For Muslims, male circumcision is performed for religious reasons, mainly to follow the sunnah (practice) of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Moreover, there are attempts to label it as a contributor to cleanliness / personal hygiene. These are done largely to grant the practice scientific legitimacy and a moral foundation.
Some Salafis have argued that circumcision is required in Islam to provide ritual cleanliness based on the covenant with Abraham, while the purpose of female circumcision for Muslim women is to "regulate" and reduce their sexual desires.
While it has overwhelming prevalence in the Muslim world and in Israel due to the religious beliefs of most Muslims and Jews; however, some non-Muslim groups living within Muslim-majority countries, such as Armenians and Assyrians, do not practice it.
Muslims & Christians & Jews in the Levant are all circumcised.
In Islam there is no fixed age for circumcision. The age at which it is performed varies depending on family, region and country. The preferred age is often seven although some Muslims are circumcised as early as the seventh day after birth and as late as puberty.
For Muslims, male circumcision is performed for religious reasons, mainly to follow the sunnah (practice) of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Moreover, there are attempts to label it as a contributor to cleanliness / personal hygiene. These are done largely to grant the practice scientific legitimacy and a moral foundation.
Circumcision is a routine procedure for majority of the male children born in UAE. The procedure can be performed soon after birth and at any age thereafter.
Back in the 1950s, roughly 80 per cent of Australian men and boys were circumcised. That rate has steadily decreased and now, around 20 per cent of Australian newborns are circumcised. This is largely due to developments in modern medicine.
In China, the nation with the largest population in the world, circumcision is generally treated as a selective medical intervention to treat some diseases; only 2.66% of males have been circumcised, and EIMC is not a traditional practice, except among Muslims, who account for < 3% of the population [14].
In Japan, routine male circumcision has never been implemented for newborns and children, and adult males are mostly circumcised at aesthetic clinics. However, media reports indicate a trend of Japanese mothers willing to have their sons circumcised.
Circumcision is also standard in the United States and parts of Southeast Asia and Africa, but is rare in Europe, Latin America, and most of Asia. A personal preference in favor of circumcision is more common in Anglophone countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
More information about sexual health
The prevalence of circumcision varies widely in western countries led by the USA (71 per cent), New Zealand (33 per cent), Australia (27 per cent), the UK (21 per cent), France (14 per cent), Germany (11 per cent), Sweden (5 per cent), Italy (3 per cent) and Ireland (1 per cent).
Hygiene is the principal reason and I assume the baby boys have no memories of a doctor bearing down on their man parts with surgical scissors. In Turkey, the deed is done at any time during a boy's life and it is not a private occasion either.
In Saudi Arabia circumcision is a religious practice done for every Muslim male. It should be done by trained medical practitioner and circumcision done by non-medical personal should be avoided. Circumcision should be performed in the neonatal period and attention should be given to analgesia.
For Turkish boys, a circumcision is a cultural and time-honored rite of passage. All the family and friends gather as the proud boy dresses up like a sultan prince.
Eventually, the foreskin should be retracted far enough during urination to see the meatus (the hole where the urine comes from). This prevents urine from building up beneath the foreskin and possibly causing an infection. As long as the foreskin doesn't easily retract, only the outside needs to be cleaned.
About 1 in 10 newborn boys in Australia undergo circumcision in Australia today. Male circumcision has been performed for religious and cultural reasons for thousands of years. In some cultures and religions, it remains an important religious and cultural ritual.
The available data suggest there are important indirect health benefits of male circumcision for women, in particular a reduced risk of exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
A baby who is not circumcised has a one in 100 chance of getting a UTI in the first year of life. A slightly lower risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. A lower risk of cancer of the penis. However, this is very rare in both circumcised and uncircumcised men.
Subincision of the penis is a traditional ritual mutilation unique to the Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia. The mutilation is a urethrotomy in which the undersurface of the penis is incised and the urethra slit open lengthwise. Subincision is one element in the initiation of Aboriginal youths.
The functional significance of the human male foreskin is considered in evolutionary terms. It is postulated that there is a lifetime's reproductive advantage in delaying the age of first coitus, and hence of first childbirth, for some years after puberty, until the parents are better established as providers.
Male circumcision is a recommended practice in Muslim tradition. It is important to ensure that this procedure is performed as safely as possible in these communities.
The practice of circumcision is an important ritual aimed at improving cleanliness in Islam, though it is not a compulsory practice. As such, it is highly encouraged, but never forcefully enforced. The ritual can be traced back to the times of Prophet Muhammad – believed to have been born without a foreskin.
Like all Christian European nations, Sweden does not practice male circumcision. Muslim and Jewish immigrants, however, have brought their circumcision practices into Sweden. This clash of cultures has created tension and conflict between Swedish human rights principles and the blood rites of foreign religions.