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From the prescribed manners of welcoming the new-born
child is to shave the head on the seventh day after the birth - i.e. on the
day when the 'Aqeeqah is sacrificed. This is due to the saying of the chosen
Messenger Muhammad: <Every child is held in pledge for its 'Aqeeqah which
is sacrificed for him on his seventh day, and he is named on it, and his
head is shaved.>1
(A) Manners to be Observed when Shaving the
Head
The following manners must be observed when shaving
the child's head:
(1) The right side of the head should be shaved
first - then the other side. This is the Sunnah for shaving the head in general
due to the hadeeth of Anas ibn Maalik that Allah's Messenger said to the
barbers who shaved his head in Minaa: "<Take/Shave> and he indicated
the right side of his head and then the left." and in another wording after
he had shave the right side, he said to him: <Shave the other
side>.2
(2) The new-born child's hair is shaved when
that is possible - but if the child is born without hair, or there is so
little hair that it cannot really be shaved - then it is not shaved, and
with regard to the first case, then there is no need to merely pass the razor
over his head.
(3) One may not shave a part of the child's
head and leave another part since this is 'al-Qaz' which was forbidden by
the beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).3
(4) When the hair has been shaved and weighed
it may be buried in the earth since it has been reported in some
narrations4 - just as it is allowed to put it in any place without
specification.
(B) Does Shaving Apply to both
Males and Females?
*The Preferred View
Perhaps the second saying which holds that it applies
to both males and females is more correct and stronger due to the following
three points:
First: He said: <When it is the child's seventh
day, then spill blood for him, remove the harm from him and name
him>5 and in another hadeeth that he: "Ordered that the child
be named on the seventh day, the harm removed and 'Aqeeqah be
performed."6
So there two hadeeth are a proof that the shaving is
general to both male and female children since the word (mawlood) - '(new-born)
child' is a word used to refer to both males and females, and the harm mentioned
in the hadeeth is the hair as has preceded.
So this is the meaning that is to be understood from
the ahaadeeth which occur with the word: 'al-ghulaam' (boy/child) - such
as the hadeeth of Samurah: <Every child (ghulaam) ... >, since some
of the scholars mention that what is meant by 'ghulaam' is any child whether
male or female .7
As San'aanee adds: "And what is apparent from it is
that the shaving of the head applies to both boys and girls."8
Therefore, we say that the mention of the word for
boy in the hadeeth was not meant to be restricted and particular to boys
as is shown by the fact that both males and females share in the other matters
mentioned in the same hadeeth, i.e. the naming and the 'Aqeeqah - so likewise
both share in the shaving.
Secondly: From Ja'far ibn Muhammad: from his
father ('Alee ibn alHusayn) who said: "Faatimah weighed the hair of Hasan,
Husayn and Zaynab and Umm Kulthoom and gave its weight in silver in
charity."9
And its chain of narration is broken (munqati). It
is reported in another narration - which does not mention Zaynab or Umm Kulthoom
- "that she weighed the hair of al-Hasan and al-Husayn and gave its weight
in silver to charity."10
So the first narration contains an addition which is
the mention of Zaynab and Umm Kulthoom, however, its meaning is witnessed
to by what is established from the prescription of shaving the hair of the
girl in the ahaadeeth of the first point. So this addition is to be accepted
since it does not bring any new and extra ruling, and Allah knows best.
As is obvious Faatimah's - radiyallaahu'anhaa - weighing
of the hair of her daughters was not possible except after shaving it, and
a further indication that she did indeed shave their hair is what can be
understood from the general word 'children' in the narration reported by
Ibn Abee Shaibah: "That she used to perform 'Aqeeqah for her children on
the seventh day, name them, circumcise them, shave their head, and give its
weight in silver to charity."11
However, since we cannot definitely state that these
narrations are strong with regard to their chains of narration - then we
say that they are secondary evidences and that the primary proof is the first
evidence where the general term applying to both males and females is used,
i.e. (child: mawlood), along with what follows:
Second: In addition to this the Messenger (peace
be upon him) ordered that harm be removed from the child and this harm -
as has preceded - is the hair upon the head and the traces of birth upon
it. The removal of this hair is due to the reason that it is harmful, so
how can it be, this being the case that is to be removed from the male but
not the female! The benefit is medical - as seen from the hadeeth, and social
- as will follow - and this will be the same for both boys and girls.
So perhaps these three matters together support each
other and strengthen one another - so that the ruling is strengthened and
shaving is seen to be a Sunnah applying to any new-born child whether male
or female. And Allah knows best what is correct.
(C) The Place of Shaving in the
Order of the Actions on the Seventh Day.
We know that shaving the hair is one of the actions
of the seventh day and here we will mention that it is recommended that it
be done after sacrificing the 'Aqeeqah on that day. There occurs in the hadeeth
of 'Aa.ishah - radiyallaahu'anhaa -:"Allah's Messenger performed the 'Aqeeqah
of al-Hasan and al-Husayn on the seventh day, and he named them, and ordered
that the harm be removed from their heads."12
So this indicates that the sacrifice is to be done
before the shaving of the head, since the shaving is attached to the 'Aqeeqah
and was ordered to be done after the 'Aqeeqah was performed. This is also
indicated by what is mentioned in some narrations of the hadeeth of Samurah:
<Sacrifice is made for him on the seventh day, then his head is shaved.>
It is reported by Abush-Shaikh13
This is the view held by al-Baghawee and declared to
be correct by an-Nawawee in 'al-Majmoo'.
(D) The Time of Giving
Charity
After shaving off the hair of the child it is Sunnah
to give the value of the weight of the hair in silver, as charity. However,
is this another action to be done on the seventh day., The time for giving
the charity has been mentioned in the hadeeth of Anas: "That Allah's Messenger
(peace be upon him) ordered that the heads of al-Hasan and al-Husayn be shaved
on their seventh day, then charity was given with its weight in silver, and
he did not find a sacrifice."14
And there is also a report from Faatimah that she shaved
the hair of her son on the seventh day and gave the charity on it.15
So this is what is recommended, but it is a matter
in which there is allowance and ease - if Allah - the Most High - wills.
(E) Is Charity to be Given in
Gold or Silver?
What is established in the authentic ahaadeeth is that
it is to be silver. Ibn Hajr said: "All the narrations are agreed in mentioning
giving charity with silver, and none of them contain a mention of
gold."16
And giving charity in gold is not reported - as far
as I know - except in the previous hadeeth of Ibn 'Abbaas in which there
occurs: "And he should give its weight in charity - in either gold or silver."
However, it is weak as has preceded. Therefore, what is better is to stick
to what is confirmed in the authentic Sunnah - that charity be given with
the weight of his hair in silver. But if he were to give the charity in gold,
then it would not harm since it is reported from a group of the Salaf. But
silver is better for two reasons:
(i) It is what is established in the many authentic
ahaadeeth as has preceded.
(ii) That giving silver in charity is easily
managed by any person - as opposed to gold which is more expensive, and this
can be seen clearly in the following point:
(F) How can this Charity be Given
at Present.
In the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and
after him, silver used to be a common form of currency - like gold, when
they shaved the hair they weighed it against silver - and then gave this
weight in charity - as done by Faatimah - radiyallaahu'anhaa. However, today,
people use paper money (riyals in Saudi Arabia) and other currencis which
are prevalent today instead ofsilver.17
So we need to know the amount of charity to be given
today, and this will be made clear in the following:
* What we should do is to work out the value of the
appropriate amount of silver in modern currency. That is done by weighing
the hair in grams then finding out the current value of that amount of
silver.
The result will then be the amount of charity that
is to be given.
* An example: For hair which weighs 2.5 grams, i.e.
approximately one dirham. We multiply this by the price of a gram of silver
- which is not fixed - let us say that it is two saudi riyals. Then the amount
of charity to be given will be 2.5 x 2 = 5 riyals (approx. 85p sterling)
and this is an amount of charity which will be easy for every Muslim - rich
or poor.
However, if this were measured in gold, it would be
harder since a gram of gold may cost about 50 riyals or more (approx. (8.50)
- so upon our example the amount of charity to be given if it were given
in gold would be 2.5 x 50 riyals = 125 riyals (approx. 22)
Shaving the Head
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| Category: | Home > Society And Culture > Children > Childs Naming > Manners of Welcoming the Newborn > Shaving the Head |
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