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Fatwa CenterA female physician may circumcise a boy under seven
Question
Is a female physician permitted to circumcise boys?
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.
Female physicians are permitted under Sharee‘ah to circumcise boys who have not reached the age when they are ordered to pray, which is seven years old. The Maaliki scholar Ibn Abi Zayd Al-Qayrawaani 
said: "Women are permitted to wash young boys who are six or seven years old." Al-Ghumaari another Maaliki scholar, reported the consensus of the scholars in this respect and quoted Ibn Al-Munthir as saying: "All the scholars we know of unanimously agree that a woman is permitted to wash a young boy. But they provided different views regarding the age. Maalik was of the view that it is permissible to wash the boy under seven, because he is not commanded to pray and looking at his ‘Awrah is not prohibited. Then he mentioned that the evidence is relevant to a boy at the age of six, not seven, because we are commanded to order the latter to pray at this age."
Usually circumcision takes place during the first weeks after birth. In all cases, seeing the ‘Awrah of a boy who is under seven years old is not prohibited.
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