53. Circumcision

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Ibrahim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was circumcised when he was eighty years old. He was circumcised with an axe (qadum)." An old woman from Kufa, the grandmother of 'Ali ibn Ghurab, reported that Umm al-Muhajir said, "I was captured with some girls from Byzantium. 'Uthman offered us Islam, but only myself and one other girl accepted Islam. 'Uthman said, 'Go and circumcise them and purify them.'" Salim said, "Ibn 'Umar, Nu'aym and I were circumcised and they sacrificed a ram on our behalf. I think that we were more happy about it than the other children since a ram had been sacrificed on our behalf." Umm 'Alqama related that when the daughters of 'A'isha's brother were circumcised, 'A'isha was asked, "Shall we call someone to amuse them?" "Yes," she replied. 'Adi was sent for and he came to them. 'A'isha passed by the room and saw him singing and shaking his head in rapture - and he had a large head of hair. 'Uff!' she exclaimed, 'A shaytan! Get him out! Get him out!'" Aslam, the client of 'Umar, said, "When we came to Syria with 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the chief came to him, 'Amir al-Mu'minin, I have prepared some food for you and I would like you to bring some nobles with you. That will be a stronger and nobler action for me.' 'Umar said, 'We cannot enter these churches of yours with the images which are inside them.'" See 1245. Abu Hurayra said, "Ibrahim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was circumcised when he was 120 years old. Then he lived eighty years after that." It is reported that al-Hasan said, "Are you not astonished by this man? (i.e. Malik ibn al-Mundhir) He went to some of the old people of Kaskar who had become Muslim and examined them and then commanded that they be circumcised although it was winter. I heard that some of them died. Greeks and Abyssinians became Muslim with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they were not examined at all." Ibn Shihab said, "When a man became Muslim, he was ordered to have himself circumcised, even if he was old." Bilal ibn Ka'b al-'Ukki said, "We - Ibrahim ibn Adham, 'Abdu'l-'Aziz ibn Qarir, Musa ibn Yasar and I - visited Yahya ibn Hassan (al-Bakri al-Filistini) in his village. He brought us some food, but Musa held back because he was fasting. Yahya said, 'We had a man with the kunya of Abu Qursafa from the Banu Kinana who had been one of the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he was in this mosque for forty years. He would fast one day and break the fast the next day, My father had a son born to him and he invited this man on the day that he was fasting and he broke his fast.' Ibrahim stood up and swept him with cloak and Musa broke his fast." Anas said, "On the day he was born, I took 'Abdullah ibn Abi Talha to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I found him wearing a woollen robe while he was marking one of his camels with tar. The Prophet said, 'Do you have any dates with you?' 'Yes,' I replied. I gave him some dates. He chewed the dates and opened the child's mouth and put some chewed dates into the child's mouth. The child licked his lips. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The Ansar love dates,' and gave him the name 'Abdullah." Mu'awiya ibn Qurra said, "When Iyas was born to me, I invited a group of the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and I fed them and they made supplication. I said, 'You have made supplication, so may Allah bless you for your supplication. If I make supplication, then you say, "Amen".' He went on, 'I made a lot of supplication for him for his deen, his intellect and things like that.' He added, 'I still recognise the supplication of that day in him." Kathir ibn 'Ubayd said, "When someone in the family of 'A'isha had a child, she did not ask, 'Boy or girl?' She asked, 'Was he created well-formed?' If the answer was 'Yes,' she said, 'Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.'" Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Five things are included in the fitra: trimming the moustache, cutting the nails, shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpits, and using the siwak (arak stick for cleaning the teeth)." Nafi' reported that Ibn 'Umar used to trim his nails every fifteen days and shave his pubic hair every month.