Global Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Rates Higher Than Previously Estimated, Up to 304 Million Women Affected
The Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPII) has published the first of its yearly FGM Indexes. It includes an estimate of the number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), plus what proportion of this estimate is attributable to Islamic communities and to non-Islamic communities. A second report analyses the most important references to FGM in the foundational texts of Islamic doctrine.
FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It’s nearly always done to prepubescent girls, with most girls being cut before the age of 5. It can involve partial or complete amputation of the clitoris and/or the excision of the labia. Its most severe form is infibulation, whereby the clitoris and labia minora are removed and the edges of labia majora trimmed. These are then stitched together so that, on healing, they form a seal over the urethra and vagina. A small hole is left for urination and eventual menstruation.
The universally-cited estimate of FGM’s global prevalence is UNICEF’s 230 million . It is, however, a significant underestimate: FGM is practised in at least 90 countries, but UNICEF’s estimate is based on data from only 31, mainly African, countries.
CSPII’s report uses numerical data from 77 countries, including those where FGM has only recently been introduced, such as those in Europe, North America, and Australia. The report also identifies 20 countries for which there are reports of FGM being practised, but no numerical data.
The report finds the prevalence of FGM to be between 291 and 304 million: 1 in 13 girls/women alive today. It also finds that about 80% of this prevalence is attributable to Islamic populations and 20% to non-Islamic populations, and that about 23.5% of Islamic girls/women have undergone FGM compared to about 2% of non-Islamic girls/women.
This correlation between FGM and Islamic populations raises the question of what Islamic doctrine has to say about FGM. CSPII’s second report, ‘Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Doctrine’, addresses this question.
When FGM is mentioned in the mainstream discourse it is now accompanied by claims purporting to prove that FGM can’t be Islamic e.g. ‘not all Muslims practice FGM’, ‘FGM existed before Islam’ and ‘some Christians practice FGM’. Whilst all these claims are true, none prove that FGM is not Islamic. The commonest claim, however, is ‘FGM’s not mentioned in the Koran’[1]. Let’s evaluate this claim.
At first glance it appears to be true: neither of the classical Arabic words for FGM–khitan and khaffad—occur in the Koran. But this is not the end of the story for chapter 30, verse 30 of the Koran indirectly supports FGM:
So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created [all] people.
Note the word fitrah. This is its only use in the Koran. To learn what the fitrah is and how to adhere to it one must turn to another of Islam’s foundational texts: the hadiths.
The hadiths are eyewitness reports of incidents from the life of Mohammed, the founder of Islam. 89 Koranic verses establish Mohammed as the perfect human, whose example and teachings must be followed and obeyed by everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim, today just as much as in the past.
Mohammed’s followers cherished and memorised everything he said, did and was. After Mohammed’s death these eyewitness reports were passed on orally for a few generations, to be eventually collected and evaluated by scholars and written down in tomes containing thousands of hadiths.
These scholars were aware that oral transmission invites error and fabrication, especially when conducted over several generations. They devised methods for determining which hadiths were trustworthy and which were not, with hadiths that are entirely trustworthy being referred to as ‘sahih’.
So, what do the hadiths say about the fitrah? The most authoritative collection of hadiths was compiled by the 9th Century Persian scholar al-Bukhari. His Sahih al-Bukhari contains only sahih hadiths, several of which refer to the fitrah. From these we learn that the fitrah is the idea that mankind has an instinctive predisposition towards Islamic beliefs and behaviour. One hadith explains how to adhere to the fitrah:
I heard [Mohammed] saying. “Five practices are characteristics of the Fitra: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, cutting the moustaches short, clipping the nails, and depilating the hair of the armpits.”
So ‘circumcision’ is one of the acts of the fitrah. But what exactly is meant here by ‘circumcision’? Of the male? FGM ? Both?
The Arabic word here translated as ‘circumcision’ is khitan which, as mentioned earlier, is one of the classical Arabic words that can denote FGM. The two most authoritative dictionaries of classical Arabic (Ibn Manzur’s Lisan al-Arab and Edward Lane’s Arab-English Lexicon) both define khitan as:
Circumcision of a boy and of a girl
Two hadiths confirm that khitan can refer to the ‘cutting’ of girls–and of girls only. Both ‘circumcise’ and ‘circumcised’ are translations of khitan.
A woman used to circumcise females in Al-Madinah, and the Prophet said to her: “Do not go to extremes in cutting, for that is better for the woman and more liked by the husband.
[W]hen the daughters of ‘A’isha’s brother were circumcised, ‘A’isha was asked, “Shall we call someone to amuse them?” “Yes,” she replied. ‘Adi was sent for and he came to them. ‘A’isha passed by the room and saw him singing and shaking his head in rapture – and he had a large head of hair. ‘Uff!’ she exclaimed, ‘A shaytan! Get him out! Get him out!’”
So, to summarize: Koran 30:30 requires that we ‘adhere to the fitrah’. A hadith that is sahih (and therefore doctrinally reliable) says that khitan is part of the fitrah. Dictionaries and usage indicate that khitan denotes circumcision of the boy and of the girl.
Therefore the Koran advocates FGM, albeit indirectly.
CSPII’s FGM INDEX 2025 finds that female genital mutilation is more common than previously thought and that it significantly correlates with the influence of Islamic doctrine. Most organizations combating FGM minimize, deny, or are unaware of this correlation. However, a solution is unlikely to be effective if it’s not based on an understanding of the problem’s true causes. It is our hope that our reports, by revealing the links between Islamic doctrine and FGM, will contribute to a better understanding of the nature and causes of FGM, and thereby help eliminate this grave violation of the dignity and rights of girls, and of the women they grow up to be.
REFERENCES
Abu Dawud. 2008. English Translation of Sunan Abu Dawud. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. New ed. 5 vols. Riyadh: Darussalam.
Al-Bukhari. 1997. Sahih Bukhari. Translated by Muḥammad Muhsin Khan. 9 vols. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
———. 2014. Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Malaysia: Dakwah Corner Publications.
Ibn Manẓūr. 2024. “Lisān Al-ʿArab.” The Arab Lexicon. 2024. http://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/search/%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%86?cat=3.
IslamQA. 2020. “What Is the Ruling of Shari’ah on Female Circumcision?” IslamQA. February 10, 2020. https://islamqa.org/hanafi/fatwa-tt/134090/what-is-the-ruling-of-shariah-on-female-circumcision/.
Lane, Edward William. 1968. An Arabic-English Lexicon. Vol. II. 8 vols. Beirut: Librarie du Liban.
Saheeh International, ed. 2011. The Qurʼān: English Meanings and Notes. Translated by Muntadá al-Islāmī. London: Al-Muntada Al-Islami Trust.
UNICEF, 2024. “Over 230 Million Girls and Women Alive Today Have Been Subjected to Female Genital Mutilation — UNICEF.” March 8, 2024. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/over-230-million-girls-and-women-alive-today-have-been-subjected-female-genital.
[1] See for example: “Islam Must Never Be Used to Justify FGM.” 2019. Islamic Relief Worldwide (blog). 2019.
https://islamic-relief.org/news/islam-must-never-be-used-to-justify-fgm/.
https://www.cspii.org/learn-political-islam/methodology/fgm-female-genital-mutilation/cspii-fgm-index-2025/
https://www.cspii.org/learn-political-islam/methodology/fgm-female-genital-mutilation/female-genital-mutilation-in-islamic-doctrine/
(UNICEF 2024)
(Saheeh International 2011, 562)
(Al-Bukhari 1997, 6:420)
(Lane 1968, II:704; Ibn Manẓūr 2024)
(Abu Dawud 2008, 5:486)
(Al-Bukhari 2014, 814)
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