I Don’t Have Foreskin. Do I Need to Undergo a Circumcision?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam aleykum

Recently when I went to doctor for circumcision the doctor told me that I do not need circumcision as there is no foreskin. In medical terms this condition is called Aposthia and there is no foreskin naturally to be removed. Will I commit a sin if I do not undergo circumcision?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

If someone were born “naturally circumcised” such that there is no foreskin left to be removed then there is no need for that person to undergo an act of circumcision.

It should also be noted that if an adult or someone elderly has foreskin that has not been removed, circumcision would only continue to be emphasized if:

(a) he is able to tolerate the act,
(b) without fear of undue harm being inflicted upon him, and
(c) without revealing his nakedness to others.

Some scholars stated that if only condition (c) is absent, an individual should still go ahead with the circumcision as this is a akin to a medical treatment wherein dispensations exist for revealing nakedness.

Yet, if he is not able to tolerate it and/or it will cause harm based on the determination of a qualified professional medical expert, circumcision should be avoided. These final points were mentioned to clarify the ruling of circumcision for those who are adults/elderly.

[Fatawa al-Hindiya (5:356-57); al-Mawsu`a al-Fiqhiya al-Kuwaitiya (19:30)]

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studies Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir.