{"id":53398,"date":"2024-02-20T18:19:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T18:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=53398"},"modified":"2024-02-20T16:51:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T16:51:55","slug":"imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion","title":{"rendered":"Imam Baba Leigh Argues That Female Genital Mutilation Rooted In Culture, Not Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Imam Baba Leigh has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that the practice is cultural rather than religious in origin.<\/b><\/p>\n

Leigh\u2019s comments come in response to a proposed bill by National Assembly Member Almameh Gibba seeking to overturn the 2015 ban on FGM in The Gambia. Gibba argues that the ban clashes with the cultural and traditional beliefs of a majority of Gambian citizens.<\/p>\n

The proposed bill, known as the Women\u2019s (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is intended to address what Gibba perceives as a conflict between the ban on female circumcision and the deeply ingrained ethnic, traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs of the majority of Gambian citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have witnessed before Jawara, witnessed Jawara\u2019s time, witnessed others until today. At that time, the Ustases that supported FGM, when the law was passed, all of them were here and didn\u2019t say anything. And everyone knows to circumcise a woman is not religion, it is culture, and it started during prophet Ebrima\u2019s time. We are not strangers in Islam. Some are strangers, but I am not a stranger in Islam, I have learned it and I know it,\u201d Imam Baba Leigh said at the National Dialogue held last Friday.<\/p>\n

Leigh\u2019s stance aligns with the Gambian government\u2019s position, which outlaws FGM through the Women\u2019s (Amendment) Act 2015. The act criminalizes the performance, procurement, and aiding and abetting of FGM\/C.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Imam Baba Leigh has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that the practice is cultural rather than religious in origin. Leigh\u2019s comments come in response to a proposed bill by National Assembly Member Almameh Gibba seeking to overturn the 2015 ban on FGM in The Gambia. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":53397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-53398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nImam Baba Leigh Argues That Female Genital Mutilation Rooted In Culture, Not Religion - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imam Baba Leigh has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that the pr ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imam Baba Leigh Argues That Female Genital Mutilation Rooted In Culture, Not Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imam Baba Leigh has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that the pr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T18:19:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/02\/sm_1708434758.216239.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"591\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Imam Baba Leigh Argues That Female Genital Mutilation Rooted In Culture, Not Religion\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T18:19:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\"},\"wordCount\":262,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/02\/sm_1708434758.216239.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/imam-baba-leigh-argues-that-female-genital-mutilation-rooted-in-culture-not-religion\",\"name\":\"Imam Baba Leigh Argues That Female Genital Mutilation Rooted In Culture, Not Religion - 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