The presence of a newborn for married couples is a blessing that has been awaited. A child is a blessing that is endowed upon their parents by Allah. The presence of a child brings a certain happiness for the family. Therefore, it is of importance to prepare for the prayers for the newborns in Islam.
In Islam, things related to the birth of a child planned even before they are born. One of those is about the etiquette of shaving baby’s hair in Islam. The etiquette of shaving hair baby’s hair in Islam is applied since the baby is born. For the etiquette exists for good and to show our faith towards Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
So, what are the etiquettes of shaving baby’s hair in Islam? Read below!
In Islam, when a baby is born, it is advised for the parents to receive him with aqiqah and to perform shaving on the baby. As to how a hadith explained:
مَعَ الْغُلَامِ عَقِيقَةٌ فَأَهْرِيقُوا عَنْهُ دَمًا وَأَمِيطُوا عَنْهُ الْأَذَى
“‘Aqiqa is to be offered for a (newly born) boy, so slaughter (an animal) for him, and relieve him of his suffering.”
قَالَ أَبُوْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : اَلْـعَـقِـيْقَتةُ تُـذْبَحُ لِسَـبْعٍ وَلِأَرْبَعَ عَشَرَةَ
وَلِإِحْدَى وَعِشْرِيْنَ
“aqeeqah on the seventh or fourteenth or twenty-first day” [Hadith Thabrani]
In general aqiqah in Islam is done on the seventh day after the birth of a baby. However, if in the meantime the parent is not financially capable of holding aqiqah, then it is understandable for them to delay the ceremony until they are financially stable.
After the ceremony of aqiqah, the process is continued to the shaving This also should be done by the parents based on the verse below:
Salman bin Amir Ad-Dhabb narrated:
مَعَ الْغُلَامِ عَقِيقَةٌ فَأَهْرِيقُوا عَنْهُ دَمًا وَأَمِيطُوا عَنْهُ الْأَذَى
“For a boy, there should be an ‘Aqiqah’, so shed blood for him, and remove the harm from him.”
[AdSense-C]
Another hadith narrated similar thing, from Samura radhiyallahu ‘anhu narrated:
الْغُلَامُ مُرْتَهَنٌ بِعَقِيقَتِهِ يُذْبَحُ عَنْهُ يَوْمَ السَّابِعِ وَيُسَمَّى وَيُحْلَقُ رَأْسُهُ
“The boy is mortgaged by his ‘Aqiqah; slaughtering should be done for him on the seventh day, he should be given a name, and his head should be shaved.”
The etiquettes of shaving baby’s hair in Islam also explained in a fiqh encyclopedia below:
ذهب الجمهور المالكية والشافعية والحنابلة إلى استحباب حلق شعر رأس المولود يوم السابع, والتصدق بزنة شعره ذهباً أو فضة عند المالكية والشافعية, وفضة عند الحنابلة. وإن لم يحلق تحرى وتصدق به. ويكون
الحلق بعد ذبح العقيقة
The majority of Islamic scholars which are Maliqyah, Syafi’i, and Hanbali narrated that it is mandatory to shave baby’s hair on the seventh day and to give out gold or silver coin out of charity according to the weight of the baby’s hair. If not, the weight could be predicted, and give silver coin out of charity according to it. Shaving hairs should be done before performing aqiqah.
[AdSense-B]
What if it has not been shaved after the 7th day ended?
Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami narrated that he advised to shave the baby’s hair and give out to charity according to the weight of the shaved’s hair. He also explained regarding the baby’s hair that is yet to be shaved below:
مَنْ لَمْ يُفْعَلْ بِشَعْرِهِ مَا ذَكَرَهُ يَنْبَغِي لَهُ كَمَا قَالَهُ الزَّرْكَشِيُّ أَنْ يَفْعَلَهُ هُوَ بِهِ بَعْدَ بُلُوغِهِ إنْ كَانَ شَعْرُ الْوِلَادَةِ بَاقِيًا وَإِلَّا تَصَدَّقَ بِزِنَتِهِ يَوْمَ الْحَلْقِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَعْلَمْ احْتَاطَ وَأَخْرَجَ الْأَكْثَرَ
“For whose hair is not handled as the mentioned (shaved and charity) then it is advised to perform the shaving of hair after his coming of age day if his hair is brought from birth. If the weight is unidentified, he should be careful, by giving out of charity for a little more.” (Tuhfat al Muhtaj)
Those are the etiquettes of shaving baby’s hair in Islam that we should know of. Wishing this article will bring us knowledge and ignite our spirits to manifest all of shalih goodness in Islam. Aamiin.