Khitan (circumcision)

Khitan (Arabic: ختان‎‎) or Khatna (Arabic: ختنة‎‎) is the term for male and female circumcision carried out as an Islamic rite by Muslims. Male circumcision is widespread in Islam and accepted as established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Islamic community. Views on female circumcision are very disparate and significantly fewer Muslim schools regard it as a religious requirement. Khitan, in some of parts of the world, including Indonesia and Malaysia, may also refer to the female genital mutilation (properly khafḍ).

Islamic male circumcision is analogous but not identical to Jewish circumcision. Islam is currently the largest single religious group in which the practice is widespread, and although circumcision is not mentioned in the Qur'an itself, it is mentioned in a hadith and the sunnah. Whether or not it should be carried out after converting to Islam is debated among Islamic scholars.

The Qur'an itself does not mention circumcision explicitly in any verse. In the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, circumcision of men was carried out by most pagan Arabian tribes and female circumcision by some, and male circumcision by Jews for religious reasons. This has also been attested by Al-Jahiz, as well as by Josephus.

According to some traditions, Muhammad was born without a foreskin (aposthetic), while others maintain that his grandfather Abd-al-Muttalib circumcised him when he was seven days old. Many of his early disciples were circumcised to symbolize their inclusion within the emerging Islamic community. Some accounts report that Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium, had referred to Muhammad as the "leader of the circumcised people".

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