Bible Encyclopedias
Mohel

• Hastings, Dict. Bibl. s.;
• Cheyne and Black, Encyc. Bibl. s.:
• Hamburger. R. B. T. s. Beschneidung;
• Schudt, Merckwürdigkeiten der Juden, Indexes;
• Gideon Brecher, Die Beschneidung der Israeliten, Vienna, 1845;
• Friedreich, Ueber die Jüdische Beschneidung, Anspach, 1844;
• M. G. Solomon, Die Beschneidung, Brunswick, 1844;
• S. Holdheim, Ueber die Beschneidung, Schwerin, 1844;
• A. J. Glasberg, Zikron Berit la-Rishonim, Berlin, 1892;
• S. D. Trier, Rabbinische Gutachten über die, Beschneidung, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1844;
• Schechter, Studies in Judaism, 1896, pp. 288-299;
• H. Ploss, Geschichtliches und Ethnologisches über Knaben-Beschneidung, Leipsic, 1885;
• Redmondino, History of Circumcision. Philadelphia-London, 1891;
• G. B. Arnold, Circumcision, in The New York Medical Journal, Feb. 13, 1886;
• Kohler, The Sign of the Covenant, in The Jewish Reformer, 1886, No. 2;
• S. Kohn, Die Gesch. der Beschneidung bei den Juden (Hebrew), Cracow, 1903;
• S. Kutna, Studien über die Beschneidung, in Monatsschrift, 1901, pp. 353-361, 433-453;
• Year Book of Central Conference American Rabbis, 1891-92.

Africa.

—In Ethnography:

Distribution: The rite of circumcision appears to be both the oldest and the most widely spread surgical operation known. According to Andree ("Die Beschneidung," in "Archiv für Anthropologie," 13:76), it is still practised by more than two hundred million people, which is quite a conservative estimate, since the followers of Islam alone are reckoned at two hundred and fifty million. Though not a principle or religious duty, it is spread throughout the Mohammedan world; consequently both the age at which the operation is performed and the mode of treatment vary among Turks, Persians, Algerians, and Arabs. Among theArabs circumcision seems to be a test of endurance. Philostorgius found it practised by them as early as 342 B.C. A much earlier instance, however, among Egyptian mummies, is that of Amen-en-heb, (lived between 1614 and 1555 B. C.), which H. Welcke has found to be a true case of circumcision ("Archiv für Anthr." 10:123). The practise extends over part of the Balkans, Asia Minor, Persia, part of India, and the Malay Archipelago, besides practically the whole of North Africa. Nor can this be due to Mohammedan influence, as it occurs quite as frequently among the tribes of the east and west coasts of Africa which have not been in contact with Islam. Even the Christian Abyssinians, the Bogos, and the Copts, the first of whom probably learned it from Jews, still observe the rite. Indeed, so universal is the practise in Africa that it would be simpler to give a list of the tribes that do not circumcise than to enumerate all those that do. Zobirowski attempts to prove that it is found in Africa only among those tribes which have plants of Oriental origin, like millet, rice or sorgho (boura), and appears to suggest that it has slowly spread through the dark continent from Egypt; but the absence of complete induction and of historic records renders his contention very doubtful.

The possibility of an Egyptian origin for circumcision is, however, completely disproved by the extent of the practise in Australia. The Australian evidence is of particular interest, the operation being performed there with a stone knife, as is recorded of the Israelites (Spencer and Gillen, "Tribes of Central Australia," p. 323; compare Exodus 4:25).

The practise is almost equally wide-spread among the islanders of the Malay Archipelago.

America.

For America the evidence is somewhat scanty, and relates chiefly to the central part of the continent, though Petitot reports the practise among the Athapascans and McKenzie among the Dog River Indians. An analogous practise is reported by Squier among the inhabitants of Nicaragua, who draw blood from the organ and sow corn dipped in it. In Mexico a similar practise was found by Cortez, according to the report of Garcia de Palacio (1576); but the blood drawn was offered at the altar. Las Casas reports it among the Aztecs; and the Mayas of Yucatan still have an analogous practise. The Caribs of the Orinoco and the Tacunas of the Amazon practise the rite, as well as the Automecos, the Salivas, and the Guemos, who perform it on the eighth day, the earliest time recorded among savage tribes.

Mode of Operation:

The possibility of this wide distribution of the practise being due to a dispersion from a single center like Egypt or southern Arabia, is disproved by the great variety of methods by which the removal of the prepuce is effected, some of the practises, as in New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands, throwing light on the "peri'ah" of the Jews.

The subject can not be adequately treated without a reference to the analogous operation of clitoridectomy performed on girls of nubile age, sometimes accompanied by the so-called "infibulation" of the adjacent parts. According to Ploss (in "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie," 1871, pp. 381 et seq., summarized in his "Das Kind," 1st ed., 1:305-324), this occurs among the S. Arabs, in Egypt, in Abyssinia, among the Gallas, the Susus, the Mandingos, the Masai, and the Waknosi (all of whom likewise circumcise their boys), as well as in Peru and on the banks of the Ucayale River. The operation is in nearly every case performed simultaneously on males and females, though they are kept separate during the periods of preparation and operation. One sect of Jews, the Falashas, also circumcise both sexes (Andree, "Zur Volkskunde der Juden," p. 84); it is probable that this practise has been adopted from the surrounding Abyssinians.

The instrument with which the operation is performed is in almost every case an ordinary knife of iron or steel; but, as stated above, the Australians use stone knives, as the Jews and the Egyptians (Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 35:46) did formerly, and as the North-American Indians and the Abyssinian Alnajas still do (Ludolf, "Hist. Æthiop." 3:1:21). A case in which a stone knife was used by Jews is mentioned by Schudt as late as 1726. Mussel-shells are used in Polynesia. The Marolongs of South Africa used a "fire-stone" (meteorite), but now circumcise with an assegai.

Age.

Much variety is found in the age at which the rite is performed among different tribes. The earliest occurs among the Jews, on the eighth day after birth (Falashas even on the seventh), and among the southwestern Arabs, who perform the rite on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, or twenty-eighth day. The Susus near Timbuctoo and the Guemos of South America are also said to perform the rite on the eighth day. In East Africa the Mazequas perform it between the first and the second month. The Persian Mohammedans circumcise in the third or fourth year; the Christian Copts, between the sixth and eighth. The Fijians perform the operation in the seventh year, as do also the Samoans. But, apart from these instances, all the tribes who perform this rite do so at the age of puberty, which is of course a very significant fact. The exceptional position of the Jews in this regard has to be emphasized in any discussion of the light which ethnology can throw upon the Biblical command.

Accompanying Ceremonial.

The act of circumcision is generally accompanied by some special ceremonial. In Samoa it takes place when the youth is named; but most often it forms a part of the general set of ceremonies initiating the young of both sexes into mature life. This is generally accompanied by trials of endurance for the lads or young men; and from a certain point of view circumcision may be regarded as one of these tests, as is definitely the case among the Jauf of South Arabia (Halévy). As instances may be mentioned the elaborate ceremonials of African and Australian savages; but there is nothing specifically religious in the initiation ceremonies, the elders of the tribe performing the operation and instructing the neophytes. Among the Falashas three old women perform the rite, possibly because it is practised on girls as well as boys. Occasionally, however, the operation is performed by the priest; and in the New Hebrides a distinctly mystic character is imparted to the ceremony, no woman beingallowed to be present. Similarly, Livingstone found it impossible to obtain access to the "boguera" of the Bechuanas. Among the Bourana the lads are kept apart in a special hut; and on the day of circumcision an ox is sacrificed, and all smear themselves with its blood. Among the Sulus the blood is received in a cup of ashes and buried, while with the Marolongs the removed foreskin is buried. The rite is mostly common to the whole population, but occasionally, as in Rook Island, it is performed on the rich only, while in Celebes it is only resorted to in the case of princes who have no children. In Mexico it seems to have been a prerogative of the upper classes.

There are certain indications which seem to show that primitive peoples adopt or drop the practise without much ado, possibly because it is not regarded as definitely religious. The Zulus and the Gallas have discarded the custom since Europeans have become acquainted with them, and Reinach gives reasons for believing that the Philistines, though specifically mentioned as uncircumcised (Judges 14:3; 1 Samuel 17:26,36; 18:25; Ezekiel 32:30), had adopted circumcision by the time of Herodotus (2:104) and Aristophanes ("Birds," p. 507)—e., between 575 (Ezekiel) and 445 B.C. (Herodotus)—while the Idumeans, who appear to have been circumcised in the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:26), had entirely discarded the practise by the time of John Hyrcanus, who forcibly reintroduced it among them ("L'Anthropologie," 4:28-31).

Object:

The exact object for which this widespread custom is practised has been long a subject of dispute. The theories mainly held point to three originating causes: tribal, sacrificial, and utilitarian. For the tribal view there is to be said that circumcision, like other mutilations of the body intended for tribal marks, takes place at the age of puberty, when, for example, the Hereros of Africa knock out the front teeth; but as the organ is almost invariably hidden, it is difficult to see how circumcision could be regarded as a tribal mark (see Gerland in Waitz, "Anthropologie," 6:40).

The sacrificial theory, which sees in circumcision an offering to the deity of fertility, has to draw for illustration from the practises of Yucatan and Nicaragua, where the custom itself is only in a stage of survival, if it exists at all. Others regard it as a substitute for human sacrifice (Movers and Ghillany), and place it on the same level as eunuchism (Letourneau, Elie Reclus). Hence Herbert Spencer suggests that it was a mark of subjection introduced by conquering warriors to supersede the punishment of death. The appeal made to Samson by his father (Judges 14:3), and that made to the Israelites and to Saul by David (1 Samuel 17:26,36), give a certain amount of plausibility to this theory; but the fact that the practise is either common to all the tribe or is reserved for the upper classes, as in Mexico, the Celebes, and Rook Island, tells strongly against this last form of the sacrificial theory.

Utilitarian Theories.

The suggestion of Sir Richard Burton ("Memoirs Anthrop. Soc." 1:318) that it was introduced to promote fertility seems to be contradicted by the practise and arguments of many tribes (see Riedel, in "Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin," 1885, No. 3). The claims of cleanliness and health have been strongly urged, especially for hot countries, where phimosis is likely to be induced if the natural secretions of the parts are retained by the prepuce. Philo ("De Circumcisione," ed. Mangey, 2:210) gives this as one of the motives for the Biblical injunction; and later writers, such as Claparède ("La Circoncision," Paris, 1861) and Rosenzweig ("Zur Beschneidungsfrage," 1878), have for this reason recommended its general adoption. But the practise is found among so many tribes who have not the most elementary notions of cleanliness, not to speak of hygiene, that this is not likely to be the prevailing motive for its adoption.

An Initiation Ceremony.

The fact that circumcision is almost invariably found practised as a rite of initiation, and frequently on both sexes, gives the clue to its general adoption, as H. Ploss contends in an essay ("Geschichtliches und Ethnologisches über Knaben-Beschneidung," in "Deutsches Archiv für Gesch. der Medicin," 8:312-344) mainly based on Andree's materials. According to the wise custom among savages of initiating their youth into all the duties of the mature life, the elders prepare the lads for their marital life at this time; and circumcision, often of both sexes, is resorted to as part of the preparation. The only ancient legend about Zipporah circumcising Moses (as would seem to be implied by her exclamation, Exodus 4:25,26) confirms Ploss's view to some extent; but the exceptionally early age at which Jews perform the rite takes it entirely out of the category of initiation ceremonies among them, and proves it to be of a religious or symbolic nature, as indeed is expressly claimed for it.

Anatomy of the Parts.

—In Medicine:

To perform the operation and to avoid any danger that may be connected with it, an acquaintance with the anatomy of the tissues involved is necessary. The organ terminates in a conical fleshy substance called the glans. The skin covering the organ is prolonged forward in a loose fold, which covers the glans and is supplied with an inner lining of the character of a mucous membrane, which, being reflected, also forms a covering of the glans proper. The prolonged portion of skin with its lining is termed the prepuce or foreskin. The prepuce has no large blood-vessels; and therefore circumcision is not attended by any dangerous hemorrhage, except when the glans is injured by unskilful handling of the knife, or in very exceptional cases where there exists an abnormal tendency to bleeding.

Circumcision varies considerably as practised by the Jews and by the Mohammedans. Among the Jews it means not only the excision of the outerpart of the prepuce, but also a slitting of its inner lining to facilitate the total uncovering of the glans. The Mohammedans pursue the simple method of cutting off the integumental portion of the foreskin, so that almost all of the inner layer remains, and the glans continues covered.

Implements and Accessories of Circumcision (18th Century). 1. Cup of benediction. 2. Shield. 3. Knife. 4. Spice-box. 5. Tape. 6. Cotton and Oil. 7. Sand. 8. Powder.
(From Bodenschartz, "Kirchliche Verfassung," 1748.)

The operation up to very recent times was exclusively performed by laymen, to whom the act had been taught by others who, by experience, had acquired the necessary knowledge and skill. The tests of a good operator, or "mohel" (circumciser), were that he should perform his work quickly, safely as to its immediate effect, and successfully as to the condition which the parts would permanently assume. As a rule, the majority of these operators developed great dexterity; and accidents were remarkably rare. In case the glans was not sufficiently exposed after the healing process was completed, much anxiety was occasioned; for in some exceptional instances a second operation was resorted to.

The operation consists of three parts: "milah," "peri'ah," and "meẓiẓah."

Milah:

The child having been placed upon a pillow resting upon the lap of the godfather or "sandeḳ" (he who is honored by being assigned to hold the child), the mohel exposes the parts by removal of garments, etc., and instructs the sandeḳ how to hold the child's legs. The mohel then grasps the prepuce between the thumb and index-finger of his left hand, exerting sufficient traction to draw it from the glans, and places the shield (see Fig. 1, next column) in position just before the glans. He now takes his knife and with one sweep excises the foreskin. This completes the first act. The knife (see Fig. 3) most commonly used is doubleedged, although one like those ordinarily used by surgeons is also often employed.

Peri'ah:

After the excision has been completed, the mohel seizes the inner lining of the prepuce, which still covers the glans, with the thumb-nail and index-finger of each hand, and tears it so that he can roll it fully back over the glans and expose the latter completely. The mohel usually has his thumb-nail suitably trimmed for the purpose. In exceptional cases the inner lining of the prepuce is more or less extensively adherent to the glans, which interferes somewhat with the ready removal; but persistent effort will overcome the difficulty.

Modern Implements of Circumcision. 1. Shield 2. Mouthpiece. 3. knife. 4. Cup for Meẓiẓah.

Meẓiẓah:

By this is meant the sucking of the blood from the wound. The mohel takes some wine in his mouth and applies his lips to the part involved in the operation, and exerts suction, after which he expels the mixture of wine and blood into a receptacle (see Fig. 4, below) provided for the purpose. This procedure is repeated several times, and completes the operation, except as to the control of the bleeding and the dressing of the wound. The remedies employed for the former purpose vary greatly among different operators and in different countries. Astringent powders enter largely into these applications. In North Germany the following mixture is extensively used: dilute sulfuric acid, one part; alcohol, three parts; honey, two parts; and vinegar, six parts. A favorite remedy with many operators is the tincture of the chlorid of iron, which is a recognized efficient styptic. These solutions areapplied by means of small circular pieces of linen with openings in the center, into which the glans is placed, and the dressing is closely applied to the parts below. This is secured in its place by a few turns of a small bandage. A diaper is now applied, and the operation is finished. The dressings are usually allowed to remain until the third day. The nurse in the mean time is instructed to apply olive-oil, plain or carbolized. When the parts are then uncovered the wound will in most cases have healed.

To guard against any mishap through suppuration or erysipelas, the genitals should be washed with soap and water, and afterward with a solution of bichlorid of mercury, 1 to 2,000. The mohel should deal similarly with his hands, and especially with his nails, using a nail-brush; and all the instruments to be used should be immersed in boiling water for about five minutes. The dressings should consist of sterile or antiseptic gauze or similar material. All the preparations relating to the dressings, the instruments, and the hands of the operator should be made before the child is brought into the room in which the operation is to be performed, in order to avoid unnecessarily prolonging the anxiety of the mother. A basin with the bichlorid of mercury solution should be at hand, into which the operator may dip his hands immediately before he begins his work.

Precautions to Be Observed.

Care must be exercised in grasping and making traction on the foreskin just before the knife is used. The outer layer is much more elastic than the inner; and if the outer and inner layers are not held firmly together at the margin, it may happen in making traction that the outer layer may become folded upon itself, with the result that the cut will remove a circular piece of skin just behind the edge of the foreskin. Of course this will require the subsequent removal of the remaining edge.

Some operators dispense with the shield, but this is not to be commended; for it will expose the child to the risk of having a piece of the glans cut off, and to dangerous bleeding in consequence.

When the operator uses his nails to tear the inner layer (peri'ah), he should be careful to have them absolutely clean. Should they not have the requisite shape or firmness, or should he prefer avoiding any risk attaching to that method, two pairs of short forceps may with advantage be substituted, and are now often used. The tear should be made carefully, so that it will not deviate greatly from the median line, and should not be carried back too far; for at the margin of the corona it might give rise to unnecessary bleeding. When the inner lining is tough, or bound down by adhesions, a probe-pointed scissors may be used for the peri'ah. Drs. Kehlberg and Löwe recommend the use of the scissors in all cases; claiming that the wound made by them is more favorable, and infection less liable. Against this, however, is the well-established principle in surgery that a lacerated wound is less apt to bleed than one made by a sharp instrument.

Danger of Meẓiẓah.

Considerable opposition has of late years been made against the meẓiẓah on the ground that it is entirely in conflict with the aseptic treatment of wounds, which should be adhered to in all instances, but more especially in consequence of a case in Cracow in which it became known that syphilis was communicated to a large number of Jewish children through an infected condition of the mohel's mouth (Glassberg, "Die Beschneidung," p. 27). The result has been that a number of mohels have discarded the meẓiẓah altogether. The majority of Jews, however, remain averse to such an innovation, the more so because it is condemned by the Orthodox rabbis. As a compromise, which has received satisfactory ecclesiastical authority, a method has been adopted which consists in the application of a glass cylinder that has a compressed mouthpiece, by means of which suction is accomplished. Before the cylinder is applied a small quantity of sterilized absorbent cotton is placed in the mouthpiece, which effectually protects both the child and the operator.

Articles Used in Circumcision. 1. Knife. 2. Platter, bearing as inscription Genesis 21:4. 3. Handle of platter.
(In the Musée de Cluny, Paris.)

The inner layer, when it is folded back after its laceration, meets with the outer retracted layer, and the application of the dressing will satisfactorily keep the edges in fair apposition. Drs. Kehlberg and Löwe, in an article in Glassberg's work, recommend the closing of the wound by stitches after the method practised in surgery and known as the continuous suture. There are two objections to this treatment of thewound. It prolongs the operation unnecessarily, and entails the annoyance of removing the sutures when the union of the wound has taken place.

The sponge, which has almost invariably been made use of for cleansing the parts (which are more or less covered with blood), should be entirely discarded. It has been found difficult to keep sponges surgically clean; and pledgets of sterile gauze—fresh ones for every case—are to be preferred.

Treatment of Wound.

The most important consideration after the completion of the operation is to guard against hemorrhage. When the wound is limited to the prepuce itself, hemorrhage need not be dreaded; for the pressure of the simple dressings alone will be sufficient to control it effectually. Many operators apply a little tincture of iron, to which there can be no serious objection; for it is the most reliable of the remedies usually applied for the arrest of hemorrhage. The mohel should remain with the child for at least an hour to be perfectly satisfied that no hemorrhage follows, and to stop it should it occur. If the bleeding does not proceed from an artery, the tincture of iron with somewhat firmer pressure of the bandage will usually prove satisfactory. Should the bleeding come in jets, a catch-artery forceps must be applied, which acts as a clamp; and a surgeon should be sent for, as a ligature may be needed.

There is one form of bleeding which has thus far not been mentioned, and which needs consideration. It is well known that there are individuals who bleed very profusely and very persistently upon the slightest provocation. The old rabbis must have known of this condition; for they taught that, when a mother lost two children from circumcision, those that might be born afterward should not be subjected to the operation. This abnormal tendency to bleeding is of hereditary character. It is transmitted through the mother and through the daughters of such a mother. The son, who might be a bleeder himself, will not transmit it to his children. Should such a condition be met with in circumcision, the ordinary methods for the arrest of hemorrhage must not be relied upon. The actual cautery will have to be resorted to, or a short piece of a metal or hard flexible catheter must be inserted in the urethra and firm pressure applied by means of a bandage. The catheter has the advantages of not interfering with urination, and of offering a firm surface for the application of pressure. It goes without saying that mechanical provisions must be made to prevent the catheter from slipping either in or out.

As illustrating the extreme rarity of disasters as a consequence of the hemorrhagic diathesis in circumcision, Dr. A. B. Arnold writes that in an experience of more than 1,000 cases he met with one case only ("New York Medical Journal, "Feb. 19, 1886).

It happens not infrequently that the attending physician, on account of some unfavorable condition of the child, advises a postponement of the operation. The Jewish law sanctions such a proceeding until the child has fully recovered its health.

The following reasons for postponing the operation are enumerated by Drs. Kehlberg and Löwe: "pronounced feebleness of the child, febrile conditions, obstinate diarrhea, refusing to take the breast, diseased conditions of the skin, general or local convulsions or jerkings, inflammation of the eyes or eyelids, fungous excrescences in the mouth, very frequent vomiting, continued sleeplessness" (Glassberg, c. p. 36).

Circumcision among the Jews has been accepted and adhered to simply as a religious rite; but it is of interest to make manifest the advantages that accrue to the individual from having the prepuce removed in early life.

Medical Advantages of Circumcision.

Sometimes the physiological changes in the prepuce are interfered with and it can not be retracted at all, or only to a partial degree. These conditions are termed respectively complete and partial phimosis. Phimosis is followed by a train of disturbances more or less serious in character; one of the most frequent troubles arising from this cause being interference with the emptying of the bladder. As a result of phimosis, or even of the ordinary exudations, inflammation of the inner lining of the prepuce and the covering of the glans is extremely liable to arise. This inflammation, termed balanitis, will cause pain, especially during urination, and will have a tendency to increase the impediment to the voiding of urine.

Various authors enumerate a number of other troubles due to phimosis; viz., habitual wetting of the bed by children, masturbation, prolapse of the rectum, hernia, and hydrocele, the latter three conditions being excited by the excessive pressure exerted by the abdominal muscles in overcoming the resistance of the prepuce to the flow of urine.

Paraphimosis.

An even more severe form of inflammatory change is known under the name of paraphimosis, which at times leads to ulceration of the parts or even gangrene.

The glans in the circumcised, besides being uncovered, presents another change to which considerable importance has been attached. The covering of the glans, which before had the character of a mucous membrane, on being exposed assumes the properties of true skin, which is less vulnerable, and on theoretical grounds alone leads to the inference that it is less liable to syphilitic infection. In addition to this, however, there has been weighty authority which bases this opinion on a wide experience. That it offers some protection, there can be no doubt; but the present writer has observed too many cases of primary syphilis in the circumcised to warrant the assumption that circumcision offers any very decided immunity.

A communication was made to the convention of the American Medical Association in 1870 by Dr. Lewis A. Sayre, in which he demonstrated that partial paralysis might result from congenital phimosis and adherent prepuce, and could be removed by circumcision. In 1887 Dr. Sayre, at the Ninth International Medical Congress, gave the testimony of a large number of other observers, who corroborated his own.

—Among the Arabs:

It is difficult to determine whether Mohammed deemed circumcision ("khitan" or "taṭhir") to be a national custom of no religious importance, and therefore did not mention it in the Koran, or whether he judged the prescription of a rite that had been performed by the Arabs from time immemorial to be superfluous. Abulfeda counts circumcision among the rites of pagan Arabia that were sanctioned by Islam ("Historia Ante-Islamitica," ed. Fleischer, p. 24). Ibn al-Athir, in his ante-Islamic history, attributes to Mohammed the following words: "Circumcision is an ordinance for men, and honorable for women." On the other hand, the traditionalist Hurairah reported on the part of the prophet that circumcision is one of the observances of "fiṭrah" (natural impulsion), and has consequently no religious character ("Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhari," p. 931). Be that as it may, circumcision became in Islam a religious obligation, to which every one was required to submit.

Age.

The difference of opinion which prevails among the historians and traditionalists as to the character of the rite before Mohammed, prevails also as to the age at which circumcision had to be performed. According to Josephus, the Arabs circumcised after the age of thirteen, "because Ishmael, the founder of their nation, was circumcised at that age" (Josephus, "Ant." 1:12, § 2). Ibn al-Athir and many other Arabic authorities assign different ages. It is probable that there existed no regulation as to age; and each locality followed its own custom. Thus, in Yemen, where Jews exercised great influence, the Arabs circumcised their children on the eighth day after birth (compare Pocock, "Specimen Historiæ Arabum," pp. 319 et seq.). The Mohammedan law recommends circumcision between the ages of seven and twelve years, but it is lawful to circumcise a child seven days after its birth. The circumcision of females is also allowed, and is commonly practised in Arabia.

The operation on males is generally performed by a barber, in the following manner: The operator seizes with the forefinger and thumb of the left hand the summit of the prepuce, which he fastens with a string provided with a knot. This string is passed through a hole made in a disk of hardened leather. The operator then makes with a razor or scissors a circular section of the prepuce between the knot and the disk. The hemorrhage which follows is stopped by the application of burned rags and ashes. In India a bit of stick is used as a probe, and carried round and round between the glans and prepuce, to ascertain the exact extent of the frenum, and that no unnatural adhesions exist. No splitting ("peri'ah") is known to the Arabs, as is attested by Simon ben Ẓemaḥ Duran, who expresses himself as follows: "Mohammed sanctioned also circumcision that the Arabs performed since the time of Abraham, as is said in the Talmud: 'A circumcised Arab'; but he adopted it without peri'ah ("Ḳeshet u-Magen," 19b).

Ceremonies.

The ceremonies preceding circumcision give to this act the character of a religious initiation. After having performed the prescribed ablutions, the candidate makes his confession before the imam, and a new name is added to his former one. As among Jews, circumcision is followed among Mussulmans by feasting and rejoicing. The custom among Orthodox Jews in Russia and Poland, of inviting pious men to spend the night preceding circumcision in prayer and study in the house in which the ceremony is to take place, finds a striking parallel in that current among the Mussulmans of Egypt, where priests are hired to recite prayers in the house of the candidate the night before the ceremony. That night is called "lailah al-kabirah" (the great night), in opposition to the preceding night, "lailah al-ṣaghirah" (the small night), in which an entertainment is given to friends.