Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Circumcision
كتاب الْخِتَانِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Shu‘ayb ibn Abi Hamzah informed us: Abu al-Zinad related to us, from al-A‘raj, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Ibrahim, Allah bless him and grant him peace, circumcised himself when he was eighty years old, using a qadum.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah said: ‘He means a place.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source includes an explicit gloss that qadum means a place; the English witness instead gives the familiar sense “axe.” The wording may preserve an ambiguity or variant gloss.
وَاخْتَتَنَ بِالْقَدُومِ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ: يَعْنِي مَوْضِعًا
Qadum can be understood as a tool (an axe) or a place name; the source explicitly adds the gloss “a place.”
Should qadum be retained in transliteration with the source gloss, or rendered as the tool in the main text?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musa ibn Isma‘il related to us: ‘Abd al-Wahid related to us: An elderly woman from Kufa, the grandmother of ‘Ali ibn Ghurab, related to us: Umm al-Muhajir related to me, saying: I was captured along with some Byzantine girls. ‘Uthman presented Islam to us, but only I and another girl accepted it. ‘Uthman said: ‘Go and have the two of them circumcised and purified.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses the feminine-specific term خفض for the two women/girls and then says “purify them.” The wording is translated descriptively without adding a procedural gloss.
فَاخْفِضُوهُمَا
The term خفض is a gender-specific historical term often rendered as female circumcision; a plain English rendering can obscure its specialized usage.
Should the translation retain a note explaining the historical term خفض?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Zakariyya ibn Yahya related to us: Abu Usamah related to us, from ‘Umar ibn Hamzah, who said: Salim informed me: Ibn ‘Umar circumcised Nu‘aym and me, then slaughtered a ram for us. I remember how we would proudly tell the other children about it—that he had slaughtered a ram for us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says “I certainly saw us taking pride in it among the children”; it does not say “I think.”
فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا وَإِنَّا لَنَجْذَلُ بِهِ عَلَى الصِّبْيَانِ
The Arabic is emphatic recollection, not a statement of uncertainty or comparison with the other children.
None; the translation follows the Arabic phrasing.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Asbagh related to us: Ibn Wahb informed me: ‘Amr informed me that Bukayr related to him: Umm ‘Alqamah informed him that the daughters of ‘A’ishah’s brother had been circumcised. ‘A’ishah was asked, ‘Shall we call someone to entertain them?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I sent for ‘Adi, and he came to them. ‘A’ishah passed through the house and saw him singing and moving his head in delight. He had a great deal of hair. She said, ‘Ugh! A devil! Take him out, take him out!’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source has a nested transmission chain through Bukayr and Umm ‘Alqamah before the account; this has been retained.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Khalid related to us: Muhammad ibn Ishaq related to us, from Nafi‘, from Aslam, the client of ‘Umar, who said: When we arrived in Syria with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, a dahqan came to him and said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, I have prepared a meal for you, and I would like you to come with the leading men among your companions. That would be a greater and more honorable deed for me.’ He replied: ‘We cannot enter these churches of yours while they contain images.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
دهقان is retained as dahqan, a local notable or landholder; the source does not give a personal name.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musa related to us: ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Ziyad related to us: An elderly woman from Kufa, the grandmother of ‘Ali ibn Ghurab, related to us. She said: Umm al-Muhajir related to me, saying: I was captured along with some Byzantine girls. ‘Uthman presented Islam to us, but only I and another girl accepted Islam. He said: ‘Have the two of them circumcised and purified.’ I used to serve ‘Uthman.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This is a variant of the earlier report about Umm al-Muhajir; this source includes the closing statement that she served ‘Uthman.
The source again uses the female-specific term خفض, rendered descriptively.
اخْفِضُوهُمَا، وَطَهِّرُوهُمَا
The source uses the historical gender-specific term خفض, conventionally rendered female circumcision.
Should a translator’s note retain the specialized historical term?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sulayman ibn Harb related to us: Hammad ibn Zayd related to us, from Yahya ibn Sa‘id, from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: Ibrahim, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was circumcised when he was one hundred and twenty years old, then lived for another eighty years.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This report gives Ibrahim’s age at circumcision as 120, differing from another report in this collection that says eighty; the source wording is preserved.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad related to us: ‘Abd Allah informed us: Mu‘tamir informed us: Salim ibn Abi al-Dhayyal, a hadith scholar, related to me: I heard al-Hasan say: ‘Are you not astonished by this man?’—meaning Malik ibn al-Mundhir—‘He went to some elderly people from Kaskar who had accepted Islam, examined them, and ordered them to be circumcised, although it is winter. I have heard that some of them died. Romans and Abyssinians accepted Islam with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they were not examined about anything.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final clause is broad: ما فتشوا عن شيء means they were not examined or investigated about anything; it is not limited explicitly to circumcision.
فَمَا فُتِّشُوا عَنْ شَيْءٍ
The Arabic wording is broad and does not specify what they were not examined for.
Should the English keep the broad “about anything,” as translated here?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Uwaysi related to us: Sulayman ibn Bilal related to me, from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, who said: When a man accepted Islam, he was ordered to be circumcised, even if he was advanced in age.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-‘Umari related to us: Damrah ibn Rabi‘ah related to us, from Bilal ibn Ka‘b al-‘Ukki, who said: Ibrahim ibn Adham, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Qarir, Musa ibn Yasar, and I visited Yahya ibn Hassan in his village. He brought us food, but Musa held back because he was fasting. Yahya said: ‘A man of Banu Kinanah, one of the Prophet’s Companions, used to lead us in prayer in this mosque for forty years. He was known by the kunya Abu Qirsafah and would fast one day and not the next. My father had a son, and he invited him on a day when he was fasting, so he broke his fast.’ Ibrahim stood and brushed him with his cloak, and Musa broke his fast. Abu ‘Abd Allah said: ‘Abu Qirsafah’s name was Jandarah ibn Khayshanah.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says the visitors were given food, but does not explicitly say they ate it. The expression كنسه بكسائه literally describes Ibrahim sweeping/brushing him with his cloak; its intended gesture is unclear.
The report identifies Abu Qirsafah by kunya and then gives his personal name in a final editor’s note.
فَقَامَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَكَنَسَهُ بِكِسَائِهِ
The literal wording says Ibrahim swept him with his cloak, but the action’s purpose is not explicit.
Does the phrase mean that Ibrahim brushed away something from the fasting man, or is this a textual difficulty?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hajjaj ibn Minhal related to us: Hammad ibn Salamah related to us, from Thabit, from Anas, who said: On the day ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Talhah was born, I took him to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Prophet was wearing a woollen cloak and treating one of his camels with tar. He asked, ‘Do you have any dates?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and handed him some. He chewed them, then opened the infant’s mouth and placed the chewed dates inside. The child smacked his lips. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘How much the Ansar love dates!’ and named him ‘Abd Allah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says the Prophet was treating a camel of his with tar (يهنأ بعيرًا), rather than merely marking it with tar.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad related to us: ‘Abd Allah informed us: Hazm informed us: I heard Mu‘awiyah ibn Qurrah say: When Iyas was born to me, I invited a group of the Prophet’s Companions, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and fed them. They prayed for him. I said: ‘You have prayed, and may Allah bless you for your supplications. If I offer a supplication, then say “Amen.”’ He said: I made many supplications for him concerning his religion, his intellect, and the like. He said: I can still see that day’s supplication in him.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final phrase says Mu‘awiyah recognized the supplication of that day in Iyas; it is rendered without specifying what later qualities manifested it.
فِي دِينِهِ وَعَقْلِهِ وَكَذَا
The source trails off with “and such,” leaving the other requested qualities unspecified.
Should the open-ended wording be retained, as it is here?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musa ibn Isma‘il related to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn Dukayn related to us: I heard Kathir ibn ‘Ubayd say: Whenever a child was born among ‘A’ishah’s family—meaning her household—she would not ask whether it was a boy or a girl. She would ask: ‘Was the child created sound and whole?’ If they answered, ‘Yes,’ she would say: ‘Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source explicitly says that ‘A’ishah did not ask whether the newborn was a boy or a girl; the pronoun in her question is left gender-neutral in English.
سويًّا here conveys soundness or being whole/formed properly.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-Jarmi related to us: Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim related to us: My father related to us, from Ibn Ishaq, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Harith al-Taymi, from Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Five practices belong to the fitrah: trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpit hair, and using the siwak.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Fitrah is retained as the religious term for the natural way/disposition. Siwak is a tooth-cleaning stick.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz related to us: al-Walid ibn Muslim related to us: Ibn Abi Rawwad related to me: Nafi‘ informed me that Ibn ‘Umar used to clip his nails once every fifteen nights and remove the pubic hair once each month.