Islam and circumcision

MeditationMom

Is circumcision mentioned and prescribed in the Q'uran? My second question is, is it specifically mentioned to be done to children, like baptism? Christians think that you cannot go to heaven if you die as a baby before baptism, for example.

How do children feel about circumcision? Older siblings who become aware of it? Are they usually present, etc?

Is it done to babies, or to older children? Do Muslims consider it a religious, medical, or cosmetic/beauty procedure? In America most Christian men are circumcised for medical reasons - which is highly controversial and is being re-examined. Most parents now do not circumcise anymore.

While normally male babies are circumcised in the hospital after birth, Jewish babies are circumcised by a rabbi at home in a ceremony where the older sibling have to watch and are quite traumatized. What are the Muslim customs, and do those customs continue when moving to the West? Are there huge differences in these customs in the various Muslim countries?

I have worked hard to not consider it barbaric, cruel and misguided after reading Muslim women on the subject denouncing the practice for girls. It took me a while. I understand it is a deeply rooted cultural phenomenon, maybe with useful hygienic reasons before the invention of soap and running water.
I do wish children, especially girls, weren't subjected to this irreversible procedure. BUT... it is up to Muslim mothers to fight this battle, not me, so I can afford to be neutral. I am just trying to understand the exact customs and reasons behind them, and am interested in how it then changes - or not - when living in Ireland, for example. And, how individuals feel about it, not in general - but in their own lives, if they are willing to share their feelings about it, and/or how those feelings changed from when they were children to now that they are adults and maybe parents.

wes

Female circumcision is not an Islamic religious practice. It is not prescribed anywhere for such a practice to be carried out. It is a pre-Islamic North African cultural practice. I know where my family is from, such a practice is non-existent. It happens almost exclusively in North Africa, among not just Muslims, but Christians and native African religions. Also, to note the Grand Mufti of Egypt (one of the Highest Islamic authorities in Africa) has condemned it as being against Islam, here is a link Egyptian Grand Mufti against female circumcision

Circumcision is only prescribed for men and tends to be done in a hospital. Male circumcision is a Islamic religious practice.