Khitan (Arabic:ختان) orKhatna (Arabic:ختنة) is theArabic term forcircumcision,[1][2] and theIslamic term for the practice ofreligious male circumcision inIslamic culture.[3] Male circumcision is widespread in theMuslim world,[3] and accepted as an established practice by allIslamic schools of jurisprudence.[2][4][5] It is considered a sign of belonging to the widerMuslim community (Ummah).[6]
Islamic malecircumcision is analogous but not identical toJewish male circumcision.[2] Muslims are currently the largest single religious group in which the practice is widespread,[3][6] although circumcision is not mentioned in theQuran itself but is mentioned in theḥadīth literature andsunnah (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to theIslamic prophetMuhammad during his lifetime).[1][2][4][7] Accordingly, inIran,South Asia,Central Asia,Russia,Turkey, andthe Balkans, derivatives of the wordsunnah are used to refer to male circumcision. The same applies to the wordKhitan in the Arabic language, which can refer to both genders.[8][9]
The Quran itself does not mention circumcision explicitly in any verse.[1][4][2][7] In the time of the Islamic prophetMuhammad, both male andfemale circumcision were carried out byPaganArabian tribes,[1][2][7] and male circumcision was performed by theJewish tribes of Arabia for religious reasons.[2][10][page needed] This has also been attested by the classical Muslim scholaral-Jāḥiẓ,[7][11] as well as by the Roman-Jewish historianFlavius Josephus.[2][7][12]
According to someḥadīth reports, Muhammad was born without aforeskin,[1][2][7] while others maintain that his grandfather,ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, circumcised him when he was seven days old.[6][13] Someḥadīth report thatHeraclius,Emperor of theByzantine Empire, had referred to Muhammad as "the king of the circumcised".[1]
Someḥadīth reports mention circumcision in a list of practices known asfitra[1] (acts considered to be of a refined person).Abū Hurayra, one of thecompanions of Muhammad, was quoted saying: "five things are fitra: circumcision, shaving pubic hair with a razor, trimming the mustache, paring one's nails and plucking the hair from one's armpits" (reported in theḥadīth ofSahih al-Bukhari andSahih Muslim).[1] However, there are otherḥadīth which do not name circumcision as part of the characteristics offitra.[2] Hence, the differenthadiths do not agree on whether circumcision is part offitra or not.[2]
Muhammad's wifeAisha supposedly quoted Muhammad as saying that "if the two circumcised parts have been in touch with one another,ghusl [ritual purification] is necessary."[1][7][14][15] According to some otherḥadīth reports, Muhammad supposedly circumcised his grandsons,Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī andḤusayn ibn ʿAlī, on the seventh day after their birth.[16]Sahih al-Bukhari andSahih Muslim also quote Muhammad saying thatAbraham performed his own circumcision at the age of eighty.[2] It is also reported byAbū Dāwūd andAḥmad ibn Ḥanbal that Muhammad stated that circumcision was a "law for men and a preservation of honor for women".[1]
According tohistorians of religion and scholars ofreligious studies, the Islamic tradition of circumcision was derived from thepagan practices and rituals ofpre-Islamic Arabia.[7] Circumcision was introduced to many lands of theMiddle East andNorth Africa for the first time through Islam itself following theearly Muslim conquests under theRāshidūn Caliphate, whose commanders were the companions and contemporaries of Muhammad. For example, thePersians practiced neither male nor female circumcision before the advent of Islam.[7] Post-Islamic converts such asAfshin were found guilty in trials of remaining uncircumcised.[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 inIran, have the most stringent requirements for male circumcision, since it is seen as a ritual of purification akin toChristian baptism rather than an initiation to adulthood.[19]
In theSunnībranch of Islam, thefour schools of Islamic jurisprudence have different opinions and attitudes towards circumcision:[1] some state that it is recommendable, others that it is permissible but not binding, while others regard it as a legal obligation.[2] AmongstMuslim legal scholars (Ulama), there are differing opinions about the compulsory or non-obligatory status of circumcision in accordance withIslamic law (sharīʿa).[4][2] TheShāfiʿī school of Ḥanafī jurists also consider circumcision to be recommendable exclusively for Muslim males on the seventh day after birth.[2] SomeSalafis have argued that circumcision is required in Islam to provide ritual cleanliness based on thecovenant with Abraham, while the purpose of female circumcision forMuslim women is to "regulate" and reduce theirsexual desires.[20]
Within theShīʿītebranch of Islam, some but not all Shīʿīte denominations regard the practice as obligatory. They rely on sayings that come fromclassical Shīʿīte Muslim scholars.[21] In one narration Muhammad was asked if an uncircumcised man could go to pilgrimage. He answered "not as long as he is not circumcised." They quoteʿAlī 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 fromJaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the6th 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."[23] It is also believed that the urine of the uncircumcised is impure, while if one prays with unclean genitals their prayer may not be considered as acceptable, even of those who have been circumcised, meaning that it may have to be repeated again at a time when the believer has purified themselves and removed the impurity. Anotherhadith attributed to Muhammad states: "the earth cries out to God in anguish because of the urine of the uncircumcised", and that "the earth becomes defiled from the urine of the uncircumcised for forty days."[24]
Circumcision has historically been practiced among Alevis in Turkey, though it is not a religious requirement in Alevism, which places greater emphasis on ethical conduct and inner spirituality than on ritual observance. Scholars and community observers note that the practice among Alevis has primarily resulted from broader societal pressure and the influence of dominant Sunni Muslim norms rather than from Alevi religious doctrine. In recent decades, circumcision has declined, particularly among more secular Alevi families, with younger generations increasingly viewing it as unnecessary and unrelated to Alevi beliefs, and many Modern Alevis families choosing to leave the decision up to the individual.[25][26][27]
Circumcisions are usually carried out inhealth facilities orhospitals, and performed by trained medical practitioners.[3] The circumciser can be either male or female,[3] and is not required to be a Muslim but must be medically trained.[6] There is no fixed age for circumcision in Islam,[2][3][4][7] and the age when boys get circumcised, and the procedures used, tends to change across countries, cultures, families, and time.[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.[6]
Islamic scriptures do not fix a particular time for circumcision.[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 orearly 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 ofpuberty.[2][4][6]
In the WesternBalkans, circumcision of Muslim boys is performed mostly from age three to seven.[28]
The occasion is widely celebrated in Turkey and called "Sünnet Töreni", which marks the child's transition to adulthood. The custom is also done in Muslim areas in the Balkans where the celebration is called "Sunet".[29]
In Arabic, female circumcision is referred to askhafḍ (Arabic: خفض) orkhifaḍ (Arabic: خِفَض).[2][4][5][31] In many Muslim communities,khafḍ is a rite of passage and refers to theexcision of female genital organs.[32] The Quran does not mention male or female circumcision,[33] and the practice in Islam generally only exists for men. Female circumcision only exists mandatorily within theShafi madhhab. Female circumcision was practiced in pre-Islam Arabia.[1] The practice persisted throughout Islamic history because female circumcision remained culturally entrenched as a rite of passage, preparing a girl for marriage.[32]
Traditionally, Islamic scholars found justification for khafḍ in thehadiths.[34] A hadith from theSunan Abu Dawood collection states: "A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband."[35]Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani describes this hadith as poor in authenticity, and quotesAhmad Bayhaqi's opinion that it is "poor, with a broken chain of transmission".Yusuf ibn Abd-al-Barr commented: "Those who consider (female) circumcision a sunna, use as evidence this hadith of Abu al-Malih, which is based solely on the evidence of Hajjaj ibn Artaa, who cannot be admitted as an authority when he is the sole transmitter."[36] Another hadith used in support is inSahih Muslim: "The Messenger of Allah said: When anyone sits amidst four parts (of the woman) and the circumcised parts touch each other a bath becomes obligatory."[37]Mohammad Salim al-Awa states that, while the hadith is authentic, it is not evidence of support for women circumcision. He states that the Arabic for "the two circumcision organs" is a single word used to connote two forms of circumcision. While the female form is used to denote both male and female genitalia, it should be considered to refer only to the male circumcised organ.[38] A hadith inSahih Bukhari says: "I heard the Prophet saying. "Five practices are characteristics of theFitra: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, cutting the moustaches short, clipping the nails, and depilating the hair of the armpits."[39][40] Mohamed Salim Al-Awwa writes that it is unclear whether these requirements were meant for females.[41]
The various schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence have expressed differing views on khafḍ.[33][42] The Hanafi and Hanbali schools of Islamic jurisprudence view khafḍ as makruma (noble) for women, but is not required. The Maliki school recommends it, but is not required. But in the Shafi'i school, female circumcision is obligatory (wājib). Female circumcision is mostly unknown among the Shia Muslims, but male circumcision is required.[34]
According toUNICEF, over 200 million women inAfrica, theMiddle East and North Africa, andSoutheast Asia have been subjected to the practice and are living withfemale genital mutilation.[43] In 2007, theAl-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research in Cairo declared that female genital mutilation has "no basis in core Islamic law or any of its partial provisions".[44][45][46] Egypt's religious authorities stressed that their view is against female circumcision. Grand MuftiAli Gomaa said on the privately owned al-Mahwar network: "It's prohibited, prohibited, prohibited."[47]
Berkey, J. P. (1996)."Circumcision Circumscribed: Female Excision and Cultural Accommodation in the Medieval Near East".International Journal of Middle East Studies, 28(1), pp. 19–38.
