Khitān: circumcising your baby boy

1Part of the fiṭrah

Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet ﷺ said the fiṭrah is five things: circumcision, removing the pubic hair, plucking the armpits, clipping the nails and trimming the moustache (Bukhārī 5889; Muslim 257)^1,3. These are the small habits of cleanliness that every Muslim keeps for life, and for your son, circumcision is the first of them.

Ibrāhīm, the friend of Allah, practised it. The Prophet ﷺ told us that Ibrāhīm circumcised himself when he was eighty years old (Bukhārī 3356; Muslim 2370)^2,4. When you do this for your son, you are following the way of the prophets, ordinary and blessed at once.

2What the four schools say

All four schools hold that boys should be circumcised. They differ on its rank: two schools call it obligatory, two call it a sunnah, and the Ḥanafīs add that it is one of the marks of Islam, which a whole community may not abandon.

3When to do it

There is no single day you must use. Ibn al-Mundhir, a scholar who collected the views of the early generations, concluded that there is no fixed time and no established prohibition for any time (quoted in al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ 1:308–309)¹¹. The schools encourage doing it while your son is a child. Ibn ʿAbbās said that in his time they would not circumcise a boy until he was near maturity (Bukhārī 6299)¹², and Ibn al-Qayyim wrote that the guardian should circumcise the boy before he matures, so that he reaches maturity already circumcised¹³.

Within childhood, the schools have their preferences, and they differ most about the first week. This matters in the US, where many boys are circumcised in the hospital in their first day or two. The dislikes about timing described below are about what is preferred, not a prohibition: no school forbids circumcising a baby at any of these ages.

4If a grown man accepts Islam

Sometimes the question is not about the baby at all. A father, a brother or a husband who has newly accepted Islam may wonder whether he must be circumcised now. In the schools that call it obligatory, he should, if it is safe for him. If he fears real harm from it, most scholars say the obligation falls away, just as washing is lifted from someone it would harm^9,19. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī pointed out that people of every colour accepted Islam, Byzantines, Abyssinians and Persians among them in the Prophet’s ﷺ time, and none of them were inspected^9,19. The Ḥanafīs, who call it a sunnah, likewise leave an old convert who cannot bear it⁵, and the Shāfiʿīs say it must not be done while it would put him in danger²⁰.

A well-known report has the Prophet ﷺ telling a new Muslim to “remove the hair of disbelief, and be circumcised” (Abū Dāwūd 356). Its grading is disputed: al-Albānī graded it ḥasan, while Ibn Ḥajar, Ibn al-Qaṭṭān and al-Arnaʾūṭ found its chain broken or weak, so we do not rely on it²¹. If this is your situation, speak to your imam and to a doctor together; there is no rush that should override his health.

5In the hospital, or later

In the US, newborn circumcision is usually done by a doctor in the first few days after birth, while you are still in the hospital or soon after. The AAP’s family website says it should be done under sterile conditions with proper pain relief, and only when the baby is stable and healthy; it also notes that circumcision may carry more risk when done later in life²².

If you would rather wait, for the seventh day or for any other reason, your son’s pediatrician can refer you to a doctor who circumcises babies after discharge, often a pediatric urologist. Ask early, because appointments can take time to arrange. Many families also ask whether a Muslim doctor in their area does circumcisions; your masjid, other parents and Muslim doctors’ networks are good places to ask. You are allowed to ask the hospital team who will do it and how.

1. Decide before the birth if you can

   Talk it through with your partner, and with your imam if you want guidance on timing, before the baby comes, so you are not deciding in the tired first hours. Tell your doctor or midwife what you have chosen.²²

2. Ask the hospital what they offer

   Who does newborn circumcisions here, on which day, and with what pain relief? Can my baby’s father or I be nearby?

3. If you will wait, get a referral now

   Ask your pediatrician for the name of a doctor or pediatric urologist who circumcises babies after discharge, and how soon they can see you.

6Cost and insurance

Coverage varies, so ask before the birth. If you have private insurance, call your insurer and ask whether routine newborn circumcision is covered, in the hospital and as an outpatient, and what you would pay.

If you have Medicaid, ask your state plan directly. A 2020 study in Pediatrics found that seventeen states did not cover routine newborn circumcision under Medicaid²³, and states change their rules. Within one state, plans can differ. A 2022 study found that Florida’s Medicaid program did not cover routine newborn circumcision, and covered it at age three or older only for a defined medical need²⁴; yet some Florida Medicaid managed-care plans now offer newborn circumcision as an extra benefit²⁵. So ask your own plan, by name. If your state does not cover it, ask the hospital or the doctor for the self-pay price before you book.

7What American pediatricians say

In 2012 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, and that families who choose it should have access to it. That statement has since expired: the AAP’s policies lapse after five years unless they are renewed, and the AAP’s page for it is marked “Expired. This policy automatically expired.” As of 9 October 2026 we found no newer AAP policy statement on circumcision²⁶.

The AAP’s family website, HealthyChildren.org, last updated in October 2025, still says that scientific studies show the health benefits outweigh the risks, and that the decision is the parents’ to make with their child’s doctor²².

8Questions to ask the doctor

Your son’s doctor will tell you how to care for him afterwards. Healing usually takes about a week to ten days²². Write these questions down, or keep them on your phone, and ask them before you go home. It helps to have the baby’s father or another family member there to listen too, because the first days are a blur.

1. Ask about the day itself

   Is my baby healthy and stable enough today? Which method will you use? What pain relief will he have, during and after?

2. Ask how to care for him

   What should I do at each diaper change, and for how many days? Is there anything I should not put on it? How should I bathe him until it heals?

3. Ask what is normal

   What does normal healing look like day by day? Which signs mean I should call you, and which mean we should go to the emergency room?

4. Ask who to call

   Who do I call after hours or at the weekend? When is his follow-up visit?

Sources

1. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5889 Abū Hurayrah: the Prophet ﷺ said, the fiṭrah is five things (or five things are of the fiṭrah): circumcision, removing the pubic hair, plucking the armpits, clipping the nails and trimming the moustache.
2. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3356 Abū Hurayrah: the Prophet ﷺ said, Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, circumcised himself at the age of eighty, with an adze.
3. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 257a Abū Hurayrah: the fiṭrah is five things: circumcision, removing the pubic hair, clipping the nails, plucking the armpits and trimming the moustache.
4. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2370 Abū Hurayrah: the Prophet Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, circumcised himself with an adze when he was eighty years old.
5. Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār 6:751–752 (Kitāb al-Khunthā, Masāʾil shattā) Circumcision is sunnah and one of the marks (shaʿāʾir) of Islam; if the people of a town agreed to abandon it, “the ruler would fight them” (ḥārabahum al-imām), as Ibn ʿĀbidīn explains, just as over abandoning the adhān. A weak view (qīla) says he is not circumcised until maturity. Its time is not fixed: some said before seven years, some ten, some twelve; “what counts is his ability to bear it, and this is the most fitting”; Abū Ḥanīfah said he knew of no set time. An old man who accepts Islam and whom experts say cannot bear it is left as he is.
6. al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī 2:126 (Bāb al-ʿAqīqah) It is disliked to circumcise the boy on the day of the ʿaqīqah (the seventh day), “because it is the practice of the Jews”; it is recommended at the age when he is told to pray; and for males it is sunnah.
7. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab 1:300–301 (Bāb al-Siwāk) The sound, well-known position of the school, stated by al-Shāfiʿī and held by most of its authorities, is that circumcision is obligatory. Al-Nawawī notes that Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfah held it sunnah.
8. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ 1:302–303 The obligation begins at maturity, but the guardian is recommended to circumcise him young, “because it is gentler on him”. Several Shāfiʿī authors recommend the seventh day, not counting the day of birth according to most, unless the baby is too weak, in which case it is delayed until he can bear it; if not on the seventh day, then at forty days, and if not, in the seventh year.
9. Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī 1:64 (Fuṣūl fī al-fiṭrah) Circumcision is obligatory for men. If a grown man accepts Islam and fears for himself from it, it no longer applies to him, as washing and wuḍūʾ are lifted when he fears harm; if he is safe, he must do it. Aḥmad, asked about a convert: “He must do it,” citing Ibrāhīm’s circumcision at eighty. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was lenient for converts: “People, black and white, accepted Islam, and none of them was inspected.”
10. al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-Qināʿ 1:178–181 (ed. Wizārat al-ʿAdl; Bāb al-Siwāk) Circumcision of a male is obligatory, and the obligation begins at maturity; doing it in childhood, up to the age of discernment, is better, “because he heals faster”. It is disliked on the seventh day and from birth until then (al-Furūʿ notes most did not mention this dislike). A boy born without a foreskin has no obligation.
11. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ 1:308–309, quoting Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Ishrāf Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Mālik disliked the seventh day; Aḥmad said he had heard nothing about it; al-Layth said between seven and ten. Ibn al-Mundhir: there is no established prohibition about it, no fixed time to refer back to, and no sunnah to follow; things are permissible unless there is proof.
12. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6299 Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: Ibn ʿAbbās was asked how old he was when the Prophet ﷺ died. He said: I had been circumcised by then. And they would not circumcise a boy until he was near maturity.
13. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd bi-Aḥkām al-Mawlūd, ed. al-Arnaʾūṭ, pp. 180–182 (ch. 9, sec. 5) The obligation begins at maturity. Ibn al-Qayyim: “In my view the guardian must circumcise the boy before maturity, so that he reaches it circumcised.”
14. Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj (Shāfiʿī) 9/200 (Kitāb al-Ṣiyāl, on khitān) It is recommended to hasten it to his seventh day (the seventh day after birth); “it is disliked before the seventh”; if delayed, then at forty days, otherwise in the seventh year; the day of birth is not counted.
15. al-Ramlī, Nihāyat al-Muḥtāj (Shāfiʿī) 8/36–37 (Kitāb al-Ṣiyāl, on khitān) The same as Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj: recommended on the seventh day after birth, “and it is disliked before the seventh”; if delayed, at forty days, otherwise in the seventh year; the day of birth is not counted.
16. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, pp. 183–185 (ch. 9, sec. 6) Two reports from Aḥmad on the seventh day: he disliked it as the practice of the Jews, and he also said, “If he is circumcised on the seventh day there is no harm.” Wahb ibn Munabbih said it is preferred then because it is lighter on the baby. Ibn al-Mundhir: no proof forbids it.
17. Jābir: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did the ʿaqīqah for al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn and circumcised them at seven days” (al-Bayhaqī; al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr 909 and al-Awsaṭ) A report that the Prophet ﷺ circumcised his grandsons on the seventh day. Grading: Weak: al-Albānī (Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 4/383, “Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Sarī is weak”); al-Dhahabī counts it among the munkar reports of Zuhayr al-Tamīmī (al-Muhadhdhab 7/3471); al-ʿIrāqī, “its chain is weak” (Takhrīj al-Iḥyāʾ 2/69); Ibn Bāz, weak. Via dorar.net.
18. Ibn ʿAbbās: “Seven things are sunnah for the child on the seventh day: he is named, circumcised …” (al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ) A report listing circumcision among the things done for a baby on the seventh day. Grading: Weak: al-Albānī, munkar in this full wording (al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah 5432) and “weakness in its chain” (Tamām al-Minnah 68); Ibn Ḥajar, “there is weakness in its chain”, naming Rawwād ibn al-Jarrāḥ (Fatḥ al-Bārī 9/503; al-Talkhīṣ 4/1501); al-Shawkānī, Rawwād is weak (Nayl al-Awṭār 5/230). Via dorar.net.
19. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, pp. 197–200 (ch. 9, sec. 12) The obligation falls for a man who accepts Islam as an adult and fears for himself, according to the majority, as Aḥmad stated; al-Ḥasan said people of every nation accepted Islam in the Prophet’s ﷺ time and none were inspected. Saḥnūn disagreed. Where death is feared, it should not be done at all.
20. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ 1:304 Once he reaches maturity it is due at once; but a man so frail that circumcision would put him in danger must not be circumcised until it is likely to be safe.
21. Sunan Abī Dāwūd 356 A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said he had accepted Islam. He was told: remove from yourself the hair of disbelief. And a narrator says he was told the Prophet ﷺ said to another man with him: remove the hair of disbelief, and be circumcised. Grading: Disputed. Ḥasan: al-Albānī (Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 356; Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 1/120). Weak: Ibn Ḥajar, “there is a break in it” (al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 4/1406); Ibn al-Qaṭṭān, “extremely weak, with a break” (Bayān al-Wahm 3/43); Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ, “its chain is weak” (takhrīj of Abū Dāwūd 356). Ibn Jurayj says “I was told” from an unnamed man, and ʿUthaym and his father are unknown. Gradings via dorar.net.
22. HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics), “Circumcision: A Parent’s Choice”, updated 10 October 2025 Parents’ views differ and the choice is theirs; talk to the doctor before the birth. It is usually done by a doctor in the first few days, under sterile conditions with pain relief, only when the baby is stable and healthy; it “may be riskier if done later in life”. Healing takes about a week to ten days. “Scientific studies show the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks of the procedure.”
23. Zambrano Navia M, et al., “State-Level Public Insurance Coverage and Neonatal Circumcision Rates”, Pediatrics 2020;146(5):e20201475 “Seventeen states do not provide Medicaid coverage for neonatal male circumcision.” Where Medicaid stopped paying (Florida 2003, Colorado 2011), fewer newborns were circumcised.
24. Soto S, et al., “Impact of Florida Medicaid guidelines on frequency and cost of delayed circumcision”, J Pediatr Urol 2022;18(6):834.e1–e7 Florida Medicaid stopped covering routine newborn circumcision in 2003 and covers it for a child of three or older only for a defined medical reason; the authors count Florida as one of 16 state plans that do not cover it. (A study finding as of 2022; individual managed-care plans may now differ: see humana-fl-expanded.)
25. Humana Healthy Horizons in Florida (Florida Medicaid managed care), “Expanded benefits” (viewed 2026-10-09) “Newborn Circumcision: Your male baby is covered, 1 per lifetime for members age 0 to 28 days old. You pay nothing.” An example of one plan’s extra benefit, not an endorsement; other plans differ.
26. American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, “Circumcision Policy Statement”, Pediatrics 2012;130(3):585–586 The 2012 statement found that “the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks and that the procedure’s benefits justify access to this procedure for families who choose it.” The AAP’s own page now labels it “Expired. This policy automatically expired.” (AAP policy statements expire after five years unless reaffirmed, revised or retired.) Read in the Wayback Machine copy of 24 July 2024, because the live page refused our fetch on 9 October 2026; we found no newer AAP circumcision policy.

Read next

• The seventh dayThe ʿaqīqah, shaving your baby’s hair and giving its weight in silver, and how to count the seventh day, with each ruling from the four schools’ own books.
• The hospital checklistA one-page checklist for Muslim parents and their hospital team: what to arrange before the birth, what to do in the first hours, and what comes on the seventh day.
• For mothers: your first forty daysFor the new mother: the rulings of nifās in the four schools, nursing and rest, the warning signs that should not wait, and where to call if your heart grows heavy.
• The first hoursThe adhān in your baby’s ear, taḥnīk with a date, the first duʿāʾ, and how to congratulate, with each ruling sourced in the four schools.