CultureTalk Ahiska Turks Video Transcripts: http://langmedia.fivecolleges.edu
Tradition of Circumcision
English translation:
With our prophet, Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam,[1] … I mean circumcision did not begin with him. This Sunna even dates back to earlier times. As early as, umm… the times of Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam.[2] Starting from Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam, circumcision became, umm…a part of all cultures. I mean these cultures, umm… let’s say… Jesus, alayhi wa sallam, Ishak, alayhi wa sallam, Ismail, alayhi wa sallam, all these, umm… all the prophets after Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam, until Muhammad, alayhi wa sallam, it was an inheritance for all from Ibrahim as a Sunna to circumcise children, boys. This is a part of Islam, umm… I mean it is a part of a kid’s cleanliness and hygiene to have it done…. We all have it done. We have our [male] children circumcised, our sons. As you know, even in America right now, when a baby is born, even before taking him out of the hospital, they are having him circumcised, and then take him out of the hospital. This tradition is being preserved, even here, which made us really happy. And then, umm… they, the Jews, also have it. They also have their children circumcised after three days. They circumcise because it has been inherited [as a practice] from their ancestors, because our ancestors are also their ancestors. Umm… You see we all are from the same mother and father, and all humans are siblings. We all have a connection to one another; we are chained to each other; no one is disconnected from the other. You see, this is a tradition that comes from Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam. It is not only the Sunna of circumcising boys that comes from Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam, but also cutting finger nails, which is another factor of cleanliness and hygiene, and then cutting underneath the mustache, umm… this is also cleanliness, umm… and then… umm… you see, umm… having your beard grow nicely is also one of the Sunna that is inherited from Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam, umm… about cleanliness. These were left to all prophets from [since] Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam. I mean, to all the prophets that came after Ibrahim, alayhi wa sallam, this cleanliness was Sunna from him, as one of the many great traditions.
About CultureTalk: CultureTalk is produced by the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages and housed on the LangMedia Website. The project provides students of language and culture with samples of people talking about their lives in the languages they use everyday. The participants in CultureTalk interviews and discussions are of many different ages and walks of life. They are free to express themselves as they wish. The ideas and opinions presented here are those of the participants. Inclusion in CultureTalk does not represent endorsement of these ideas or opinions by the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages, Five Colleges, Incorporated, or any of its member institutions: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
© 2003-2009 Five College Center for the Study of World Languages and Five Colleges, Incorporated
[1] Peace be upon him is a phrase that practicing Muslims often say after saying (or hearing) the name of a prophet of Islam. S.A.W. or SAAW: May Allah bless him and grant him peace.
[2] May Allah bless him.