Muslim leader expresses concern over circumcision ruling

A Muslim leader in the United Kingdom warned today that anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred will be fueled in Britain and other parts of Europe following a German court decision to prohibit circumcision.

In an interview with ENInews, Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was “deeply concerned” about the ruling earlier this month from the District Court of Cologne stating parents could be prosecuted for causing bodily injury if they allow a child to be circumcised.

The ruling said that parents must wait for their children to grow up and be able to decide for themselves whether they want the procedure. Other courts are not bound by the Cologne decision.

Mogra said the move was “yet another attack on Muslims and Jews in Europe.” There are about 1.8 million Muslims in Britain.

“The court’s decision demonstrates, once again, that Muslim religious and cultural  practices are not welcome in Europe,” said Mogra. “I am told that British Jews (who number around 350,000) are not much concerned about this and feel than no such legislation could ever pass in Britain. If that is the case, I must say that I am concerned on behalf of my Jewish brothers and sisters.”

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, a spokesman for Britain’s Reformed Jews, told ENInews that he didn’t believe the German ruling would provoke anti-Jewish feeling in Britain.

Romain said that there were “plenty” of people in the U.K. who had their sons circumcised, for health reasons as well as religious ones, adding that Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, had a Jewish mohel circumcise their three sons, Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward.

“The Jewish community does not feel under a threat because of this debate about circumcision,” he said.