Abstract
This paper studies the history of circumcision amongst religious and traditional societies and the arguments on the medical or non-medical essence of the practice. The paper further highlights amongst the Asante people of Ghana, a practice argued to have been introduced by Islamic Wanzams who are severally referred to as Muslim Circumcision Surgeons. Often circumcision amongst communities in West, Southern Africa, Asia and other Aboriginal groups has been spurred on by customs and traditions [1]. Yet the case of Asante was different. Hence attention has been paid to the history of circumcision amongst the people of Asante. More significantly, the health implications associated with circumcision surgery in Asante have been highlighted. Possible benefits from the practice of circumcision and the potential dangers associated with it, especially the operations of the Asante circumcision surgeons (Wanzams) have been amply scrutinised in the narrative. In the conclusion, attention is paid to some of the scientific arguments for male circumcision. The study is purely qualitative relying on documentary and non-documentary sources. Some of the documentary sources have been gleaned from journal articles, news papers and books etc. The non-documentary data have been sourced from interviews. Both the documentary and non-documentary sources have been thematically pieced together to form a social history of medicine narrative which has potential ramifications on the essence of male circumcision by Wanzams, as well as the need for further research, training and dialogue in the practice in Ghana and Asante in particular.
Highlights
The practice of circumcision dates back to pre-history [2]
The view that circumcision amounted to scarification and mutilation which could be done only to those who were not freeborn was not assailed by the people of Asante by the eve of the twentieth century Ghana
The aim of this article is to highlight the case for the positive impact of male circumcision of the Wanzams (Muslim circumcision surgeons) among the Asante people of twentieth Century Ghana
Summary
The practice of circumcision dates back to pre-history [2]. Dunsmur and Gordon (1999) in their writing of the The History of Circumcision associated with the position of the English Egyptologist, Sir Grafton Elliot Smith’s suggestion that circumcision was one of the features of a heliolithic culture which some thousand five hundred years ago spread over much of the world. Some historians claimed circumcision was a religious rite performed on royalty, while others were convinced it was used as a mark of slavery [3] The latter view is the basis for the theory that the Jews, having undergone compulsory circumcision while they were slaves in Egypt adopted the procedure as a ritual and later incorporated its practice into the Old Testament (Genesis 17: 10 - 14) as a symbol of a covenant between God and man [4]. This argument is not dissimilar from the traditional Asante views before the practice of circumcision was brought into Asante by Muslim Wanzams. The reasons for circumcision, whether symbolic, practical or both, are as varied as the people who practice it, and include the beliefs that it is a test of a man’s ability to withstand pain
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