Short answer
Jesus did not abolish circumcision. God (﷾) gave it to Abraham as "an everlasting covenant" for him and his descendants. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, as the Law required. No New Testament Gospel records him setting the rule aside. After Jesus, the church leaders in Jerusalem decided not to require it of non-Jewish converts. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, told the believers in Galatia that if they were circumcised, Christ would profit them nothing. Yet Paul himself circumcised his companion Timothy. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) kept the practice of Abraham. He named circumcision as part of the fitra, the natural way God (﷾) made people. Muslims circumcise their sons to this day.
Full explanation
An everlasting covenant
Genesis 17 is where God (﷾) makes circumcision the sign of His covenant, His binding agreement, with Abraham. It applies to every male of his household and his descendants, on the eighth day. The text calls it "an everlasting covenant" in the flesh. The uncircumcised male "shall be cut off from his people", because he has broken the covenant. Nothing in the passage sets an end date.
“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.”
Jesus was circumcised and kept the Law
Jesus lived under this rule. Luke records that Jesus was circumcised when eight days were accomplished, as Genesis commands. Jesus said he had not come to destroy the Law, and that not one jot of it would pass until heaven and earth pass. He warned that whoever breaks one of the least commandments, and teaches others to, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. No saying of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels cancels circumcision.
“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Why most churches do not require it
Christians say the rule was set aside after Jesus. Some believers from Judea taught that Gentile converts, non-Jews who joined the church, could not be saved unless they were circumcised. The church leaders in Jerusalem decided not to require it of them. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, wrote that believers receive a "circumcision made without hands" in Christ. Christians read this as the inward reality that the outward sign pointed to, so the physical rite is no longer needed.
“And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”
“Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:”
“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:”
“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.”
Paul's words and Paul's own act
Freeing non-Jewish believers from circumcision came after Jesus, from the Jerusalem leaders and above all from Paul, not from Jesus. Paul told the Galatians that if they were circumcised, Christ would profit them nothing. He said that every man who is circumcised is bound to keep the whole law. Yet Acts records that Paul himself took his companion Timothy, whose mother was Jewish, and circumcised him. The reason given is "because of the Jews which were in those quarters". Paul also wrote that circumcision is nothing, but keeping God's (﷾) commandments is what counts. But circumcision was itself one of God's (﷾) commandments. Paul applied his rule as he saw fit. Jesus never gave it.
“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
“For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.”
“Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”
“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.”
- Abraham
An everlasting covenant
God (﷾) makes circumcision the sign of His covenant, with no end date.
- Jesus
Circumcised on the eighth day
No saying of his in the Gospels cancels it.
- After Jesus
The Jerusalem leaders
They decide not to require it of non-Jewish converts.
- Paul
Words and deeds
He tells the Galatians that Christ will profit the circumcised nothing, yet circumcises Timothy himself.
- The Prophet (ﷺ)
The natural way
He counts circumcision among the five practices of the fitra, and Muslims keep it today.
The way of Abraham, kept
Islam keeps the sign God (﷾) gave Abraham. The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to follow the way of Abraham, the true in faith. The Prophet (ﷺ) counted circumcision among the five practices of the fitra (the natural way God (﷾) made people). The others include clipping the nails and trimming the moustache. So the sign God (﷾) gave Abraham is still kept by Muslims around the world.
“So We have taught thee the inspired (Message), "Follow the ways of Abraham the True in Faith, and he joined not gods with Allah."”
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) named circumcision first among five practices of the natural way (fitra).
Verse by verse
Colossians 2:11 — Epistle to the Colossians, chapter 2, verse 11
“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:”
Cited for
Christians read this as saying that believers are circumcised inwardly in Christ, so the physical sign has served its purpose.
The response
The circumcision of the heart is not new. Moses already told Israel to circumcise the foreskin of their heart, and the same Law still required the circumcision of the flesh. The inward and the outward stood side by side. Jesus was circumcised in the flesh, and he never told anyone that the outward sign was no longer needed.
Where it lands — The Torah, the Law of Moses, asks for the heart and the flesh together, so an inward circumcision does not cancel the everlasting covenant.
Galatians 5:2 — Epistle to the Galatians, chapter 5, verse 2
“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
Cited for
Christians read Paul as warning only those who rely on circumcision to be saved, not forbidding it outright.
The response
Even on that reading, the rule comes from Paul, not from Jesus. Jesus never said it. And Paul's own practice varied: he circumcised Timothy to satisfy the Jews of that region.
Where it lands — Setting circumcision aside for non-Jewish believers came after Jesus, from Paul and the Jerusalem council. The words of Jesus give it no support.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians say circumcision was the sign of the old covenant with Israel. They say that in Christ it is fulfilled by an inward circumcision of the heart, so the church does not require the outward rite.
The Jerusalem church did not require Gentile converts to be circumcised.
Rebuttal
The church leaders did decide that. But it was their decision after Jesus, not a saying of Jesus. Jesus himself was circumcised, and he said whoever breaks the least commandment, and teaches others to, will be called least in the kingdom.
Believers receive in Christ a "circumcision made without hands", which replaces the physical rite.
Rebuttal
The circumcision of the heart is not new. Moses already told Israel to circumcise the foreskin of their heart, and the same Law still required circumcision of the flesh. Jesus himself was circumcised, and he never said the outward sign was no longer needed.
The Islamic perspective
Circumcision is part of the way of Abraham, which the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was told to follow. Jesus kept it. For non-Jewish believers it was set aside after Jesus, by the church in Jerusalem and by Paul, not by Jesus.
The four schools of Islamic law agree it is part of the fitra. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools hold it obligatory for men; the Hanafi and Maliki schools hold it a strongly stressed practice (sunnah).
Genesis calls circumcision an everlasting covenant and says the uncircumcised male has broken it.
Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day.
Jesus said that whoever breaks the least commandment and teaches others to will be called least in the kingdom.
Paul wrote that circumcision makes Christ of no profit, yet he circumcised Timothy himself.
The Prophet (ﷺ) counted circumcision among the practices of the fitra.
Muslims are commanded to follow the way of Abraham, and circumcision is part of it.