We must also realize that many oppressive and patriarchal practices popularly connected to Islam by Westerners either have roots outside Islam or are practiced by only a limited number of Muslim communities. FGM, for example, not only predates Islam but is also found among Christian communities in Egypt, the Sudan, and Kenya. Female circumcision, moreover, is not mentioned in the Qur'an, which may also explain why the practice is limited geographically within the Muslim world. In fact, about half of all Muslim women who have endured the procedure live in Egypt and Ethiopia—hardly evidence that FGM is an Islamic practice.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 311