Muslim Festivals and Ceremonies — Page 45
Birth of a child. When a child is born in a Muslim family, the parents celebrate his or her birth through thanksgiving, prayers and the performance of certain ceremonies. Some of them are mentioned here:i) Recitation of Adhan and Iqamah:. The first ceremony to be performed is to recite Adhan and Iqamah in the ears of the new-born. After the baby is cleaned and washed thoroughly, Adhan is recited in the right ear while Iqamah is recited in the left. Both are whispered into the ears of the baby. The ritual can be performed by anyone, but generally an elderly person of the family or any other pious person is requested to do so. . Adhan is the Call to Prayer which invites the Muslims to the obligatory Prayers while Iqamah is the notice that Prayer is about to commence. (See Friday Prayer service). . The purpose of the ceremony is to emphasise upon Muslims that the main object of human life is to worship Allah, the. Master of the Worlds and that the child should be made aware of the religious truths right from his birth. ii) The First Feed:. The first food or substance that the mouth of the baby comes in contact with, is considered important. Therefore before the mother starts giving her baby a suck, a pious person or an elderly person in the family is requested to feed the baby with a little bit of food. If no other person is available, the father of the child performs the ritual. Ripe dates, honey, fruite juices or any other suitable baby food can be used for the purpose. The Companions of the Holy Prophet of Islam used to have their new born babies given the first feed by the Holy. Prophet himself, who used to chew up a little bit of a ripe date in his mouth in order to turn it into a mash liquid and then feed it to the baby. 45