text: why  do muslims circumcise? i heard in africa or afghanistan they do it for girls too, is that ture? yes, and its a pretty gruesome process.  they don't do it in a hospital, they do it in a tent.  the surgical tool of choice?  an old rusty razor blade.  female genital mutilation (fgm) is an invasive and painful surgical procedure that is usually performed without anesthetic on girls before puberty. there are about 100 to 140 million women who have been circumcised. an average of about four girls a minute continue to be mutilated. their clitoris is partially or completely removed. this inhibits or terminates sexual feelings. it has been a social custom in northern africa for many centuries.   many people link fgm with the religion of islam. actually, it is a social custom that is practiced by animists, christians, and muslims in those countries where fgm is common. there are many muslim countries in which the mutilation is unknown.  fgm is occasionally performed in north america on girls of families have immigrated from countries where fgm is common. an analogous practice, intersexual genital mutilation, (igm) is sometimes performed on intersexual infants born with ambiguous genitalia  google it----