Islam And Virginity: Hymen Repair Surgery Controversy

The decision of a French court in Lille to annul a Muslim marriage because the wife was not a virgin has sparked anger in France. It has ignited a reaction from secularists who view the ruling as a threat to "French values." French Urban Affairs Minister, Fadela Amara, went so far as to say that the the ruling constitutes "a real fatwa against the emancipation and liberty of women."

The ruling also highlights the challenges faced by many Muslim women in France who have become sexually emancipated while still retaining close connections with the traditional Islamic values upheld by their families. The tension arising from this, is never so intense than when it comes to matters of family honor, particularly as it relates to the importance of a daughter's virginity when entering into matrimony.

It isn't unusual for prospective brides to be required to provide evidence of virginity. In some cases women have been required to go for gynecological exams in order to determine "virginity status."

Some women are so concerned about the prospect of bringing dishonor to the family and becoming objects of scorn, that they undergo an operation called a "hymenoplasty." This is a procedure that reconstructs the hymen, the thin membrane usually broken during intercourse. The cost of becoming a faux virgin varies, but in a private clinic in Paris it can cost around $3,000. It should be pointed out that the procedure in France is still relatively rare, as compared to the Middle East and Latin America for example.

Critics of the procedure see it as a backward step. After all European women have struggled long and hard for equality. They fought for contraception and abortion rights - for control over their own bodies and the dignity that comes with that.

Jacques Lansac of the French College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians opposes hymen reconstruction surgery:

"Attaching so much importance to the hymen is regression, submission to the intolerance of the past."

The surgery may create the illusion of virginity, but the marriage will still be based upon willful deception from day one. How does living-a-lie uphold family honor? And if family honor needs to be safeguarded by deception, what value does it have over and above the importance of saving face?

While some Muslim women feel sufficiently pressured that they are willing to make a pretense of being virgins, husbands-to-be are not required to answer for their sexual history. It is a viewpoint that is sexist and out-of-touch with modern realities.

Any mainstream religion, not only Islam, faces the challenge of striking a balance between the social mores of the society in which it operates and traditional religious values. There needs to be a measure of understanding and tolerance, of give and take, otherwise children of future generations are going to remain in a position of conflict - torn between traditional values and a contemporary lifestyle that is more about rights than religious obligations.

The Lille annulment created an uproar because critics view it as a threat to women's rights. They see it as equating marriage with a commercial transaction that makes the woman appear more like goods that come with a contract, rather than a human being with dignity and value that goes beyond the mere fact of her virgin status.

Justice Minister, Racheda Dati, has announced that the government will be appealing the ruling.

Some of the reaction to the Lille decision has been over-the-top. Some of it has also been fomented by those who seek any excuse to cast Islam in a negative light. To call it a move toward sharia law as some have done, is ridiculous. In fact seen from the woman's perspective the court did her a favor by annulling her marriage to a much older man who lacked the class to keep matters of the marriage bed private.

Article 180 of the French Civil Code allows for such annulments to take place if a partner fails to fulfill an "essential" part of the pre-marriage arrangement. In the Lille case it was the honesty of the bride that was in question. The ruling wasn't addressing virginity as an "essential quality" of marriage. Couples of other religions have used Article 180 to obtain annulments in the past.

A number of French Muslims have expressed sympathy for the woman in this case. Abdelkibir Errami, vice president of the Islamic Center of Roubaix, close to Lille where the marriage took place, had this to say:

"The man is the biggest of all the donkeys. Even if the woman was no longer a virgin, he had no right to expose her honor. This is not what Islam teaches. It teaches forgiveness."