Knowledge and perspectives of female genital cutting among the local religious leaders in Erbil governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan region

Table 1 The main categories and sub-categories of the results extracted from the interviews

Category	Sub-category	Participant’s number with relevant quotation
Understanding FGC	Definition	15; 23
	Type	15; 22
	To whom	10; 17; 19; 23
	By whom	16
	Role of sharia^a	5; 10; 19
Advantages and disadvantages	Reducing sexual desire	5; 23
	Better hygiene, reduced smell	5; 21
	No risk if well done	All
	Insufficient desire and pleasure	5; 16
Reasons for practicing FGC	The prophet said it	17
	In the sharia	27
	Culture NOT religion	20; 21; 28
	Regulating sexual activity	13; 15; 23
	Smell	5; 28
Contact of religious leader with the community regarding FGC	The families do not ask	14; 15; 16; 18; 24
	Complaints from men re sex	3; 5
	Hemorrhage post FGC	13
	Shame and right to complain	16; 17
	Unfaithful if no FGC	19
Prevalence of FGC in Iraqi Kurdistan	Decreasing	13; 21
Prevalence of FGC in Iraqi Kurdistan	Unknown because secret for girls	23
Geographical differences inside and outside Iraqi Kurdistan	Shafi^b vs. Hanafi^c doctrine	5; 10; 16; 22
	Faith	5; 15
	Education	18; 21
	Weather/heat	5; 22
	Tradition	16
	Unclear	1
	Pressure groups	23
Banning FGC by law	Knowledge of the existing law	22
	Do not support	9; 12; 17; 29
	Call for expert opinion	13; 14

^aSharia is the religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition
^bShafi’i doctrine is one of the four schools of Islamic law in Sunni Islam. The Shafi school predominantly relies on the Holy Quran and the hadiths for sharia. Where passages of the Holy Quran and hadiths are ambiguous, the school first seeks religious law guidance from Ijma – the consensus of Sahabah (Prophet Muhammad’s companions). If there was no consensus, the Shafi’i school relies on the individual opinion (Ijtihad) of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), followed by analogy
^cHanafi doctrine is one of the four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence. Hanafi doctrine derives Islamic law from the Holy Quran, and the hadiths containing the words, actions, and customs of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

ISSN: 1742-4755