Circumcision

CIRCUMCISION Written for Free-Minds.Org (e-mail: [email protected])

Have you circumcised your son?. This is the first question Sunni, Shia, some Christian, and Jewish followers will ask when they hear that a newborn male has come into this world… What slips our minds and what many of us don’t take notice of is WHY are we circumcising our young sons (and in some cases girls also) immediately and without question?. This short paper will discuss the origins of ‘circumcision’ as a religious requirement and will hopefully give the reader better understanding to make the right choice for his/her son. The only source of Law. In Islam, it is the words of GOD and His messenger as contained in the Quran that provide the law for us… “And We have sent down to you the book with truth, authenticating what is present of the book and superceding it. So judge between them by what GOD Has sent down and do not follow their desires from what has come to you of the truth…” (5:48) Also see (6:114, 6:19, 7:52, 16:89, 5:48, 4:105). In examining the 114 chapters of the book, which overrides and supercedes all previous laws and scriptures, we do not find any mention or requirement to circumcise our sons (let alone circumcising girls which is carried out in some parts of North Africa). In-fact, when GOD speaks of His creation, He speaks of it as being ‘perfected’: "He is the One who PERFECTED everything He created, and started the creation of the human from clay." (32/7)

Origins of Circumcision. The origins of circumcision are found to have begun in the Jewish Bible in relation to prophet Abraham’s covenant with GOD, and was then passed along to some among the Christian faith, as well as the Sunnis and Shia who derived much of their religion and writings from the old Jewish traditions and Christian teachings… Here is the origin of circumcision found in the ‘Covenant of Circumcision’ from the Bible. [Gen 17:14.13] Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." This is the covenant of circumcision.

Also the following: [Gen 17:24.16] Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

This story is replicated in the Sunni hadith theology. The Sunnis say Abraham circumcised himself with a small axe. [Gen 17:25.18] And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin

And here is a particularly cultish ritual: Exod 4:25.11] Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!"

The Sunnis and Shia follow in the footsteps of these tales, whereby in some communities, the circumcision of a male child is cause for much happiness, complete with feasting and flocking together in some communities. Cults have been around for a long time.

Questions/Clarifications. Can’t we take our law from the Jewish Bible?.

This has been a recurring question when Sunni or Shia followers find no reference to circumcision in the Quran… The answer is: Will you vouch before GOD that all the stories in the Jewish Bible are true? (e.g. allowing stoning of adulterers, allowing stoning of sons and daughters who are disobedient, allowing a rapist to pay a few shekels to the parents of a girl and marry her, claiming that Lot was drunk and had illicit sex with his daughters, etc…). If you reject all the claims in brackets, then why do you accept Abraham’s story of circumcision?. Will you also observe the Sabbath and forbid eating the fat of animals as decreed for the Jews in their Bible?. If not, then why would you accept to follow the covenant of circumcision?. Do you accept that the Quran ‘authenticates’ and ‘supercedes’ all previous scriptures (5:48) and is thus the ONLY source for our law?. If not, then why do continue calling yourself a ‘Muslim/Submitter’?.

Conclusion. Since circumcision has no basis in the laws of GOD, then (as with all matters in life) it is left upto the individual to decide what is best for his/her child with no fear of ‘retribution’ for deciding not to do so (this is similar to the headscarf which some women wear out of fear that it is a ‘command’ from GOD…as long as you know that it is NOT a command from GOD, then the woman is free to wear it or disregard it as she sees fit). The next time someone asks you about circumcision, remember to explain to them what you now know as we should not let people attribute to GOD a law that He himself has not authorized...

And Ignorance is of course the most prized possession of any cult.

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