I am a woman and I have converted to Islam 5 years ago. I felt that Islam was right for me because it has agreed with all the fundamental believes and morals I already held and it has completed my overview of the world by providing answers to all the question I had.

I was always aware that Muslim men in their majority are circumcised but I’ve never looked closely at the topic. And whenever the topic would come up in a conversation most people would just dismiss it as a ‘tiny snip of a little bit of extra, unneeded skin’.

But when I actually looked into it, the reality has absolutely horrified me!

First of all, in infant circumcision up to 50% of all penile skin is being removed. And secondly, in majority infants the foreskin is firmly attached to the glans (by the same type of membrane that keeps your nails in place) and it only separates towards 3-5 years of age or even later. So before the foreskin can be cut off it first has to be torn off the glans, leaving the glans an effectively one big wound. I can't even begin to imagine how excruciatingly painful that is to a baby. (And before anyone says that babies don’t feel pain or feel it somehow different here’s link to the research by Oxford University, which proves that not only do babies feel pain in the same way as adults do but they also feel it four times stronger!) http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2015-04-21-babies-feel-pain-adults" rel="nofollow - http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2015-04-21-babies-feel-pain-adults

This procedure just seemed just so unislamic to me. For me Islam is a religion of tolerance, love and compassion. Even animals have to be slaughtered with minimal suffering for them but when it comes to human babies it’s not only considered acceptable but even encouraged to inflict lots of pain and suffering on helpless babies. It just didn’t make any sense to me, I couldn’t believe that Islam that I know could require one to do something like that. I decided to do more research and have found resources that indeed agree with my view (that circumcision is not a part of a religion).

https://www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/circumcision.html" rel="nofollow - https://www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/circumcision.html

http://quransmessage.com/articles/circumcision%20FM3.htm" rel="nofollow - http://quransmessage.com/articles/circumcision%20FM3.htm  

Now, whenever I try to discuss this subject with anyone I just hit a brick wall. Nobody seems to question this practice. It’s a bit of a herd mentality of ‘it’s always been done like this’ even when you show them clear passages from the Quran which state that a men has been created by Allah (swt) to perfection. "We have indeed created man in the best of moulds" (95:4)

 "And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say, "Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing." Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?" (2:170)

I just feel that by carrying on with the practice of infant circumcision we question Allah’s ability as a creator, as the All-Knowing and All-Powerful.

I just wanted to know what your thoughts are on this. Have you ever questioned the necessity of the procedure?

In the modern day and age there is really no excuse for poor hygiene practices, so there’s no need to be circumcised to remain clean. Also if you say you’re following practices of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) – then he’s done it when he was an adult, not a helpless baby. And hadith on this matter is considered to be a weak one.

Is it time for us, as a Muslim community, to start asking questions rather than blindly follow the traditions of the past?