Endnotes: chapter twenty one

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1. EI, vol.2, p.1028. Tilmann Nagel, Der Qur'an, Einführung-Texte-Erläuterungen (München, 1983), p.12. It is said about Muhammad that he considered circumcision a part of the instinct (fitra). It seems, however, that the narrators suspect that `A'isha said, "The Messenger of God said, 'Ten things are part of the instinct: shaving the moustache, growing the beard, cleaning the teeth with siwak, washing with water, clipping the fingernails, washing the knuckles, pulling the armpit hair, shaving the pubic hair, and wiping oneself with water.'" Zakariya narrated that Sa`b said, "The tenth can only be gargling" (another tradition has it that "gargling and cleaning the nose by sniffing water are a part of the instinct"). Zakariya mentioned the same as we said before, but for growing the beard, and added circumcision (al-Bukhari, Libas 63,64, Isti'dsan 51; Muslim, Tahara 49; Abu Dawud, Tahara 29, Tarajjul 16; al-Tirmidsi, Adab 14; al-Nasa'i', Tahara 9:10, Zina 1,55; Ibn Maja, Tahara 8; Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 2:229,239,283,410,389). One can easily conclude that circumcision was a common practice in the Arabian Peninsula. Even though there is no mention of it in the Qur'an, both Hadith and old poetry refer to this fact (EI, vol.2, p.1028).
2. Shaltut, Khitan al-untha, in Liwa' al-Islam, 1951, p.55.
3. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75; Abu Dawud, Adab 167.
4. Abu Dawud, Adab 167.
5. Afifi Muhammad al-Saadiq, Fi fiqh al-mar'a al-muslima (Beirut, 1986), p.17.
6. `Awn al-Ma`bud, Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud (Cairo, 1969), 13:185.
7. ibid.
8. Muhammad Ibrahim Salim, Fatwa fi khitan al-untha, in Liwa' al Islam, p.330.
9. Shaltut, Khitan al-untha, in Liwa' al-Islam, 1950.
10. Fatwa fi al-Khitan, in Liwa' al-Islam, 1950.
11. Liwa' al-Islam, 1950, p.59.

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