There goes our great Gambian sage again. This time, "Imam" Fatty is imparting his infinite wisdom on the virtues of female circumcision. Thankfully, we have Imams like Baba Leigh who know what they are talking about. Here is the Point story: Imam Fatty Calls For Circumcision The State House Imam, Alhagie Abdoulie Fatty, has called on Gambian communities to circumcise their children, saying that the ongoing anti FGM campaign is West- motivated, calculated to undermine Gambia’s cultural norms and values. The Imam, who has made a name for himself for his stance in favour of FGM, accused the West of sponsoring certain non governmental organisations in the country in a bid to propagate an anti FGM campaign. “The whole campaign against FGM is Western motivated, because, for example, if you look at the NGOs fighting against FGM, they are sponsored by the West. It is aimed at undermining our traditional beliefs,” said Imam Fatty. Imam Fatty said female circumcision would help to reduce the sexual passion of women and those engaged in the practice have very good reasons of doing it. “I am appealing to the communities doing female circumcision to continue with the practice, because it is recognised by Islam. The only thing is they should abide by the teachings of sharia and do it the way it is compatable with the teachings of Shaira’ said the Imam, while calling on Gambain authorities to create clinics that will help to take care of children during circumcision. The Imam added that female circumcision has been going on for the past thousand years and called on those opposed to the practice to give peace to communities so that they could continue with the practice which has been recognised by Islam. Reacting to the story Imam Baba Leigh, who is in charge of religious affairs at the Gambia Committee Against Traditional Harmful practices or (Gamcotrap), said: “I am yet to be convinced that female circumcision is a Western motivated thing to undermine our religion and our traditional beliefs in the sense that not all Muslims are doing it and it is not a religious injunction. There is no proof that the Prophet and his family has practised it or he advised people to practise it.” While conceding that female circumcision is a deeply rooted culture, Imam Leigh said the fight against FGM requires vigorous campaign. He observed that FGM has a negative impact on the lives of children, noting that some of these kids exposed to the practice usually experienced a lot of pain and trauma. He added some of the instrument used to circumcise the children are not sterilised and could be deadly to children. “Cutting the genital part of a woman, is Islamically unacceptable simply because medical personnels know the harmful side of it, and with this generation at that when we are talking about HIV/AIDS and all the stds. It is more than the word dangerious, so if you are encouraging people to circumcise their children under this circumstances really, it is imortant for people to review your position in the society. Do you love society? the Kanifing East Imam asked. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~