Khitan (circumcision)

Khitan (ختان) or Khatna (ختنة) is the Arabic term for circumcision, and the Islamic term for the practice of religious male circumcision in Islamic culture. Male circumcision is widespread in the Muslim world, and accepted as an established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Muslim community (Ummah). Islamic male circumcision is analogous but not identical to Jewish male circumcision. Muslims are currently the largest single religious group in which the practice is widespread, although circumcision is never mentioned in the Quran itself but is mentioned in the ḥadīth literature and sunnah (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime). Religious male circumcision The Quran itself does not mention circumcision explicitly in any verse. In the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, both male and female circumcision were carried out by Pagan Arabian tribes, and male circumcision by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for religious reasons. This has also been attested by the classical Muslim scholar al-Jāḥiẓ, as well as by the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. According to some ḥadīth reports, Muhammad was born without a foreskin, while others maintain that his grandfather, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, circumcised him when he was seven days old. Some ḥadīth report that Heraclius, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, had referred to Muhammad as "the king of the circumcised". Some ḥadīth reports mention circumcision in a list of practices known as fitra (acts considered to be of a refined person). Abū Hurayra, one of the companions 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 the ḥadīth of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). However, there are other ḥadīth which don't name circumcision as part of the characteristics of fitra.

À propos de ce résultat

Cette page est générée automatiquement et peut contenir des informations qui ne sont pas correctes, complètes, à jour ou pertinentes par rapport à votre recherche. Il en va de même pour toutes les autres pages de ce site. Veillez à vérifier les informations auprès des sources officielles de l'EPFL.

Concepts associés (12)

History of circumcision

Circumcision likely has ancient roots among several ethnic groups in sub-equatorial Africa, Egypt, and Arabia, though the specific form and extent of circumcision has varied. Ritual male circumcision is known to have been practiced by South Sea Islanders, Aboriginal peoples of Australia, Sumatrans, Incas, Aztecs, Mayans and Ancient Egyptians. Today it is still practiced by Jews, Muslims, Coptic Christians, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Druze, and some tribes in East and Southern Africa, as well as in the United States and Philippines.

Religion and circumcision

Religious circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism and Islam. Circumcision for religious reasons is most prominently practiced by members of the Jewish and Islamic faiths. Brit milah According to the Torah and Halakha (Jewish religious law), ritual circumcision of all male Jews and their slaves (Genesis ) is a Commandment from God that Jews are obligated to perform on the eighth day of birth, and is only postponed or abrogated in the case of threat to the life or health of the child.