A Maldivian traumatized from circumcision experience April 28, 2007

Celebrating the mutilation of a human being

By Hilath Rasheed, 8 December 2006, Male’

It was the day after the academic year was over, and while I was walking on Majeedee Magu that evening, a party at a home in full swing reminded me how every time this year, I am treated to this same horror scene if I remain in the capital.

I can’t understand what there is to be happy about, or a reason to celebrate, when a child who is not yet 10 years old, is mutilated, and all his family and friends want to party all night at his, the victim’s, expense.

I remember my own circumcision experience if not vividly quite painfully and it is something that I want no child of mine to ever have to experience.

I must have been around 6 or 7. We had an open air shower, the gifili or valhu kotari, where I was kept on a wooden table. I remember male extended family members all surrounding me, and someone was restraining my legs. My father was just next to me but I am not sure whether he was holding me but he told me that if I “just concentrate on something else, there would be no pain.”

I tried to take his advice, and my mind wandered to the first picnic I had on Kuda Bandos island; it was a special experience because it was the first time I traveled out of the concrete blocks that is Male to a natural island with green vegetation, clear blue water – and my first touch with a red Dhanbaa, my distant cousin who still inhabit the warm shallow waters of our archipelago and have no need to evolve to come onto land.

I don’t exactly remember whether it was painful or not but I was feeling as if I was a wild animal, brought under control, and then mutilated because for some misbehavior that I must have committed that I was yet to understand.

Worse, my father was wearing dark sunglasses, and somehow I could see a certain Hameed (who later worked in the Department of Health) as he performed my circumcision. (I still remember this guy who must now be in his late 40s or early 50s and each sighting of him still causes me pain). The visions I cannot remember in detail: reflected from my father’s sunglasses, I saw tools and hands at work around my genitals. Weird may not be the correct word to describe what I was feeling but let that be adequate for now.

I remember the first time I peed that day: I wasn’t expecting it and therefore, when it came, it was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. I did not want to pee again, and tried to hold back, but had to a few times that day. Reminiscing this pain again as I write this article, I know how much inner strength I have to summon every time I remember how I have now forgiven all the personal “atrocities” my family caused against me due to family, social or religious pressure.

When after a week it was finally over, and they removed the clothing which covered the glans, what a surprise and shock it gave me to finally see an alienish head poking out. I remember that I had great difficulty in coming to terms with this “alien organ” in my body, and even though religious authorities who propagate circumcision claim that the foreskin is removed to lessen sexual stimulation, erotic tendencies and a tendency towards indulging in masturbation, my personal experience is that this experience actually opened my innocent eyes towards the world of sexuality (previously, I thought the function of the penis was only for peeing and nothing else). Of course, physically it won’t now give me the same pleasure as an uncut or intact man because I am circumcised. There are surgeries to restore your foreskin but well, I am now 31, not a teenager any more, so sex is not much of a priority in comparison to company, communication, entertainment and creativity.

Is circumcision a must under Islam?

If you study history, circumcision was a practice practised thousands of years ago by pagans and although Islam explicitly is against acts or culture belonging to the “Jaahiliyyaa Zamaan” (The Age of Darkness or Non-Enlightenment), I am surprised how this got into our culture and why this culture is so highly regarded even among Maldivians.

There is a whole lot of debate going on about this topic in the world, with many websites dedicated to the debate. My own opinion is that if men are born uncut, then that’s the way nature meant it to be, and if we mutilate that, there must at least be an imbalance and upsetting of the natural way of life because our universe is an intricate and balanced system.

According to Mothers Against Circumcision Organisation: “People mistakenly believe the circumcised penis is cleaner. The myth that the penis with a foreskin is difficult to clean is exactly that — a myth. Cleaning is so simple, it’s amazing that people fret so much about it. The big hoopla over hygiene is pure and unnecessary paranoia. There are many benefits to keeping the foreskin intact. Typically, American doctors have limited knowledge in these areas. Many are totally unaware that the foreskin actually requires no special care.

“Quite a number of famous child care experts and doctors recommend against circumcision in their books. Dr. Dean Edell has expressed opposition against infant circumcision for at least 15 years now. Sheila Kitzinger very emphatically recommends that parents leave their sons intact. Dr. Lendon Smith goes into detail explaining the foreskin’s purposes and giving all the reasons why circumcision should not be performed. Dr. Spock, in his most recent book, stated “I feel that there’s no solid medical evidence at this time to support routine circumcision.” He recommends “leaving the foreskin the way Nature meant it to be.”

Some useful resources (cut and paste them in a new window):
http://www.circinfo.org/links.html
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/
http://www.circumstitions.com/index.html

Source: Hilath