Is it obligatory for an adult to get circumcised?
Fatwa No: 27517

Question

I am a 24-year-old Muslim man and I am not circumcised until now because my parents did not want me to be circumcised when I was young. What is the ruling if I die or get married? In this case, will this be unlawful?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no difference among Muslim scholars that, for males, circumcision is permissible. However, they differed about its ruling, whether it is mandatory and thus a man bears a sin for leaving it, or it is recommended and thus a man gets rewarded and saved from punishment when he does it. To know the statements of scholars on this issue, please refer to Fatwa 87685.

Anyway, you should get circumcised provided that it will not harm you. Ibn Qudaamah said:

If a man embraces Islam and fears that circumcision will harm him, then he will not be required to do it, because he is not required to make Ghusl and ablution if he fears that he will get harmed by using water. Given this, the harm of circumcision should be considered more. If he is not to be harmed, then he will be required to get circumcised.

A man who dies without getting circumcised, although he could have done so, bears a sin because he overlooked a Sharee‘ah obligation. He is not required to get circumcised after death because, by death, he is not competent for religious assignments. Circumcision does not affect the validity of marriage, but the uncircumcised married man is still required to get circumcised.  

Allaah Knows best.

Related Fatwa