Annie
I’m a female muslim from the U.S., and I’ve lived in the U.S., Turkey, and China, all in areas with large muslim populations…I can tell you that in the states, you would have a very hard time finding a doctor willing to do a female circumcision; in Turkey, it is not practiced at all, and it’s not the practice among Muslims in China, either. It’s actually not a Muslim practice specifically, but dates back to pre-Islamic times in the Arabian peninsula and greater Middle East. Judgements on it are mentioned in some oral traditions ascribed to the Prophet Mohammed, so that’s partly how we know it was around before Islam. It’s also not ‘mandatory’ (ie it’s not required by law), but is rather a social convention. To my understanding, it’s also the practice among some Coptic Christians in Egypt, and other non-muslims in North Africa.