Circumcision for converting religion

From a young age I was interested in Islam. Eventually, I discovered that Muslim men are circumcised. This sat in the back of my mind - I thought 'aren't only Jews circumcised?' When I found this out, I asked if I would have to be circumcised after converting to Islam? The range of opinions varied depending on which school of thought (not the sects of Sunni, Shia, etc) each person looked at but generally, it was either compulsory soon after converting or strongly recommended. The main point all the schools said was that I don't have to be circumcised if I feared harm or if it could affect me medically. For the time-being I tried not to focus on it and did convert to Islam in April 2021, a week before my 19th birthday

Soon after converting, I realized that Islam emphasises cleanliness and that's why Muslims circumcise. As a result, I felt that I should get circumcised. I was scared at the time as well because I had never had any surgery before. I found a nearby doctor who would do adult circumcision and sent an email and soon after, arranged a telephone consultation. The consultation was what you would expect, medical info, any problems, reasons, and an overview of what would happen. I felt happy and confident and paid the deposit. The surgery was a month later.

The week of the surgery came. I was nervous about the circumcision but still prepared. I went to buy briefs to wear, trimmed the hair around the penis a bit shorter and a few other things. I was worrying myself by thinking what if I got an erection? I had to ask the doctor about this, and he said nothing other than maybe some more bleeding.

The day came, a friend kindly came with me to the clinic. I'm glad he did come with me as it helped me calm down. Even outside the clinic, my heart was starting to race. As with post-covid-restrictions, I was asked the usual questions about Covid symptoms or if anyone was living with Covid and then went in. The receptionist greeted us, ticked us off her sheet and gave me the consent forms to fill in. I felt awkward that I was the only white male at the clinic. I thought; having the last appointment of the day, I might have been the only patient there! Everyone else had bought their babies or pre-school aged sons. Handed the form back in and the doctor came a few minutes afterwards. At this point, I was just nervous and trying to keep calm. He took me into a room and asked me to lay on a bed. My jeans and pants came down for an inspection of the penis and scrotum. 'Everything as normal', he said. The anaesthesia was then injected which was not too painful, but it did sting and felt like a vaccine needle. That ordeal was only a minute! Then I was asked to put my jeans back on.

I waited about half an hour before the procedure happened. But after 10 minutes of the anaesthesia being injected, I started to feel faint. I was glad I had bought some water with me. The penis became really numb to the point of not feeling it at all and it became really swollen. The doctor came back in, and we went to the next room. There were the instruments that would be used to cut my foreskin, next to the bed. Once again, I was asked to pull down my jeans and pants and then lay on the bed. They raised the bed and put a sheet over my crotch, with my penis exposed through a hole. This was the point of no going back!

The doctor tested to see if I could feel anything, and I could but only on one side of the penis. More anaesthesia was injected. The head rest was lowered so I couldn't see anything. The cautery set was turned on and the cutting started. It was a strange experience as I could feel what was happening to a point, but pain was minimal. The dorsal slit was made and then cut around the corona. The scar was about 1cm from the corona. After about 15 minutes, I was now circumcised! I felt relieved and it was definitely not as painful as I expected. The stiches were put in and I could feel the threading. After 10 minutes, this was all done! (Alhamdulillah!) The doctor was cleaning up and I could see by his instruments my foreskin which was then disposed of with the medical waste.

Afterwards, I went to see my friend and took the painkillers I bought with me as well as the chocolate bar I bought. I felt calmer and much happier. The feeling I had afterwards was more of a dull ache and there were no sensitivity issues like most men have said. I wonder if men who couldn't expose their glans have it worse? (Definitely, Ed) My penis was heavily bruised and the whole penis was purple.

I'm on the second day after the circumcision when writing this and the penis has swollen up around the incision and night-time erections can be painful. Tight briefs are best as they hold the penis in place but make sure to put Vaseline on as putting pants on and off can be a bit painful. I have been able to walk but walking even short distances of a couple hundred meters can be painful so do take it easy!

If any man is considering circumcision, if you want to, go for it! It's natural to feel scared or nervous for surgery. If you find a qualified doctor or urologist, then you will be in good hands.

CS (UK)     

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