Religious Male Circumcision

Religious male circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism and Islam, and as such is most common in Muslim countries and Israel. The practice is also common in predomininantly Christian countries such as the United States, the Philippines, South Korea, West Africa, Ethiopia, and Kenya, as well as among Christians in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. It is also common in several African tribal groups. It is less common in Europe and Latin America, though practised in the large Muslim population in India and among some Indian Christians, depending on region and family background. Circumcision for medical reasons is quite widely performed in China and Japan, being the largest single medical procedure performed in both countries, but religious circumcision in each is comparatively rare, and largely confined to the Muslim population. Hodges argues that in Ancient Greece the foreskin was valued and that Greek and Roman attempts to abolish ritual circumcision were prompted by humanitarian concerns.

Male circumcision practised as a religious rite is found in texts of the Hebrew Bible, as part of the Abrahamic covenant, such as in Genesis 17, and is therefore practised by Jews and Muslims and some Christians, who constitute the Abrahamic religions.