Syedna Taher Fakhruddin, has issued a statement recently, on the simmering issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Syedna Fakhruddin, considered head of one faction of the Dawoodi Bohra community, which has been cleaved into two in a highly-publicised battle, said in his address which was released to the media and is also up on his website that, he wished to issue the statement to, “clear the confusion caused by misguided statements made by those who have usurped control of the community. They have made statements contrary to the faith, limiting the education of the girl child, forcing a glass ceiling on the role women play in society, and undermining the position women have in a marriage.” Condemning FGM and calling it, “an un-Islamic and horrific practice,” he said he was forced to take a public stand after several women from the community brought to his notice the trauma young girls undergo when circumcision is carried out in an, “irregular and improper fashion”.

Dr Abdeali Qutbuddin