New York Cleric Mufti Ibn Muneer: Circumcision Teaches Children That One Must Be Willing to Spill Some Blood for Allah's Shari'a

In a video uploaded to the Hadith Disciple YouTube channel on May 19, 2019, popular New York cleric Mufti Muhammad Ibn Muneer discussed a ruling by an Islamic scholar that said that babies shouldn't be circumcised immediately after being born so that they can feel the circumcision and so it can give them the "psychological message" of "bearing hardship and pain and implementing the shari'a." Ibn Muneer praised the profoundness of this ruling, saying that it is good for the child to learn that bloodshed and the "removal of skin" are part of Islam and that one must be willing to "spill some blood for Allah's shari'a." The video was recorded in Birmingham, United Kingdom. For more from Mufti Ibn Muneer, see MEMRI TV Clips No. 6772 and No. 6894 and No. 7067 and No. 7148.

Following are excerpts:

Mufti Muhammad Ibn Muneer: We're not talking about the ruling of circumcision, is obligatory, is it recommended… The scholars differ. But there is something very interesting here that I want to share with you guys with regards to when the circumcision should be done.

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He says that which we benefit from, reading the remnants of the salaf, looking into the narrations, is that they would only circumcise the child(ren) when they were old enough to feel it and realize it, and not when they were directly born, when they were already crying, coming out of the womb, et cetera.

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And they would delay it. They wouldn't do it early. They would circumcise the child a bit later on, for the child to be taught and for the child to get the psychological message of bearing hardship and pain and implementing the shari'a. To instill in the child from a very young age that you have to suffer a bit, and that you have to taste bitter before you taste sweet. How profound is that, now? To teach your son from a young, small, tiny age that there's a bit of sting, and that you have to be strong enough to bear the pain when it comes to implementing the rules of Allah. How much better would the world be if we had this basic concept in our heads?

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He says, even to the extreme of removing some skin and flesh, and the spilling of blood. Extremely teaching the child that there is bloodshed in Islam, and that you have to be willing to spill some blood for Allah's shari'a, and everything is not sweet and easy with regards to living as a Muslim.