This article analises Arab-Muslim narratives dealing with concepts of embodiment in the practice of female circumcision, pointing out that the conection among circumcision, sexuality and power takes place in a setting which involves a religious language of conversion among insiders (believers), outsiders (non-believers) and those in state of "pollution" as well as the simbolic conversion between male/female identities subjacent to the idea of "Islamic community" or caliphate.
Arab-Muslim Literature; Allegories of Gender and Embodiment; Female Circumcision; Islamic Historiography