Daghestani Muftiate to Ban Female Genital Mutilation, a Step Moscow hasn’t Taken

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 12 – It is an article of faith among many in Russia and the West that the Russian government is more progressive than the Muslim leaders within the borders of the Russian Federation and more generally.  But however true that may be in some cases, in one important regard, the reverse is true.

            Moscow has not adopted any law prohibiting female genital mutilation despite the existence of that horrific practice in some places in Russia, but now the muftiate of Daghestan has announced that it will be issuing a fetwa declaring such surgery a violation of Islamic norms (nazaccent.ru/content/33824-muftiyat-dagestana-zhenskoe-obrezanie-protivorechit-normam.html).

            Russian politicians and feminist activists have denounced the practice, but neither has succeeded in getting a law passed banning the practice and bringing Russia into line with the West (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/05/russian-politicians-feminists-demand.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/05/abuses-in-ingushetia-call-attention-to.html).

            But until that happens, the practice appeared likely to continue because even where cases attracted such attention, they seldom resulted in criminal prosecutions even when many said this form of abuse falls under other paragraphs of the criminal code (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/07/no-criminal-charges-to-be-brought-in.html).

            Fortunately, Muslim leaders have now jumped into the breach and decided to use Islamic law to prohibit what Russian criminal law does not. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have denounced this practice as “barbaric.” Russia’s Muslims are listening, but Russia’s legislators have refused to pass a bill introduced in 2016 doing the same thing.