This claim is currently very controversial with numerous research papers and fatawa (religious legal ruling) arguing over the permissibility and purpose of female genital cutting.
However, many traditional cultures in East Africa and other Muslim jurisdictions have made such claims for female genital cutting. In Judaism, the religious male circumcision ceremony ( brit milah) is usually performed on infants. Genital cutting is performed for reasons such as:
The vast majority of genital cutting in the world is done for religious motives (though not all members of genital cutting religions adhere to the practice).
