EVENT

Aqiqah ceremony

Every mother in the world feels happy when they gave birth of a new baby.A baby is a gift from God. In Islam, A father Moslem must takes the baby into his arms and whispers. If the mother gave birth a son, their father must call to prayer Adzans into the baby’s right ear. So, that is the first word the child hears is “there is only one God”. If she gave birth a daughter, their father must call to prayer Iqamah. Iqamah is a slightly modified version of the adzan. It is a whispered in to the left ear of the baby.

The unique one is the oldest or most respected relative must give a small piece of mashed date, sugar or honey to the baby’s mouth. It is a symbol the wisher and prayers of the family for the baby to have a sweet pleasant life and full of goodness.

The baby will be named by an elderly family member such as grandfather, grandmother or the parents. The baby names may be given according to the parent race. For example, if the parents are from North Sumatera. They gave their race name at the baby’s name. Many parents is given the baby’s  name from Al-Qur’an or the companions of the Prophet Muhammad such as Alif. Alif  means; the first letter in the Arabic alphabet. The second one is Abdullah. Abdullah means; the servant of God. Receiving a good name is considered to be a fundamental right due to the baby from their parents.

Seven days after the birth, the parents hold an Aqiqah ceremony. The aqiqah ceremony usually prepared a sheep or a goat as a meal the family, friends, and the poor in the neighborhood the baby’s hair is shaved and traditionally the shaved hairs weight in silver or gold is given to the poor as charity. This immediately connects the child with the community as well as being a symbol of the child’s life long commitment to the poor.

The practice of these religious customs around birth depends largely on the commitment of the parents to Islam, their knowledge of the religion, and the economic status. Aqiqah ceremony is one of the requisition from Allah.