shall he keep this [child] despite the contempt [which he feels for it], or shall he bury it in the dust? Evil indeed is whatever they decide!” (16:57-59)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am sure that the parents subjecting their daughters to this horrific practice do not mean to hurt them. They just do not know any better. That is why, along with government and health officials, NGOs, and activists, religious leaders need to be more forceful in their condemnation of this practice and education of the people that there is nothing sacred about this practice at all.<\/p>\n

All of us, for the sake of God and these girls, must say in one loud voice:<\/p>\n

Leave. Our. Girls. Alone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring I first learned of this news while reading a tweet from writer and activist Mona Eltahawy. A private hospital in Egypt has been shut down after a 17-year-old girl died from complications of female genital mutilation: Suez governor Ahmed Al-Hitamy shut down a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,56],"tags":[737,122,204,206,736,11],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","category-justice","tag-barbarism","tag-culture","tag-death","tag-egypt","tag-female-genital-mutilation","tag-islam"],"yoast_head":"\n17-year-old Girl Dies in Egypt After FGM: This Must End<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 17-year-old girl in Egypt died after undergoing FGM. This barbaric practice must end, and religious leaders should be leading the effort to stop it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"17-year-old Girl Dies in Egypt After FGM: This Must End\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 17-year-old girl in Egypt died after undergoing FGM. This barbaric practice must end, and religious leaders should be leading the effort to stop it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-30T17:30:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. Hassaballa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GodFaithPen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"17-year-old Girl Dies in Egypt After FGM: This Must End","description":"A 17-year-old girl in Egypt died after undergoing FGM. This barbaric practice must end, and religious leaders should be leading the effort to stop it.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"17-year-old Girl Dies in Egypt After FGM: This Must End","og_description":"A 17-year-old girl in Egypt died after undergoing FGM. This barbaric practice must end, and religious leaders should be leading the effort to stop it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/","og_site_name":"Common Word, Common Lord","article_published_time":"2016-05-30T17:30:36+00:00","author":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GodFaithPen","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/","name":"17-year-old Girl Dies in Egypt After FGM: This Must End","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-05-30T17:30:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-30T17:30:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21"},"description":"A 17-year-old girl in Egypt died after undergoing FGM. This barbaric practice must end, and religious leaders should be leading the effort to stop it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/leave-our-girls-alone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"17-Year-Old Girl In Egypt Dies After FGM: Leave. Our. Girls. Alone."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/","name":"Common Word, Common Lord","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Hesham Hassaballa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21","name":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. Hassaballa Charitable Foundation and now serves as its Treasurer.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/GodFaithPen"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/author\/hhassaballa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}