Tanveer Ahmed

This is addressed to you personally.

Call me "culturally insensitive" or a "misogynist" or whatever but if the "little nick" does no harm and saves the clitorises of Muslim girls from something worse then go for it.

Now, having saved the girl's clitoris can we do anything to save her mind?

I should imagine a "little nick" will do a lot less harm than exposure to the ravings of a psychopathic deity who says things like:

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,"

(5:33)

Or whose (probably non-existent) prophet reportedly said:

"... You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me) ; kill him."

(Sahih Muslim 41 6981)

Here you can see Muslims discussing the hadith on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng4_VuxGVY4

Compared to the way other Muslims will fill her head with hatred and fear any damage caused by a "little nick" pales into insignificance.

So what can we do to protect the girl from Islam Tanveer?

What can we do to protect Muslim girls from the sort of abuse depicted in the linked video below?

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tlFL8r9n4Y

Note to all bien pensant:

By all means indulge in your usual reflex of mentioning bad things in other religions whenever Islam is attacked. I call it the Islam Defence Reflex (IDR) that appears to afflict some atheists.

I, however, would like to get an answer from Tanveer Ahmed about HIS religion.

Over to you Tanveer.

'The hijab's original purpose was to regulate male sexual desire'

Its a pity it wasn't in place to save young girls from Islams prophet.

Runner, it might have protected Hagar from the patriarch's advances, too ...... then again, maybe not :)

I have the greatest respect for the likes of Tanveer Ahmed, probably the ONLY Australian of non-western heritage I have ever read articles from that is actually normal, and looks at evidence without prejudice.

Usually when you see a non-western name writing you can be as sure as you are the sun is coming up tomorrow that they are going to be racist, hate Australia and be very very intolerant of beliefs different to their own.

And have the hide to pose as a liberal!

Anyone who does this in Australia, even asks for it, should instantly be sent home. And if born here, sent to their parents country of origin.

Tanveer Ahmed, I am not sure if you were saying you support the practice of 'ritual nicking' in order to help prevent the far more mutilating practice of removal of the clitoris and labia minora?

I would hate to see any form of such an abhorrent practice carried out here in Australia, or anywhere where else for that matter.

By allowing a 'nick' of a Muslim girl's clitoris for no reason other than to appease her old fashioned family culture, we are condoning the practices we should continue to ban.

Maybe, in order to stop the ancient, dangerous practice of circumcising boys as a matter of course, we should 'nick' one side of their foreskins?

Then for Mr.Ahmed to say <"Anecdotally, I have never heard of botched female genital mutilations appearing in emergency departments here."

Oh well, that's ok then is it? As long as the illegal operations of genital mutilation are being carried out 'successfully' here, then the problem can't be too bad?

I don't believe this hideous practice of female genital mutilation should be condoned in any way- no matter how cultural it is back in the old countries of these migrants.

It is illegal in Australia, and should remain so.

If you read a few British and European novels from the 18th and 19th centuries you will see that Western women were equally subject to bizarre and hateful practices imposed 'for their own good' by a Church and State establishment working in harmony. The difference is that we outgrew them. I have hopes that the Islamic world will too. But defending the hijab because it was useful once is like saying that Western women should go on wearing chastity belts because they came in handy during the Crusades.