As Salaam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
I reverted to Islam just a few months before my 19th birthday, being brought up in a ‘Christian’ home meant that I wasn’t circumcised. As my father once told me, ‘the doctor told me the risks of circumcision and I thought were not Jewish, so why put you at risk of getting hurt?’. After I reverted, some of the brothers that I hung around started to hint at circumcision. I knew it was something that I would have to do.
Not long after my 20th birthday, I was admitted to hospital. They put me to sleep and did what they did and I don’t remember anything about it. What sticks in my mind are the stitches afterwards and the time I hit myself with a pallet at work.
A good brother and a good friend of mine, who I haven’t seen in many years but Allah knows that I love him for His sake, came to me and showed me his drivers license, with his Islamic name and then he asked had I changed my name yet. I hadn’t. So, he asked me if I was going to change my mind about this deen or something. May Allah forbid such an evil. I rushed out and changed my name. However, my dear brother, changing your name is not the acid test. The real acid test is cutting off your foreskin for no other reason than for His sake.
If I remember correctly the cost of my operation was around $2,500. At that time, I also had a $3,000 debt for a car I just bought. I made it my mission in life to get rid of all my debt. Every spare penny, went towards it. I made double payments and triple payments. Finally, I was completely debt free. All praise and thanks belongs to the Lord of the Worlds, besides Him there is no other god.
That same day, I went to my father’s house and he asked me how I was doing I said good because I finally got rid of my debt. He asked in a sort of incredulous way, what debt did you have? I goes my car, my op and a few other things. He asked about my operation. I hadn’t told him before. When I explained to him that I was circumcised he got upset, perhaps he realised that I wasn’t just ‘messing around’ and then would ‘come right’, as he had always hoped. Why would I do that he demanded. For no other reason than Allah, the Most High, expects male believers to be circumcised and I am a believer.
The ‘conversation’ drifted to ‘if I had a son would I get him circumcised’. Only Allah ta’ala knew that I would have a son. Of course, I would circumcise him or rather I would find a qualified professional to circumcise him for me. My father then denounced me, called me evil and declared that if I did circumcise my son that I would end up in Hell. Is it strange that he does not hold the same hatred for the Jew who circumcised his son but for me I am destined for the fires of Hell?
Never will the Jews or the christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: “The Guidance of Allah,-that is the (only) Guidance.” Wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither Protector nor helper against Allah. [2:120]
A week or more before Ramadan, my wife made an appointment with a doctor to have my son circumcised but for whatever reason he didn’t show and he didn’t even tell the patients that he wasn’t going to show. When my father in-law complained that they waited for so long and at least he could have left a message for the patients saying he wouldn’t be able to see them, he offered to do the circumcision for free after Ramadan, as a way of apologising.
Yesterday was the day. We took Abdurrahman in and lied him on the bed. The doctor gave him an injection just above his penis to numb the area and then sent us out for a few minutes. When we came back in the doctor took a pair of those things that look like scissors but are for pinching and holding and he clipped it on the end of his foreskin. He took another pair and did the same thing on another part of his foreskin. At this time, Abdurrahman is still not aware of what’s going on and he happily smiles and talks with me. The doctor then took another tool and started to separate the foreskin from his penis and then he rolled the skin down as far as was needed to expose everything. He then took another tool and clipped the skin. This step looked like he was marking where he needed to cut. Then he took some scissors and cut the foreskin and inserted a plastic thing that went around all the bits. Then he took some string and tightly, tightly tied it so that the foreskin was cut off from any blood supply. Finally the doctor trimmed the extra skin and it was all finished. My poor son was so hurt and upset that he actually sweated through the paper that they put on the bed, his face was so red and he couldn’t even breastfeed.
It made me appreciate what our father Ibrahim, alayhi sallam, did. After receiving the command of circumcision at 80 years old, without any medicine to numb the area or take away any pain, he cut off his own foreskin. Such was the calibre of that man, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.
It also made me understand why Paul was so keen on changing the religion of Jesus, alayhi sallam, to make circumcision something other then cutting off the foreskin. The Romans would have never entered into that faith, Paul would have never received that favour that he was seeking from them and no one would be worshipping Jesus as an idol. Paul has a lot of explaining to do. May Allah give him what he deserves.
May Allah reward the doctor and his assistant for their very professional work.
I testify to the fact that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, who does not have any partner and I testify to the fact the Muhammed is His slave and messenger.
All praise belongs to Him, there is no god except Him, glory to Him, there is nothing comparable to Him, He is the greatest.
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