Beschneidung - 1. Teil

Zirkumzision eines Jungen (Zentralasien, vermutlich Turkmenistan,
etwa 1865–1872, restaurierter Albuminpapierabzug)

Das Thema Beschneidung, auch Zirkumzision genannt, ist ja dieser Tage in aller Munde. Dabei vermisse ich jedoch einige Aspekte, die ich hier etwas näher beleuchten möchte. Nämlich, was sagen eigentlich die islamischen Quellen zur Beschneidung? Ich kenne es vor allem als türkisch-hanefitischen Brauch. Der als selbstverständlich gilt. Aber gilt diese Betrachtungsweise auch weltweit? Und in jeder zurückliegenden Epoche? Was sagen eigentlich die Gelehrten in der 1400-jährigen Geschichte des Islams? Sprachen alle mit einer Stimme, oder gab es auch mal exegetisch begründeten Dissenz? Und wie schaut der Ritus in den diversen Ländern aus? Gibt es da Unterschiede, und wenn ja, warum? Ist der Ritus festgelegt? Wie entwickelte sich die Beschneidung, und woher kam sie? Gibt es Spielräume in der Interpretation, oder ist alles sehr eindeutig? Ist es eher islamisch festgelegt, oder kommt hier eine Tradition stärker zum Tragen?

Und wie schaut es mit der weiblichen Beschneidung aus? Kommt mir nun nicht damit, man könne nicht die weibliche mit der männlichen Beschneidung vergleichen (wie es einige Rechtspopulisten gerne tun). Denn vergleichen, heißt nicht (zwangsläufig) gleichsetzen. Man kann sich beide Argumentationsmuster sehr wohl anschauen, wie sieht bei beiden die Legitimationsgrundlage aus, so wie man die heutige Islamfeindlichkeit selbstverständlich mit dem Antisemitismus früherer Jahrhunderte vergleichen kann, um zum Beispiel ähnliche Strukturen zu erkennen.
Wenn die weibliche Beschneidung heutzutage immer weiter zurückweicht, auch mithilfe von einflussreichen Gelehrten samt ihren Fatwas in der arabischen Welt, auch mithilfe von westlichem Druck durch Nichtregierungsorganisationen oder einzelnen Personen wie Rüdiger Nehberg, wie sieht es dann mit der Interpretation der Quellen bei der männlichen Beschneidung aus, wenn also zum Beispiel auf einen Hadith verwiesen wird, dass die männliche Beschneidung geboten ist, aber in dem Hadith auch steht, dass das auch für die Mädchen gilt, wieso wird dann eine Passage für ungültig, die andere jedoch weiterhin für gültig erklärt?
Wie werden Muslime gesehen, die sich nicht beschneiden, wie zum Beispiel die chinesischen Muslime? Sind das dann Sünder? Oder halbe Muslime? Und wie sieht es mit dem Alter aus? Gäbe es da Spielräume, oder ist ein Alter genau festgelegt?
Und wie sieht es eigentlich mit den anderen in Hadithen genannten Anweisungen aus? Wenn zum Beispiel die Beschneidung in einem Atemzug mit der Achselhaar-Entfernung genannt wird, wieso legen Muslime auf das eine sehr viel wert, und auf das andere weniger?

Übrigens, die in der Diskussion vorgebrachten "rationalen" Gründe für eine Beschneidung, halte ich für nicht zielführend. Also zum Beispiel die Argumentation mit der Gesundheitsvorsorge, oder den positiven Effekten für das Liebesleben, oder hygienische Vorteile, usw. Denn das setzt Gottes Wille auf eine (menschliche) Stufe herab, als müsste Gott irgendwas rechtfertigen, als würden nur diejenigen Gebote gelten, die wir auch "verstehen" können. Nein, solche Argumentationen für die Beschneidungsgegner gedacht, beraubt Gott seiner transzendenten Eigenschaft, macht aus Gott letztlich nur einen einfachen Ratgeber-Knigge für gutes Leben... Gott hätte auch den Genuss von Lollis verbieten können, und die Muslime hätten es zu akzeptieren, ohne zu versuchen, dieses irgendwie "logisch" herleiten zu wollen, und sich damit anzumaßen, Gottes Beweggründe zu ergründen. Denn mit dem Vorbringen von "rationalen" Rechtfertigungen für ein Gebot Gottes, macht man sich in Diskussionen gleichzeitig auch immer angreifbarer, denn Studien könnten falsch interpretiert worden sein, die man für seine Begründung heranzog, oder neuere Studien führen zu neuen Erkenntnissen, und so weiter. Somit gelangt man gleich auf das Glatteis, dass dann die Diskussionsgegner fragen, ob denn Gott dieses nicht gewusst habe, er sei doch allwissend, allmächtig, usw.? Diese muslimischen Argumentationsmuster findet man überall, doch sind diese Muster westliche Muster, und man sollte sich nicht auf diese rationale Ebene begeben, um seinen Glauben zu rechtfertigen, also zum Beispiel das Verbot von Schweinefleisch als vermeintlich schädlich für den Menschen "logisch" begründen zu wollen. (Es gibt nämlich noch mehr als Schweinefleisch, was man eigentlich nicht verzehren sollte, was kaum bekannt ist, und man kann eben nicht alles (vielleicht auch nur das wenigste), was Gott dem Menschen aufgetragen hat, rational mit menschlichen Maßstäben erklären.) Ich glaube, ihr versteht, was ich mit diesem Absatz ausdrücken wollte.

Falls es jemand interessiert, obwohl es nichts zur Sache tut, da man solche obigen Fragen als Gegner und als Befürworter gleichermaßen stellen könnte: Ich stehe Beschneidungen positiv gegenüber, und sehe hier das Erziehungsrecht der Eltern als vorrangig an. Es gibt andere ebenso "einschneidende" Erziehungsmaßnahmen, die irreversibel sind, und wo will man da anfangen, wo aufhören?

Es gibt also genügend Fragen, die teilweise hier beantwortet werden. Bei anderen müsste man sich nochmal genauer in die Quellen stürzen, aber man hat nun einen Anhaltspunkt, welche dafür relevant sind, und welche weiteren Bücher es dazu noch so gibt.

Wer in den Hadithen selber etwas stöbern möchte, dem sei diese einigermaßen seriöse Sammlung zu raten.

Englische Übersetzungen der großen Hadith-Sammlungen beim Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement der University of Southern California

Ich fange mal mit einem Zitat des entsprechendem Artikels aus der renommierten Encyclopaedia of Islam in der 2. Auflage an, die als autoritativ gilt, und islamwissenschaftlich die Dinge betrachtet (wie übrigens alle ersten drei Artikel). Diese Enzyklopädie ist so angesehen, dass diese als Islam Ansiklopedisi auch ins türkische übersetzt und erweitert wurde. Übrigens wirkten auch Muslime an deren Erstellung mit. Der folgende Artikel ist vermutlich Mitte der 1970er Jahre aktualisiert worden. Damit mag er teilweise veraltet sein, sofern er sich auf die Gegenwart beziehen sollte. Ansonsten, exegetisch eher nicht. Übrigens gibt es manchmal einen Vorteil, ältere Artikel zu bestimmten Islam-Themen zu lesen, denn mitunter werden dort noch Dinge (ggf. offener) geschildert, wie der Islam dies und jenes sieht, oder zu einem bestimmten Jahrhundert gesehen hat, ohne dass vielleicht etwas "beschönigt" oder weggelassen wird, weil es vielleicht heutzutage nicht mehr "politisch korrekt" erscheint, oder die Autoren keine "Gefühle negativ berühren möchten". Zum Beispiel das Thema Sklaverei, oder Mädchenbeschneidung, oder Heiratsalter von Fatima, oder andere kontroverse Themen, wo heutige Islamwissenschaftler sich meist eher sehr defensiv verhalten, wissen sie doch, wie solche Themen durch Islamhasser ausgeschlachtet werden. Und daher diese "heißen Eisen" eher meiden, leider, und dadurch jenen das Feld überlassen, die sich selbst "Islamkritiker" nennen. Naja, ich schweife ab...

Wie üblich, habe ich einige Sätze für die Diagonalleser markiert, ausserdem einiges markiert, damit man auf einen Blick erkennt, welche Region gerade beschrieben wird.

Wer nicht alle Artikel lesen möchte, der findet je nach Zeit die man zur Verfügung hat, unterschiedlich lange Artikel, die alle empfehlenswert und interessant sind, auch wenn einiges sich wiederholt. Lediglich der letzte Artikel ist nur denen Islaminteressierten zu empfehlen, die sich wirklich alles durchlesen wollen, da dort der Islam nicht speziell behandelt wird, sondern das Phänomen Beschneidung als Ganzes betrachtet wird, also auch bei "Naturvölkern", und der Islam dort nicht der Schwerpunkt ist.

KHITÂN (a.), circumcision.

The term is used indifferently for males and females, but female excision is particularly called khifâd or khafd [q.v.]. In the dual, al-khitânâni are “the two circumcised parts” (viz. that of the male and that of the female), and according to tradition “If the two circumcised parts have been in touch with one another, ghusl is necessary” (Bukhârî, Ghusl , bâb 28; Muslim, Hayd , trad. 88; Abû Dâwûd, Tahâra , bâbs 81, 83).
Some words connected with the root kh-t-n denote the father-in-law, the son-in-law, the daughter-in-law (khatan, khatana), or marrying (khutûna). Some of these words must have belonged to the primitive Semitic language, as they occur also in the same or cognate forms in North-Semitic languages.

Circumcision must have been a common practice in early Arabia. It is mentioned, not in the Qur'ân, but in old poetry and hadîth , and the ancient language also has special words for “uncircumcised”, sc. alkhan, aqlaf, aghlaf and aghral (Hebrew 'arel).

In hadîth it is said that Ibrâhîm was circumcised in his 80th year (Bukhârî, Anbiyâ', bâb 8; Muslim, Fadâ'il , trad. 151). This tradition is based on the Biblical report. Ibn Sa'd has preserved a tradition according to which the patriarch was already circumcised at the age of 13 ( Tabaqât , i/1 24). This tradition is apparently a reflex of the practice of circumcision in the first centuries of Islam. We may confront it with the statements concerning Ibn 'Abbâs' circumcision in hadîth . According to some traditions (Ahmad b. Hanbal, i, 273) he was 15 years old when Muhammad died. In other traditions it is said that he was already circumcised at that time (Bukhârî, Isti'dhân, bâb 51; Ahmad b. Hanbal, i, 264, 287; Tayâlisî, Nos. 2639, 2640).

Circumcision is mentioned in hadîth in the story of the Emperor Heraclius' horoscope (Bukhârî, Bad' al-wahy , bâb 6). Heraclius read in the stars the message of “the king of the circumcised”. Thereupon an envoy of the king of Ghassân arrived who reported the news of Muhammad's preaching of Islam. This envoy appeared to be circumcised himself and he informed the Emperor of the fact that circumcision was a custom prevalent among the Arabs.

It is further recognised in hadîth that circumcision belongs to pre-Islamic institutions. In the traditions which enumerate the features of natural religion ( al-fitra ), circumcision is mentioned together with the clipping of nails, the use of the toothpick, the cutting of moustaches, the more profuse length of the beard etc. (Bukhârî, Libâs , bâb 63; Muslim, Taharâ, trad. 49, 50; Tirmidhî, Adab , bâb 14, etc.). In a tradition preserved by Ahmad b. Hanbal (v, 75) circumcision is called sunna for males and honourable for females.

There are differences between the several madhhab's concerning rules for circumcision. Instead of giving a survey of the different views it may be sufficient to translate the passage al-Nawawî in his commentary on Muslim, Tahâra , trad. 50 (ed. Cairo 1283, i, 328) has devoted to the subject, also because it contains a description of the operation:

“Circumcision is obligatory ( wâdschib ) according to al-Schâfi'î and many of the doctors, sunna according to Mâlik and the majority of them. It is further, according to al-Schâfi'î, equally obligatory for males and females. As regards males it is obligatory to cut off the whole skin which covers the glans, so that this latter is wholly denudated. As regards females, it is obligatory to cut off a small part of the skin in the highest part of the genitals. The sound ( sahîh ) view within the limits of our school, which is shared by the large majority of our friends, is that circumcision is allowed, but not obligatory in a youthful age, and one of the special views is that the walî is obliged to have the child circumcised before it reaches the adult age. Another special view is, that it is prohibited to circumcise a child before its tenth year. The sound view according to us, is that circumcision on the seventh day after birth is mustahabb (recommendable), Further, there are two views regarding the question whether in the 'seventh day' the birthday is included or not”.

The treatment of circumcision has not a prominent place in the books of law (see e.g. al-Qayrawânî, Risâla , 161, 305). More important, however, is the value attached to it in popular estimation. “To the uneducated mass of Muslims” says Snouck Hurgronje “as well as to the great mass of non-Muslims, both of whom pay the greatest attention to formalities, abstention from pork, together with circumcision, have even become to a certain extent the criteria of Islam. The exaggerated estimation of the two precepts finds no support in the law, for here they are on the same level with numerous other precepts, to which the mass attaches less importance” (De Islam , Baarn 1912, 30; Verspr. Geschriften, i, 402; cf. iv/1, 377). In Java circumcision is generally considered as the ceremony of reception into Islam and therefore sometimes called njelamakéselam (“rendering Muslim”). Apart from this term many other words denoting circumcision are used on Java (op. cit., iv/1, 205-6). In Atcheh circumcision of infidels only is considered as the ceremony of reception into Islam (Snouck Hurgronje, The Achehnese, i, 398).

The importance attached to circumcision appears also from the tradition according to which Muhammad was born circumcised ( Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqât , i/1, 64). In North Africa a child born with a short foreskin is considered as a blessing (Doutté, Merrâkech, Paris 1905, 353).

At Mecca, where the rite is called tahâr, children are circumcised at an age of 3-7 years, girls without festivities, boys with great pomp. On the day preceding that on which the rite will be performed, the boy, who is clad in heavy, costly garments, is paraded through the streets on horseback, several footmen walking on both sides in order to prevent him from falling and to refresh him by means of a perfumed handkerchief. He is preceded by men with drums and duff s who accompany the dhikr s sung by others. Nearest to the boy goes an elderly black handmaid of his father's, bearing on her head a brazier burning with charcoal, resin and salt. The second part of the procession is formed by the boy's poorer comrades, equally on horseback. The procession passes through the main streets during the time of 'asr and comes back to its starting-point a little before sunset. The female members of the family pass the evening with their friends; the party is enlivened by female singers.

Next morning, at sunrise, the barber performs the operation. The foreskin is pressed together by means of a thong, the boy lying on his back, while his mother tries to divert his attention by sweets. A plaster is applied to the wound which usually is healed in a week. The operation is followed by a breakfast for the nearest relatives. It is to be observed that Hadramîs who still cling to their native customs, circumcise their children on the 40th day after birth (Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 141 ff.).

In Egypt , boys are circumcised at the age of about five or six years. Before the operation the boy is paraded through the streets. Often the train is combined with a bridal procession in order to lessen expenses; in this case the boy and his attendants lead the procession. He is dressed as a girl, in a gorgeous manner. The kerchief is used to cover a part of his face in order to avert the evil eye. As in Mecca he is preceded by musicians. The foremost person of the procession is usually the servant of the barber (who performs the operation), who bears his haml, a case of wood of a semi-cylindrical form, with four short legs; its front is covered with pieces of looking-glass and brass, and its back with a curtain. It is to be noted that the Copts also circumcise their boys (Lane, Manners and customs of the modern Egyptians, ch. on Infancy and Education).

D'Ohsson in his Tableau de l'empire othoman, Paris 1787, i, 231 ff., describes circumcision as practised in Turkey under the heading “Circoncision, sunneth”, a designation which is also reflected in the word sunnetdschi for the barber who performs the operation. It takes or took place in the presence of the imâm of a mosque who accompanies the ceremony with prayers for the preservation of the child, who is usually 7 years old when he is circumcised. Plate 20 of d'Ohsson's work shows children dressed for the ceremony, and plate 21 adorned victims which are slaughtered at this occasion. Parties for relatives, friends and poor people as well as the procession are also mentioned.

The circumcision of the imperial princes used to give occasion to the displaying of great pomp. Long before the appointed day intimation was sent to the high dignitaries of the empire, sometimes even to the other courts of Europe. D'Ohsson gives a translation of Mûrâd's III letter of invitation to the dignitaries on the occasion of the circumcision of the crown-prince.

In North Africa children are circumcised at ages varying between the 7th day after birth and 13 years, by the barber who makes use of a knife or a pair of scissors. According to Dan, as cited by Doutté, Merrâkech, 351, at Algiers a stone knife was used for the operation. It reminds us of Joshua v. 2 ff. where it is said that the Israelites at their entering the Holy Land were circumcised by means of stone swords or knives; some populations of the Dutch Indies also use a stone knife for the operation (Wilken, 212). In North Africa as well as in Egypt often several boys are circumcised together, the father of the richest bearing the expenses of the ceremony. A. Janssen (Coutumes des Arabes au pays de Moab, 363-4) has observed that the Bedouins organise collective circumcisions every two years, as an economy measure; hence the children's ages vary considerably (see also al-'Uzayzî, Qâmûs al-'âdât, Amman 1973-4, ii, 232, s.v. t-h-r). It should be noted here that in most Arabic dialects, the term for circumcision and its accompanying rites is taken from the root t-h-r, implying the idea of purity; this practice is therefore popularly felt as a purificatory rite.

On Java, circumcision of boys is often combined with the khatm- or kataman-ceremony. On the different designations of circumcision used in this part of the Archipelago, cf. Snouck Hurgronje, Verspreide Geschriften, iv/1, 206. The age at which boys are circumcised varies in the different parts of Java; among the conservative populations it is higher (14-15 years than in circles which are in closer touch with Muslim law (10 years or younger). Before the preparations begin, the boy is taken to the tomb of his father or ancestors, where flowers and incense are offered and prayer is performed. Then a portico (tarup) is made before the house or pendopo, and a small room (kobongan) is prepared where the operation is to take place. In or before this room several objects and dishes are placed which have a symbolical or ritual meaning. These preparations are concluded by a religious meal at which several dishes are offered to several categories of awe-inspiring beings. Festivities such as wayang, tayuban, dschagongan precede or follow the ceremony. The dschagongan always takes place in the preceding night and follows upon kataman, the recitation of some chapters of the Qur'ân by the boy. On the day preceding circumcision, a procession is held in which the boys are either conducted by their relatives, or are placed in a kind of cars which have the forms of nagas or other animals. They wear the bridegoom's dress, and are hung with gold and diamond ornaments, the visible parts of the body being besmeared with borèh. It occurs also that the boy wears the hâdschdschî 's dress. Just as in North Africa, poor parents have their sons circumcised together with those of well-to-do people, who bear the expenses.

The boy has to keep quiet for some days before and after the operation and to abstain from hot dishes as well as to beware of any action which is considered to be unlucky in this time. Before the operation he is bathed with the recitation of a great many prayers and formulas. Then he is placed on the lap of an elderly person, usually a santri who has many children, a circumstance which is expected to exercise a wholesome influence on the boy's marriage. For further details see Snouck Hurgronje, Verspreide Geschriften, iv/1, 205 ff.

In Atcheh, boys are usually circumcised by the mudém (probably = mu'adhdhin ) at the age of 9 or 10 years, immediately after finishing their Qur'ân study. The operation (for details see Snouck Hurgronje, The Achehnese, i, 399-400) consists in a complete circumcision; in some parts of Java it is rather an incision. The boy here also has to diet himself. In Atcheh the ceremony is not usually accompanied by festivities. But in many cases the latter take place in consequence of vows connected with circumcision. The father of the boy vows, e.g., to arrange a Rapa'i-performance or to visit a sacred tomb. In this case the boy, dressed as a bridegroom, is conducted to the tomb, sometimes on horseback, where his head is washed and a religious meal given.

Circumcision is a rite practised by many peoples, primitive peoples of the present time as well as those mentioned in ancient literatures, the Egyptians, the Arabs, the Israelites, the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites (see Jeremiah, ix, 25).

In the Indonesian Archipelago it was already practised before the rise of Islâm in that part of the world (cf. G. A. Wilken, De besnijdenis bij de volken van den indischen Archipel, in BTLV , Ser. iv, vol. x, 166, 180-1 = Verspreide Geschriften van G. A. Wilken, iv, 206, 220). The facts mentioned above may be arranged in certain groups.

a. Among many peoples females as well as males are circumcised. We must consequently start from the view that the rite was not originally applied to one of these classes to the exclusion of the other.

b. The rite is sometimes repeated (Wilken, op. cit., 207). In the Muslim world we have the instance of Malayans who in their country were not circumcised in the way prescribed by religious law and who submit to the operation a second time when arriving at ò3idda for the pilgrimage (Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 312).

c. Children are circumcised at ages varying between the 7th day after birth and the 15th year. It is consequently a rite which may take place in any period of childhood and which is often indeed combined with other rites peculiar to childhood such as the first cutting of the hair ( 'aqîqa , cf. Doutté, Merrâkech, 351), the filing of teeth, the conclusion of the study of the Qur'ân. As we have seen above, there are linguistic features pointing to a relation between circumcision and marriage. These features, valuable as matter-of-fact evidence, are supplemented by reports of travellors. In Central Arabia, it is said (e.g. Batanûnî, Rihla , 213), there are tribes among which the operation is applied to adult young men, in a painful and dangerous way; the bride of the patient stands opposite him during the operation; if he utters a cry of pain the projected marriage is abandoned (Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 141). In spite of doubts about the authenticity of such information, the relation between circumcision and marriage appears also from the Javanese custom of placing the boy who is operated, on the lap of a santri who has many children (see above and Wilken, op. cit., 225).

d. Another group of characteristics is evidence of a relation between circumcision and the transition into a tribal or religious community and the transition into a tribal or religious community, e.g.: the boy's being conducted to the tomb of his father or of one of his ancestors (see above); the circumcision of several boys at one time (cf. also Wilken, op. cit., 220); the value attached to circumcision as the ceremony of reception into the Muslim community; cf. the Old Testament designation of circumcision as the “token of the covenant” (Genesis xvii; see also Wilken, op. cit., 227).

e. Many accessory rites express the intention to avert danger: the boy's being dressed as a girl, the use of the handkerchief, the burning of charcoal and salt; the drums and duff s; the recitation of dhikr s and prayers; possibly the displaying of charity and the slaughtering of victims may also be viewed in this light.

Ethnologists put forward various interpretations for the phenomenon of circumcision: as a surgical operation meant to prevent phimosy and to help fecundity; as a religious rite connected with fertility or reception into the community; and as a rite of passage. The viewpoint expressed by Van Gennep in his Rites de passage, Paris 1909, seems to account for many of the features of circumcision mentioned above. It accounts for the fact that children are submitted to the operation at ages varying between the seventh day after birth and the beginning of the manly age or the time of marriage; that females as well as males are circumcised; that the rite is sometimes repeated; that it shows a deeply-rooted connection with marriage; that it is considered as the act of reception into a religious community; that it is sometimes preceded by a bath; that processions take place, which show a striking similarity with bridal processions; and so on.

von A. J. Wensinck

Bibliographie dieses Artikels:

• As well as references given in the article, see in particular IBLA (1947), 273-86, (1953), 64-7
• H. Massé, Notes d'ethnographie persane, in Revue d'ethn. et des traditions populaires, viii (1927), 24-39
• idem, Croyances et coutumes persanes, Paris 1938, i, 51-3. There is a general bibliography on the topic in C. M. Kieffer, A propos de la circoncision à Caboul et dans le Logar, in Festschrift für Wilhelm Eilers, Wiesbaden 1967, 191 ff.

In der wie bei der EI autoritativen Enzyklopädie speziell zum Koran vom gleichen Verlag, findet sich ebenfalls ein Eintrag, zudem aktueller:

Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Hrsg.): Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān. Brill Leiden 2001.

Circumcision

The removal of the foreskin of the penis or, in the case of females, of the internal labia. Male circumcision is denoted in Arabic by the term khitān, and sometimes by tahāra, “purity.” For female circumcision, the term usually employed is khafd , “reduction,” i.e. of the clitoris. Circumcision of either type is nowhere mentioned in the Qurān but was practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs and is mentioned in poetry (see pre-islamic arabia and the quran; poetry and poets).
There are two qurānic occurrences of the plural form of an Arabic term (aghlaf, pl. ghulf ) that can mean uncircumcised.
“They [the Jews] say: ‘Our hearts are hardened (qulūbunā ghulf ).’ Indeed, God has cursed them for their unbelief. Little is that which they believe” (q 2:88; cf. 4:155).
According to the qurānic exegete Ibn Kathīr (d. 774⁄1373; Tafsīr, ad loc.), the reference in q 2:88 and 4:155 is to Jewish hearts as “wrappings” of God’s word. Although ironic for its semantic relation to foreskin (ghulfa), the word probably does not intend the sense of uncircumcised in its qurānic occurrences (but cf. Lev 26:41, which refers to sinful Israelites with uncircumcised hearts and Jer 10:25-6, concerning “all those who are circumcised [i.e. in the flesh] but still uncircumcised [in the heart]”).
To be uncircumcised (aghral or aghlaf ) was considered a disgrace among pre-Islamic Arabs. According to the biographer of the Prophet, Ibn Ishāq (d. ca. 150⁄767; Sīra, ii, 450; Ibn Ishāq-Guillaume, 572), during the battle of Hunayn (q.v.) in the year 8⁄630, the corpse of a young enemy warrior was discovered by one of the Helpers (ansār, those inhabitants of Medina who assisted Muhammed as he emigrated from Mecca to Medina; see emigrants and helpers) to be uncircumcised (aghral). The discoverer of the dead man’s anomalous condition “shouted at the top of his voice: ‘O, fellow Arabs! God knows that Thaqīf are uncircumcised!’”
Fearing that the report would spread among the Arabs, a comrade took the shouter’s hand and said that the deceased was only a Christian slave. Upon examination, it was discovered that other slain soldiers were properly circumcised Arabs, albeit worshippers of al-Lāt (see idols and images) rather than of God.
The notion of fitra, which has the sense of humankind’s natural disposition or character as created by God (mentioned once in the Qurān at q 30:30), figures in later references to circumcision. The details of this disposition are given in the hadīth:
“Five are the acts of fitra: circumcision (khitān), shaving the pubes, clipping the moustache, cutting the nails, plucking the hair under the armpits” (Abū Hurayra as reported by Muslim; cf. Nawawī, Sahīh Muslim. K. al- Tahāra. B. Khisāl al-fitra, iii, 146; Muslim, Sahīh [Eng. trans.], i, 159).
Abraham’s (q.v.) circumcision is also reported in the hadīth literature. Muslim (d. ca. 261⁄875) relates: …“Abraham circumcised himself (ukhtatana) by means of an adz (bi-l-qadūm) at the age of eighty”
(Nawawī, Sahīh Muslim. K. al-Fadā'il, xv, 122). Some scholars have attempted to discern circumcision in the Qurān by referring to q 3:95 where Abraham is declared to have been a hanīf (q.v.) and not a polytheist (see polytheism and atheism), but D.S. Margoliouth (Circumcision) objects
that the passage says nothing about any particular ritual obligations (see ritual purity).
The question of whether circumcision is absolutely required of Muslims was addressed by classical jurisconsults with varying opinions. For example, al-Shāfi'ī (d. ca. 204⁄820) considered it obligatory for both males and females (see al-Nawawī’s commentary in Nawawī, Sahīh Muslim. K. al-Tahāra, iii, 148; for an English translation of the passage, see A.J. Wensinck, Khitān).
Some jurists consider circumcision to be a recommended (sunna) rather than an obligatory (wājib) practice, although custom has usually supported it strongly, particularly in the case of males (see lawful and unlawful; law and the quran). Thus, while explicit qurānic support is lacking, the strong support for circumcision in the Islamic tradition suggests that it was simply assumed by Muhammad and his community.

Von Frederick Mathewson Denny

Bibliographie dieses Artikels:

Primary:
Ibn Ishāq, Sīra, Cairo 1955; Ibn Ishāq-Guillaume; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr; Nawawī, Sahīh Muslim bi-sharh al-Nawawī, 18 vols., Cairo 1964; Muslim, Sahīh , A.H. Siddiqi (Eng. trans.), Sahīh Muslim, Lahore 1976.
Secondary:
D.S. Margoliouth, Circumcision {Muhammadan}, in ere, iii, 677; A.J. Wensinck, Khitān, in EI2, V, 20-2.

Die folgende nicht ganz so maßgebliche Enzyklopädie ist einerseits lange nicht so umfangreich wie obige, andererseits legt sie noch mehr als obige Werke den Schwerpunkt auch auf heutige tagespolitische Themen, dabei strittige Themen nicht auslassend. Also Themen, die besonders in westlichen Ländern für Interesse sorgen.

Richard C. Martin (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim world. Macmillan Reference 2004.

CIRCUMCISION

The role of circumcision (khitan) in Islamic society has shifted dramatically due to issues of gender, custom, and law.

Nowhere mentioned in the Quran, circumcision was a common practice in Arabia that was incorporated into the Islamic legal system to varying degrees and for a variety of reasons.
Both Josephus and Philo of Alexandria note its presence in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Arabia prior to the coming of Islam. Philo observes that Egyptian males and females were circumcised after the fourteenth year before marriage, while Josephus claims the Arabs performed it just after the thirteenth year, at the time Ishmael was circumcised.

Legally, Islamic scholars debate whether the practice is obligatory or sunna (customary), or whether its obligations be extended solely to males, or to males and females. Al-Shafi'a considers the practice an equal duty for both sexes, while Malik and others consider it sunna for males. The disagreement over gender requirements continues in current cultural practice. Female circumcision is embraced in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Sudan, and West Africa, and a minor form is practiced by Southeast Asian Shafi'is in Indonesia and Malaysia. It is condemned by many Muslims and non-Muslims who reside outside of these areas, mostly for humanitarian and health reasons. Many legal schools also deliberate the time a circumcision should be performed. Some recommend the seventh day following the birth of a male child, while others propose its performance after a child reaches his tenth birthday. Again, such legal variation is mirrored in contemporary practice. In the Middle East, circumcision occurs between the ages of two and seven, while in Europe and North Africa male Muslims are circumcised in hospitals immediately after birth. Suffice it to say that today there is no standard orthodox practice when it comes to circumcision.
Not all Muslims practice circumcision (specifically, those in China), and many who do adhere to vastly different cultural norms.

The justifications for circumcision also vary dramatically in Islamic sources and practice. Many hadith link circumcision with purification (tahara). It often appears in lists that include other acts of general hygiene, including the clipping of nails, the use of the tooth-stick, the trimming of mustaches, and the depilation of both the armpits and the pubic region. Some hadith also link the practice back to Ibrahim, who circumcised himself at the age of eighty with a pickax.

Unlike Judaism, Islam does not view circumcision as the sole signifier of the covenant between God and his people. Circumcision stands as just one of many tests Ibrahim performed to demonstrate his adherence to the true faith. Many Muslims bypass these exegetical intricacies and simply take the view that Muhammad mandated the practice. The legal and customary support for circumcising just prior to the onset of puberty also suggests the practice was performed as a rite of passage, one that would ready an individual for marriage. As a rite of passage, male circumcision ceremonies in places like Java and Morocco are accompanied with purificatory rites, sacrifices, and feasts. When conducted today, female circumcision is a much less celebratory act, rarely accompanied by such festivities. To interpret circumcision in Islam from a religious studies standpoint, the manipulation of the genitalia exemplifies ultimate divine control over one’s human, procreative instincts. Thus one cut symbolizes a total submission to God.

See also 'Ada; Body, Significance of; Gender; Law.

Von Kathryn Kueny

Bibliographie dieses Artikels:

Bloch, Maurice. From Blessing to Violence: History and Ideology in the Circumcision Ritual of the Merina of Madagascar. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Kister, M.J. Concepts and Ideas at the Dawn of Islam. Aldershot, Great Britain; Brookfield, Vt.: Ashgate/Varioram, 1997.
Robinson, Francis. Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500. New York: Facts On File, 1982.

Zum Schluss noch der Artikel aus der vielbändigen Enzyklopädie der Religion, ein Artikel, der weniger exegetisch auf die islamische Beschneidung eingeht, sondern eher das gesamte Phänomen anthropologisch betrachtet. Also über den Tellerrand der semitischen Religionen schaut. Interessant dabei die oder eine Position der Reform-Juden, die ich zuvor nicht kannte.

Lindsay Jones (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia of Religion, Second Edition. Band 3. Macmillan Reference 2005.

CIRCUMCISION
is the surgical removal of the foreskin from the penis; sometimes it also refers to less common practices of uncovering the glands of the penis by removing some of the foreskin and leaving the remainder as a flap, as practiced by the Maasai and Ki-kuyu of East Africa, or cutting the foreskin away but retaining it as two flaps, as practiced by the Tikopia of Polynesia. Early social theorists speculated about circumcision’s origins, suggesting that it may have (1) marked captives, thereby signifying subjection, (2) attracted the opposite sex, (3) been a tribal or ethnic mark, (4) been hygienic, (5) increased sexual pleasure, (6) removed men from maternal bonds, (7) tested bravery, (8) sacrificed part of the self to ensure future rebirth, (9) been a form of symbolic castration to support the domination of youths by their elders, or (10) even simulated menstruation. None of these theories is accepted today, though various combinations of them may be cited by those groups who circumcise.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
Circumcision is commonly associated with Semitic religions (Islam, Judaism, and Coptic Christianity), but, in fact, it predates all of these. It was practiced among ancient Egyptians, although not universally. It is widespread among peoples in Africa, western Asia, and the Pacific, including Australia. Early travelers’ records and encyclopedias report circumcision among some New World peoples, but these accounts seem dubious, and, at most, the practice there appears to have been rare. Circumcision was not common in Europe or North America (except among Jews) until the 1870s and became widespread only at the turn of the century. Today about 85 percent of newborn American males undergo the operation, but it is far less common elsewhere in the English-speaking world and in Europe.
It is our only form of prophylactic surgery, and currently members of the medical profession are in disagreement as to whether it is scientifically justifiable. Some cite its prevalence in America as an indication of a misconceived preoccupation with medicine and hygiene.

SEMITIC CIRCUMCISION.
Muslims, Jews, and Coptic Christians usually circumcise during infancy. Ideally Jews circumcise on the eighth day of life. Among Orthodox Jews circumcision is performed by a professional circumciser (mohel) rather than a physician, and blood must be drawn from the wound either by mouth or, today, through a suction pump.
In America, Jews have figured significantly in developing surgical devices that facilitate the operation. Circumcision is not strictly necessary to make one a Jew: since 1892, for example, Reform Jews have not required it of converts. Before the Hellenistic period circumcision among Jews took a less radical form than it does today. Because some Jews would “blister” the portion of their foreskin that remained in order to appear uncircumcised to the Greeks and Romans, the rabbinate advocated a fuller circumcision. Some hellenized Jews sought to appear uncircumcised because the Greeks and Romans viewed the practice with revulsion and periodically enacted laws to make the custom difficult for Jews and Egyptians under their rule.
Muslim circumcision usually occurs on what is termed the seventh day (in fact it is the eighth day, since the day of birth is not counted). In practice, the time varies widely. Some Muslims perform circumcision within the first five or six years; others delay it until as late as adolescence. While circumcision is not discussed in the Quran, Muslims agree that it must occur before marriage and is required of male converts. In many cases, it is accompanied by lavish feasts and celebrations. A few Arabs combine circumcision with radical flaying and scarification of the lower abdomen.
Coptic Christians (including Ethiopians) circumcise in imitation of Old Testament Jews, but the time at which circumcision is performed varies from the first week of life to the first few years.

CIRCUMCISION AND ETHNICITY.
Besides signifying membership in a religion, circumcision may indicate ethnicity or merely a human condition properly marked by the creativity of culture. Thus the Yoruba and Igbo of Nigeria usually circumcise during infancy; for them the operation signifies no religious or moral commitments nor does it distinguish them from their neighbors, who also circumcise. Even in respect to a single society generalizations about circumcision may be formulated with difficulty, as examples from Africa will illustrate. The western Dinka of the Sudan circumcise while the eastern Dinka do not. Their neighbors, the Nuer, do not ordinarily circumcise, but on rare occasions they may, in order to purify someone who has committed incest. Among the Azande of the Sudan and Zaire circumcision was introduced by neighboring peoples, with the result that within even the same village or extended kin group some will be circumcised while others will not. Among the Amba of Uganda circumcision was unknown until an unexplained interest in the custom, learned from neighbors to the west, led to sporadic waves of circumcision among youths and even adults.
Among the Sotho of southern Africa circumcision was once universal, but under government and mission influence many have abandoned the practice while others continue to observe it. Among some migratory pygmies in Zaire circumcision has been interpreted as a mark of cultural subjugation to their sedentary African overlords. Even where circumcision is a traditional practice and remains prevalent it now often takes place in hospitals, despite protests from elders, who advocate the old ways.

CIRCUMCISION AND RITES OF SEXUAL INITIATION.
Where circumcision is associated with a world religion, it rarely marks sexual maturity. Such an association is common, however, among preliterates, although even among these many peoples circumcise infants or children rather than adolescents. Early circumcision may be a mark of ethnicity, or it may be considered hygienic or aesthetically attractive, but it does not provide a means by which trauma may be harnessed to the inculcation of moral and metaphysical values, as occurs in many rituals of initiation. Nor can infantile circumcision serve as a test of bravery. These aspects of circumcision, however, are of special interest to the anthropologist of religion.
Among the societies that practice circumcision as a rite of passage to adulthood, those of central Australia and East Africa provide the most complex and dramatic examples.
In central Australia circumcision is the primary operation in defining male adulthood, although it is often accompanied by tooth evulsion, bodily scarification, and, a year or two later, subincision. Much pressure is exerted on the initiate to show no fear or pain. Among those Australian Aborigines who practice circumcision (and not all do), the operation marks the beginning of a youth’s indoctrination into the men’s secret ceremonial life, the preservation of which is believed to be vital for maintaining social and natural harmony. At this time novices witness complex ceremonies in which the mythical origins of the world are enacted and, thereby, the order of the world is reasserted. The initial rites convey only basic features of this information; only after a man has witnessed many such ceremonies over the years, first as a spectator-novice, then as an actor-participant, and finally as an organizer, does he become truly knowledgeable. Circumcision, therefore, is not only the occasion when a youth passes into the circle of informed adults, but it also provides repeated opportunities for him to continue to acquire deeper knowledge of traditions. Australian circumcision furthers male solidarity by forever separating youths from their mothers. The initiates receive ritual objects that are forbidden to the sight of women. Admitted to frequent and complex secret male ritual activities, they begin to spend longer periods away from camp at ceremonies that exclude women. It is only after these rituals that a youth is likely to have heterosexual relations and marry. Male solidarity sometimes involves a homosexual experience, since a circumciser may be obliged to have sexual relations with a newly recovered novice to whom he will later give a wife. Aborigines associate circumcision with marriage not simply to prepare a man to take a wife but to reinforce the bonds the man enjoys with the men of his wife’s family.
Thus a man’s potential father-in-law and brothers-in-law, his own father, and his uncles (his father’s affinal ties and members of the group that helped to circumcise his father) often figure in his circumcision. Male solidarity and hierarchy are closely associated with the bestowal of and submission to pain, a prevalent theme in Aboriginal belief and ritual. This in turn relates to the fact that periodically in a society circumcision and subincision involve the shedding of male “genital blood,” a blessing with deep mystical value for the reestablishment of social and moral order through altruistic, sacrificial suffering.

Circumcision is widespread in East Africa. Among sedentary speakers of Bantu language it is usually performed annually on groups of youths approaching adolescence. These groups are segregated in the bush (the sphere of disorder) apart from villages and women. Novices are stripped, shaved, bathed, and sometimes marked with ashes or white earth, all to denude them of their previous status and to place them in a liminal state, neither minor nor adult. The actual operation is often performed by an expert who is outside or peripheral to the group. Bravery under pain is usually required. The shedding of blood is viewed as polluting, a “hot” procedure that temporarily creates disorder so as to achieve a greater eventual order. Rituals and medicines are therefore applied to “cool” the wound and allow it to heal. During their weeks of recovery, novices are hazed by older circumcised youths or by elders. They fast and observe
numerous prohibitions, as may also their kin, in order to ensure recovery. In their isolated quarters, the novices - vulnerable and impressionable because of the wounds, fasting, and exposure that they have suffered — are subjected to intensive instructions about sexual behavior, moral attitudes, and proper conduct. Toward the end of their confinement, the novices may don strange garb and tour nearby villages representing their status of being nameless, nonsocial creatures. Upon recovery, they return to their homes and enjoy the company of women at dances and feasts that celebrate their new adulthood. Circumcision marks their ritual death as minors and their rebirth as responsible adults. In other East African societies, especially Para-Nilotes such as the Maasai, rites of circumcision are not held every year. Instead, they are held for several successive years until a sufficient group is recruited; then the rites are not practiced for some time. Through circumcision men enter named tribal age groups whose members provide mutual aid and hospitality and, when young, form fighting units.
In East Africa and Australia circumcision is understood to remove the vestiges of polluting femininity (the foreskin) from a youth, converting him into an adult male. It provides a powerful measure of commitment to group values in the face of considerable suffering, and it represents a permanent moral and physical transformation. Women are afforded no comparable process, and (despite any physical operation) they remain minors subordinate to men, according to the norms that govern social organization. Where such initiation occurs we find the belief that society improves upon nature by transforming the male body into a more proper vehicle for a moral person to inhabit. The social person and the natural body are brought into closer conjunction. The endurance of pain and the observance of ritual restrictions express both a willingness and a capacity to subject personal appetites and feelings to collective ends. At the same time the powers that shape the cultural process assume a physical reality in the experience of bodily suffering.

SEE ALSO Castration; Clitoridectomy.

Von T. O. BEIDELMAN (1987 AND 2005)

Bibliographie dieses Artikels:

• Beidelman, T. O. The Cool Knife. Bloomington, 1997. Detailed description of male and female circumcision and initiation among Bantu people of East Africa, useful bibliography.
• Bleich, David. Judaism and Healing. New York, 1984. An apology for Jewish circumcision.
• Dunsman, W. D., and E. M. Gordon. “The History of Circumcision.” British Journal of Urology International 83, Supplement 1: 1–12. Restriceted to Western cultures.
• Eilberg-Schwarts, Howard. The Savage in Judaism. Bloomington, 1990. Jewish practices compared to those of preliterate societies.
• Friedman, David M. A Mind of Its Own. New York, 2001. Cultural history of the penis, excellent bibliography.
• Glass, J. M. “Religious Circumcision: A Jewish View.” British Journal of Urology International 83, Supplement 1: 11–12. An apology for Jewish circumcision.
• Gollaher, David L. “From Ritual to Science.” Journal of Social History 28 (1994): 5–36. Circumcision argued as a justified medical treatment.
• Gollaher, David L. Circumcision. New York, 2000. Valuable survey.
• Hoffmann, Lawrence J. Covenant of Blood. Chicago, 1976. Semitic circumcision.
• Meggitt, M. J. Desert People: A Study of the Walbiri Aborigines of Central Australia. Sydney, 1962. Most reliable account of circumsion among Australian Aborigines.
• Morgenstern, Julian. Rites of Birth, Marriage, Death, and Kindred Occasions among the Semites. Cincinnati, 1966. Contains a useful survey of Jewish and Muslim circumcision.
• Spencer, Paul. The Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe. Berkeley, 1965. Contains a useful description of circumcision among para-Nilotes of East Africa.
• Strage, Mark. The Durable Fig Leaf. New York, 1980. Survey of the history of the penis.
• Thorn, Mark. Taboo No More. New York, 1990. Short and witty survey of the history of the penis.
• Turner, Victor. “Three Symbols of Passage in Ndembu Circumcision Ritual: An Interpretation.” In Essays on the Ritual of Social Relations, edited by Max Gluckman, pp. 124–173. Manchester, England, 1962. Influential essay on symbolism of circumcision in Central Africa.

Im nächsten Teil dieser kleinen Artikelserie werde ich mich mal unter meinen deutschsprachigen Büchern umschauen. Mal sehen, was diese so alles schreiben.

(Bildquelle: Wikimedia Commons)