What is "khitan"

Khitan may refer to:

• Khitan (circumcision), the Islamic circumcision rite
• Khitan people, ancient nomadic people located in Mongolia and modern Manchuria
  • Liao Dynasty (916–1125), or Khitan empire
  • Northern Liao (1122–1123), a brief Khitan state
  • Kara Khitan (1124–1218), or Western Liao, Khitan empire in Central Asia
• Khitan language, now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people
• Khitan scripts, writing systems of the Khitan people, for the now-extinct Khitan language
  • Khitan large script, logographic writing system
  • Khitan small script, semi-syllabic and logographic writing system

Khitan or Khatna is the term for male and female circumcision carried out as an Islamic rite by Muslims. Male circumcision is widespread in Islam and accepted as established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Islamic community. Views on female circumcision are very disparate and significantly fewer Muslim schools regard it as a religious requirement. Khitan, in some of parts of the world, including Indonesia and Malaysia, may also refer to the female genital mutilation (properly khafḍ).

Islamic male circumcision is analogous but not identical to Jewish circumcision. Islam is currently the largest single religious group in which the practice is widespread, and although circumcision is not mentioned in the Qur'an itself, it is mentioned in the hadith and the sunnah. Whether or not it should be carried out after converting to Islam is debated among Islamic scholars.