Azahari Hassim
📜 Circumcision Among Pre-Islamic Arabs: An Abrahamic Legacy and Its Restoration in Islam
💫 Introduction
Circumcision is most commonly associated with Judaism as a defining sign of the Abrahamic covenant. However, historical and theological evidence indicates that circumcision was also practiced among pre-Islamic Arabs long before the rise of Islam. This raises an important theological question: Was circumcision among pre-Islamic Arabs understood as a divine Abrahamic tradition, similar to its role in Judaism, or merely a cultural custom?
This article explores circumcision within pre-Islamic Arab society through the lens of Abrahamic continuity, Qur’anic theology, and Islamic tradition. It argues that circumcision, alongside rites such as Hajj and reverence for the Zamzam well, was regarded as a sacred inheritance from Abraham (Ibrāhīm), even if its theological clarity had become obscured over time. Islam, rather than introducing a new practice, sought to restore and purify this ancient Abrahamic legacy.
⸻
✡️ Circumcision in the Torah: The Abrahamic Covenant
In Jewish theology, circumcision (brit milah) is explicitly defined as a divine command. According to Genesis 17, God commands Abraham to circumcise himself and every male in his household as a sign of the everlasting covenant. Circumcision thus becomes:
• A divine commandment
• A physical mark of covenantal identity
• A symbol of belonging to the lineage of Abraham
For Jews, circumcision is not merely ritual—it is theological, marking participation in God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob.
⸻
📃 Circumcision Among Pre-Islamic Arabs: Historical Reality and Theological Memory
While pre-Islamic Arabia lacked a codified scripture comparable to the Torah, circumcision was widely practiced among Arab tribes. Classical Muslim historians and ethnographers—including Ibn Isḥāq and al-Masʿūdī—report that Arabs traced this practice back to Abraham through Ishmael.
Importantly, circumcision among Arabs was not perceived as a random cultural habit. Rather, it was linked to a broader set of Abrahamic rites preserved in Meccan society, including:
• The Kaaba as a sanctuary established by Abraham and Ishmael
• The Hajj pilgrimage
• The veneration of the Zamzam well, associated with Hagar
• Ritual purity practices tied to fitrah (natural disposition)
Though theological distortions and polytheistic practices emerged over time, the Abrahamic core was never entirely lost.
⸻
☪️ Islam and Circumcision: Fitrah and Abrahamic Continuity
With the advent of Islam, circumcision was reaffirmed—not as a newly revealed law—but as part of fitrah, the natural and primordial religion of humanity.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
“Five are from fitrah: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, and plucking the underarm hair.”
Islamic jurisprudence differs on whether circumcision is obligatory or strongly emphasized (wājib or sunnah mu’akkadah), but there is unanimous agreement that it is:
• A continuation of Abraham’s tradition
• A marker of ritual purity
• An act aligned with divine intention
Unlike Judaism, Islam does not frame circumcision as an exclusive ethnic covenant. Instead, it is universalized as part of Abraham’s monotheistic legacy applicable to all who submit to God.
⸻
🕋 Circumcision, Hajj, and the Zamzam well: A Unified Abrahamic Heritage
Circumcision in Islam cannot be isolated from other Abrahamic practices preserved in Mecca. Together, they form a coherent theological pattern:
- Circumcision → covenantal devotion
- Hajj → commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to offer Ishmael
- Zamzam → divine providence through Hagar and Ishmael
- Kaaba → monotheistic sanctuary
All of these rites pre-date Islam historically but were re-consecrated by Islam theologically. They were not abolished, but purified of polytheism and restored to their original Abrahamic and monotheistic meaning.
⸻
🌟 Qur’anic Foundation: Following the Creed of Abraham
The Qur’an explicitly grounds Islamic practice in Abrahamic continuity:
“Then We revealed to you [O Muhammad], ‘Follow the creed of Abraham, a ḥanīf, who was not of the polytheists.’”
(Qur’an 16:123)
This verse establishes Abraham not as a Jewish or Christian figure, but as a primordial monotheist whose practices pre-dated later religious institutionalization. Circumcision, as part of Abraham’s embodied devotion, fits naturally within this framework.
⸻
🔲 Theological Conclusion
Circumcision among pre-Islamic Arabs was neither accidental nor merely cultural. It functioned as a sacred remnant of Abrahamic religion, transmitted through Ishmael and preserved in Meccan society alongside other foundational rites.
Islam did not invent circumcision; rather, it restored its theological meaning, situating it within a universal monotheistic framework rooted in Abraham. Just as Islam reclaimed the Kaaba, purified the Hajj, and reaffirmed Zamzam’s sacredness, it also reaffirmed circumcision as a divinely grounded Abrahamic practice—part of humanity’s original covenant with God.
In this sense, circumcision stands as a powerful symbol of Islam’s broader mission: not to create a new religion, but to restore the primordial faith of Abraham in its purest form.
ABRAHAMIC THEOLOGY 