Khitan (circumcision)
[3] Male circumcision is widespread in the Muslim world,[3] and accepted as an established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence.
[2][7][12] According to some ḥadīth reports, Muhammad was born without a foreskin,[1][2][7] while others maintain that his grandfather, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, circumcised him when he was seven days old.
[1] Some ḥadīth reports mention circumcision in a list of practices known as fitra[1] (acts considered to be of a refined person).
[2] It is also reported by Abū Dāwūd and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal that Muhammad stated that circumcision was a "law for men and a preservation of honor for women".
[1] According to historians of religion and scholars of religious studies, the Islamic tradition of circumcision was derived from the pagan practices and rituals of pre-Islamic Arabia.
[7] Circumcision was introduced to many lands of the Middle East and North Africa for the first time through Islam itself following the early Muslim conquests under the Rāshidūn Caliphate, whose commanders were the companions and contemporaries of Muhammad.
[7][17] Islamic scholars have diverse opinions on the obligatory nature of male circumcision, with some considering it mandatory (wājib), while others view it as only being highly recommended (sunnah).
[18] Shīʿīte traditions, however, such as those practised in Iran, have the most stringent requirements for male circumcision, since it is seen as a ritual of purification akin to Christian baptism rather than an initiation to adulthood.
[2] Amongst Muslim legal scholars (Ulama), there are differing opinions about the compulsory or non-obligatory status of circumcision in accordance with the Islamic law (sharīʿa).
They quote ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as saying: "If a man becomes Muslim, he must submit to circumcision even if he is 80 years old.
"[22] Another narration from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shīʿīte Imam, says: "Circumcise your sons when they are seven days old as it is cleaner (athar) and the flesh grows faster and because the earth hates the urine of the uncircumcised.
[3] In some Muslim-majority countries, circumcision is performed on Muslim boys after they have learned to recite the whole Quran from start to finish.
[2][3][4][7] Therefore, there is a wide variation in practice among Muslim communities around the world, with children often being circumcised in late childhood or early adolescence,[3] depending on family, region, and country.
[3] 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.
[32] The practice persisted throughout Islamic history because female circumcision remained culturally entrenched as a rite of passage, preparing a girl for marriage.
