Q: There is a phenomenon that is widespread among some people in Morocco, whereby a mother makes cuts above her daughter's knee with a razor. She makes three parallel lines and puts a piece of sugar on the flowing blood and tells her daughter to eat it and say some words. The mother believes that this action will protect her daughter's virginity and prevent any aggressor from reaching her. (And there are other ways of doing the same thing). What is the Islamic ruling on this action?
A: This action is Munkar (that which is unacceptable or disapproved of by Islamic law and Muslims of sound intellect). It is a baseless superstition and impermissible. You should rather refrain from it and warn others against it. The rumor that it will protect the girl's virginity is false and comes from Satan; it has no basis in the pure Shari`ah (Islamic law). So we must advise people not to do this and warn them against it. The scholars must explain that and warn against it, because they are the ones who entrusted with the mission of conveying knowledge from Allah (Glorified be He) and from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Allah is the One Whose help is sought.