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Raising the child - the rights of the newborn babies on his father at birth
Under category :
Righteous and Reformers
4106
2011/12/17
2024/12/22
firstly, the rights of the newborn babies on his father at birth:
1- at the birth of the child, the father should choose for his child the best name:
amongst the bad habits that become common is that we find some muslims choose a stranger names for their children like the names of the jewish and christians. we do not know the reason behind that except that they like to take off (renounce) their arab islamic identity.
it is forbidden to name a child with a name that denote servitude to other than allaah, for example ‘abd an-nabi, etc., just as it is forbidden to name them with names that are particular to tyrants and oppressors like fir‘awn, hamaan and qaaroon. we have observed that some people named their children bush after the war of kuwait.
accordingly, the father should choose for his son one of the best names that is in conformity with our islamic identity.
2-he can also slaughter ‘aqeeqah[1] for him, if possible:
the evidence of ‘aqeeqah is what imam ahmad reported in his musnad from umm karaaz that she asked the messenger of allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, about ‘aqeeqah, and he said: “for a boy, two sheep, and for a female one sheep, and it does not matter if it is male or female.” [reported by ahmad and at-tirmithi and said it is a saheeh (authentic) hadeeth]
ibn ‘abbaas, may allaah be pleased with them, narrated that the messenger of allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, did ‘aqeeqah for al-hasan and al-husain, one sheep for each. (reported by abu daawood and the wording of an-nasaa’i two rams for each)
it is recommended that ‘aqeeqah should be presented cooked i.e. not to be distributed uncooked, excerpted by ibn al-qayyim in tuhfat al-mawlood.
3-the father should make tahneek[2] for his son:
it is reported in as-saheehayn (of al-bukhaari and muslim) from the hadeeth of abu burdah from abu moosa, may allaah be pleased with him, who said: “a son was born to me and i took him to the prophet who named him ibrahim, did tahneek for him with a date.”
it is reported in as-saheehayn from anas ibn maalik, may allaah be pleased with him, who said: “abu talhah had a child who was sick. once, while abu talha was out, the child died. when abu talha returned home, he asked, "how does my son behave?" um salaim (his wife) replied, "he is quieter than he has ever been." then she brought supper for him and he took his supper and slept with her. when he had finished, she said (to him), "bury the child (as he is dead)." next morning abu talhah came to allah's messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and told him about that. the prophet said (to him), "did you sleep with your wife last night?" abu talhah said, "yes". the prophet said, "o allah! bestow your blessing on them as regards that night of theirs." um sulaim gave birth to a boy. abu talhah told me to take care of the child till it was taken to the prophet. then abu talhah took the child to the prophet and um sulaim sent some dates along with the child. the prophet took the child (on his lap) and asked if there was something with him. the people replied, "yes, a few dates." the prophet took a date, chewed it, took some of it out of his mouth, put it into the child's mouth and did tahneek for him with that, and named him ‘abdullaah.
as for the hadeeth of calling the athaan in the right ear of the newborn and iqaamah in the left one, it is weak and we should not act upon it.
4-circumcision [3]:
it means removal of some or the entire foreskin (prepuce) from the penis and like a date pit from the women. it may also refer to the place of cutting itself.
it is obligatory for men; however, scholars hold different opinions regarding its ruling for women. the ruling ranges between recommendation and obligation. the most preponderant opinion regarding it is that it is obligatory because of the statement of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in which he said: “when the two circumcised parts (al-khitaanaan) meet, ghusl (ritual bath) become obligatory.” [sunnan ibn maajah] it proves that women were used to be circumcised and because there is something extra, so it should be removed like in men.
-how much should be cut in circumcision?
what is obligatory in the case of a man is to cut the skin on the tip of the penis which is named al-qalafah and al-ghurlah until the entire glans becomes visible.
in the case of a woman, it means cutting the skin that looks like the comb of a rooster at the top of the vagina. it is recommended that it should not be cut as a whole; but rather a part of it.
that is because of the hadeeth narrated by umm ‘attiyah, may allaah be pleased with her, in which she said there was a woman who did circumcisions in medina. the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to her: “leave something sticking out and do not go to extremes in cutting. that makes her face look brighter and is more pleasing to her husband.” [as-silsilah as-saheehah by imaam al-albaani]
-time of circumcision:
it is recommended that circumcision should be done in the early years until the age of consent because it is better for him and will heal quickly. so, he may grow in the perfect conditions. the matter is broad in scope. if the child can bear circumcision, so it is better to do it in the first week. [4]
5-natural breastfeeding:
it is one of the rights (of the child) that allaah the almighty made obligatory in his book. he the almighty says: {mothers may breastfeed their children two complete years for whoever wishes to complete the nursing [period].} [al-baqarah: 233]
allaah the almighty has defined the duration of legal breastfeeding for it really implies a divine wisdom that benefits the child. we may find some mothers wean their children after one or two months. they turn to artificial milk although these kinds of milk cause diseases for the child such as obesity, colic, constipation and heart diseases. o muslim women, fear allaah the almighty regarding your children.
[1]aqeeqah is a sheep that is slaughtered on the occasion of the birth. (translator)
[2]tahneekmeans putting something sweet in the child's mouth when he is first born, such as dates or honey, (translator)
[3]circumcision: the female gynaecologist sitt al-banaat khaalid says in an article entitled khitaan al-banaat ru’yah sihhiyyah (female circumcision from a health point of view): amongst the the health benefits of female circumcision are:
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1-it takes away excessive libido from women;
2-it prevents unpleasant odours which result from foul secretions beneath the prepuce;
3-it reduces the incidence of urinary tract infections;
4-it reduces the incidence of infections of the reproductive system.
in the book on traditions that affect the health of women and children, which was published by the world health organization in 1979 it says: “with regard to the type of female circumcision which involves removal of the prepuce of the clitoris, which is similar to male circumcision, no harmful health effects have been noted.”
[4]the timing of circumcision is different for girls, as we need to let the girl grow up fully to know if she really needs the circumcision or not, because many girls do not have any skin sticking out so they do not need the procedure.
