Khitan (circumcision)

Khitān (Arabic: ختان‎) or Khatna (Arabic: ختنة‎) is the term for male circumcision carried out as an Islamic rite. It's considered by some as a sign of belonging or introduction to the wider Islamic community. It is also referred to by the term Taharah, 'purity'.

Islamic circumcision is analogous to Jewish circumcision, although there are a number of key differences. Muslims are currently the largest single religious group to practice widespread circumcision. However, it is not a condition for converting to Islam or carrying out religious duties. Circumcision is not mentioned in the Qur'an, but rather in the hadith.

Religious sources

Circumcision being performed in central Asia (probably Turkestan), c. 1865–1872. Restored albumen print.

The Qur'an itself does not mention circumcision. In the time of Muhammad, circumcision was carried out by many Arabian tribes, among them Jews and Christians for religious reasons. The ritual dates back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad. According to tradition Muhammad was born without a foreskin (aposthetic). Many of his early disciples were circumcised to symbolise their inclusion within the emerging Islamic community. These facts are mentioned several times in the hadith. Some hadith group circumcision with the fitra (acts considered to be of a refined person). Other such acts include: clipping or shaving pubic hair, cutting nails, cleaning teeth, plucking or shaving the hair under the armpits and clipping (or trimming) the moustache. (Reported in the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.) So, despite its absence from the Qur'an, it has been a religious norm from the beginning of Islam. However, there is another version of the hadith which does not name circumcision as one of the characteristics of fitra and yet another hadith which names ten characteristics, again without naming circumcision. There are arguments from the Qur'an which oppose male circumcision, many Qur'an alone followers adhere to this principle and argue circumcision to be against the Qur'an.

Amongst Ulema (Muslim legal scholars), there are differing opinions about the compulsion of circumcision in Sharia (Islamic law). Imams Abū Ḥanīfa, founder of the Hanafi school of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and Malik ibn Anas, maintain that circumcision is a Sunnah Mu'akkadah—not obligatory but highly recommended. The Shafi`i and Hanbali schools see it as binding on all Muslims and the Shafi'i for both male and female.

Hadith rejectors

There is a Quran alone movement within Islam that rejects making male circumcision a religious requirement due to the fact it is not mentioned in the Qur'an. Advocates of this view point to several Qur'anic verses that indicate the perfection of creation (Quran 32:7, 82:7–8, 95:4), as well as common perceptions that circumcision is necessary for reasons of hygiene. Muslim activists include Canadian Dr. Arif Bhimji, Libyan judge Mustafa Kamal al-Mahdawi, and the Egyptian feminist Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, who links it with her own struggle against female genital mutilation. Some Quranists claim circumcision is haram, claiming that suras such as 4:119 forbids altering one's body, and suras such as 95:4 which says man was created perfectly.

Time for circumcision

Traditional procession after circumcision of a child in Dutch East Indies, 1915-1918.

Islamic sources do not fix a particular time for circumcision. It depends on family, region and country. A majority of Ulema however take the view that parents should get their child circumcised before the age of ten. The preferred age is usually seven although some Muslims are circumcised as early as on the seventh day after birth and as late as at the commencement of puberty. According to some hadith (Abdullah Ibn Jabir and Aisha), Muhammad circumcised his grandsons on the seventh day^{[citation needed]} after their birth. This opinion is popular amongst the hadith and Islamic jurists.

Procedure

Whereas Jewish circumcision is closely bound by ritual timing and tradition, Islamic circumcision does not have a strictly mandated procedure or form of circumcision. These tend to change across cultures, families, and time. In some Islamic countries, circumcision is performed after Muslim boys have learned to recite the whole Qur'an from start to finish. In Malaysia and other regions, the boy usually undergoes the operation between the ages of ten and twelve, and is thus a puberty rite, serving to introduce him into the new status of an adult. The procedure is sometimes semi-public, accompanied with music, special foods, and much festivity.

Traditional circumcisions however are steadily becoming rarer throughout the Islamic world, with many Muslim families preferring to have their sons circumcised at birth, or if it is done at an older age it is normally done by a doctor under local anesthetic. There is no equivalent of a Jewish mohel in Islam. Circumcisions are usually carried out in a clinic or hospital. The circumciser is not required to be a Muslim. The general 'style' of circumcision is the traditional stretch and cut which is typically reasonably tight but leaves a lot of the inner foreskin.

Celebrations

In Indonesia, after a child is being circumcised, there is a feast called Perayaan Sunatan, but some ulemas in Indonesia say this is bid'ah whereas most of them say it is not.

See also

• History of male circumcision
• Circumcision
• Foreskin
• Brit milah

External links

• Mission Islam: Male Circumcision
• Traditional Muslim Male Circumcision—Performed by Arabs, Turkish, Malaysian and Others of This Faith
• Male Circumcision: A Muslim Perspective
• To Mutilate in the Name of Allah or Jehovah
• Qur'an against circumcision