Man: The Best Design & Circumcision
Quran Talk Blog · Article · January 16, 2020
How do we reconcile circumcision with God informing us that He created man in the best design?
To understand this question we need to understand that the form of a human being has been around long before Adam; for hundreds of thousands of years. What set Adam apart was not just his form, but specifically his soul. That is why the human form is not entirely distinct from all other animals, but instead falls into the category of mammals, and even more specifically primates.
One of the commonalities of all mammals is that they are endowed with foreskin. The main purpose of the foreskin is twofold (1) as a protective layer against the environment (2) to expedite time to ejaculation for increased probability of conception. While both these cases are highly advantageous for all other mammals and their survival, this is not the case for modern humans.
1. Humans wear clothes animals do not
No surprise, but animals do not wear clothes, therefore it makes sense that their vulnerable parts have an additional layer of protection rather than being out in the open. But human beings do wear clothes for protection and additionally, unlike animals humans feel shame in nudity, which again originated with Adam & Eve’s soul being assigned to human bodies.
They ate from it, whereupon their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. Adam thus disobeyed his Lord, and fell.