Khitan (circumcision)

Khitan (Arabic) is the term for male circumcision carried out as an Islamic rite. It is also referred to by the term "Taharah", 'purity'. Ritual circumcision is not mandated by the Qur'an, but serves to introduce males into the Islamic faith, and works as a sign of belonging to the wider Islamic community.cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/malecircumcision.shtml |title=Circumcision of boys |accessdate=2008-07-29 |work=Religion & ethics — Islam |publisher=BBC |date=2006-03-24] Islamic circumcision has as its closest counterpart, Jewish circumcision, however there are a number of key differences. Muslims are currently the largest single religious group to practice widespread circumcision.

Religious sources

The Qur'an itself doesn't mention circumcision. In the time of Muhammad, circumcision was carried by many tribal Arabs, as well as by Jews for religious reasons. Muhammad himself was circumcised, and circumcised his sons. 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 "fitrah" (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 shaving) the moustache. (Reported in the Hadiths of Bukhari and Muslim). So despite its absence from the Qur’an, it has been a religious norm from the beginning of Islam.

Amongst Ulema, there are differing opinions about the compulsions of circumcision in Islamic law. The majority of Islamic legal opinion is that circumcision is obligatory. Imam Abu Hanifah, founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, and Imam Malik maintain that circumcision is a "Sunnah Mu'akkadah" — not obligatory but highly recommended. Some scholars, including Imam Shafa’I and Ahmad ibn Hanbal see it as binding on all Muslims. [ [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545032 Medical Ethics of Male Circumcision] ]

Time for circumcision

Islamic sources don’t 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. [ [http://www.islamicvoice.com/may.2000/dialogue.htm Circumcision] ] 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 children on the seventh day after their birth. This opinion is popular amongst the hadith and Islamic jurists.

Procedure

Whilst 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 learnt to recite the whole of the 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.cite web |url=http://www.circlist.com/rites/moslem.html |title=Traditional Muslim Male Circumcision — Performed by Arabs, Turkish, Malaysian and Others of This Faith |accessdate=2008-07-29 |work= |publisher= |date= ] 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 done at birth or if they are done older 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.

ee also

* Circumcision
* Fitra
* Brit milah
* Circumcision in the Bible
* Female genital cutting

References

External links

* [http://www.missionislam.com/health/circumcisionislam.html Mission Islam: Male Circumcision]
* [http://www.circlist.com/rites/moslem.html Traditional Muslim Male Circumcision — Performed by Arabs, Turkish, Malaysian and Others of This Faith]