As for the latest time by which circumcision must be carried out, it is before puberty. Ibn al-Qayyim said:
“It is not permissible for the guardian to leave a boy uncircumcised until he has passed puberty.”
See his Tuhfat al-Mawdūd fī Aḥkām al-Mawlūd, pp. 60–61.
Concerning its legal status, the preponderant opinion in our view is that circumcision is obligatory. This is also the position of the majority—Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad—and it was the choice of Ibn al-Qayyim, who marshalled fifteen proofs in support of that ruling. Although each proof on its own may not be decisive, their combined force certainly is. Space does not allow us to cite them all here, so I shall limit myself to two:
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The Almighty says: “Then We revealed to you: Follow the creed of Abraham, the upright one” (Q 16:123). Circumcision is part of Abraham’s creed, as stated in the ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah mentioned earlier in this book. Al-Bayhaqī called this the strongest of the arguments, and al-Ḥāfiẓ quoted his words (10/281).
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Circumcision is one of the most conspicuous symbols by which a Muslim is distinguished from a Christian; indeed, Muslims scarcely regard an uncircumcised person as one of themselves.
Whoever wishes to consult the remainder of the arguments may refer to Tuhfat al-Mawdūd, pp. 53–60.
He then, under item 7, cited the report of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār: “A man came to the Prophet ﷺ with his hair and beard dishevelled; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gestured to him, as though instructing him to tidy his hair and beard …” Mālik narrated it.
I say: ʿAṭāʾ is a well-known Successor, so the report is mursal and therefore weak. It has also been transmitted with a continuous chain from Jābir in a fuller wording that does not mention the beard. Abū Dāwūd and others narrated that version, and it is recorded in al-Ṣaḥīḥah, no. 493.