Circumcision as Custom and Rite

Khitan is male circumcision as practised in Islam. Notably, it is not commanded in the Quran, which does not mention it; its standing rests instead on the practice (sunna) of the Prophet, on his being counted among those who followed the way of Abraham, and on long and near-universal custom across the Muslim world. The jurists of the different schools weigh it differently, ranging from an obligation to a strongly recommended act, and the age at which it is performed varies widely by region, from the days after birth to boyhood, often marked with celebration.

The tradition places it within the wider category of acts belonging to natural human disposition (fitra) and cleanliness. Because it rests on custom and prophetic precedent rather than an explicit scriptural command, its precise ruling has been a genuine subject of juristic discussion, even as the practice itself has remained one of the most consistently observed markers of Muslim identity.