The illustrious Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid was once asked the following question:

"What should I do or be prepared with in receiving my new born baby in one or two days time. Any sunnah that I should follow?."

And the Shaykh answered as follows:

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

We ask Allah to bless your new baby for you and to make him among the righteous and pious so that he will weigh in the balance of your good deeds, because it was reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“When the son of Adam dies, all his good deeds come to an end, apart from three: sadaqah jaariyah (ongoing charity, such as a waqf or endowment), beneficial knowledge, and a righteous child who will pray for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1631).

Secondly:

There is no action prescribed in sharee’ah for preparing to welcome a new baby a day or two before he is born, as far as we know. But one can recite general du’aa’s, such as praying for the newborn to be safe and sound, to be guided, and so on. Allah mentioned in His Book the prayer of the righteous woman, the wife of ‘Imraan, who said (what can be translated as):

“35:-(Remember) when the wife of ‘Imraan said: ‘O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your place of worship), so accept this from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.

36:-Then when she gave birth to her [child Maryam (Mary], she said: ‘O my Lord! I have given birth to a female child,’ — and Allah knew better what she brought forth, — ‘And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam (Mary), and I seek refuge with You (Allah) for her and for her offspring from Shaytaan (Satan), the outcast.’” [Qur'an 3:35-36]

There follows an outline of what should be done on the day of the child’s birth, and after that:

It is mustahabb (recommended) to do tahneek for the baby and to pray for him. It was reported that Abu Moosa said:

“I had a baby boy, and I brought him to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He named him Ibraaheem, did Tahneek with some dates and prayed for Allah to bless him, then he gave him back to me.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5150; Muslim, 2145). Tahneek means putting something sweet, such as dates or honey, in the child’s mouth when he is first born.

It is permissible to name the child on the first day or on the seventh. It was reported that Anas ibn Maalik said:

"the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“A boy was born to me this night and I have named him with the name of my father Ibraaheem.” (Narrated by Muslim, 3126).

It was reported that ‘Aa’ishah said:

"the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did ‘aqeeqah for al-Hasan and al-Husayn on the seventh day, and gave them their names. (Narrated by Ibn Hibbaan, 12/127; al-Haakim, 4/264. Classed as saheeh by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar in Fath al- Baari, 9/589).

‘Aqeeqah and Circumcision

It was reported from Salmaan ibn ‘Aamir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“For the boy there should be an ‘aqeeqah. Slaughter (an animal) for him and remove the harmful thing [i.e., the foreskin] from him.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1515; al-Nasaa’i, 4214; Abu Dawood, 2839; Ibn Maajah, 3164. The hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani, may Allah have mercy on him, in al-Irwaa’, 4/396).

It was reported that Samurah ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“A boy is ransomed by his ‘aqeeqah. Sacrifice should be made for him on the seventh day, he should be given a name and his head should be shaved.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1522; al-Nasaa’i, 4220 and Abu Dawood, 2838. The hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani, may Allah have mercy on him, in al-Irwaa’ 4/385).

Imaam ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Among the benefits of ‘aqeeqah are:

1. It is a sacrifice by means of which the child is brought close to Allah soon after he comes into this world.

2. It is a ransom for the newborn; his ‘aqeeqah ransoms him so that he can intercede for his parents.

3. It is a sacrifice by which the newborn is ransomed just as Allah ransomed Ismaa’eel with the ram. (Tuhfat al-Mawdood, p. 69).
Perhaps another benefit of the ‘aqeeqah is the gathering of relatives and friends for the waleemah (feast).

4.Circumcision is part of the Sunan al-Fitrah (practices related to the pure and
natural inclinations of man). It is obligatory in the case of boys because it is connected to matters of purity which are essential conditions of prayer.

It was reported from Abu Hurayrah:

“Five things are related to the Fitrah: circumcision, removing the pubic hairs, plucking the armpit hairs, cutting the nails, and trimming the moustache.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5550; Muslim, 257).

Thirdly:

Among the Sunnahs for welcoming the newborn, the scholars mentioned that the Adhaan should be recited into the baby’s right ear so that the first thing he hears in this world will be the words of Tawheed, which will have a great and blessed effect on the child. With regard to reciting the iqaamah in the child’s left ear, there is nothing to prove that this is required. (See al-Silsilat al-Da’eefah, 1/491).

Fourthly:

Shaving the child’s head then anointing the child’s head with saffron is very beneficial. Then it is prescribed to give in charity gold or silver equal in weight to the hair. This does not have to be done by actually weighing the hair; if it is too difficult to do that, it is sufficient to estimate the weight and give paper currency equivalent to the price of that amount of gold or silver.

We ask Allah to protect us and our children from all evil and to keep them safe and sound in this world and in the Hereafter.

May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

Note:

Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid Imam and khateeb at ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Mosque in al-Khobar

He has taught a number of Islamic classes, in which he taught from texts such as the following:

• Tafseer Ibn Katheer

• Sharh Saheeh al-Bukhaari (Commentary on Saheeh al-Bukhaari)

• Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah

• Sharh Sunan at-Tirmidhi

• Sharh Kitaab at-Tawheed li’sh-Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab

• Sharh ‘Umdat al-Ahkaam fi’l-Fiqh li’l-al-Haafiz ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi

• Sharh Kitaab Manhaj as-Saalikeen fi’l-Fiqh li’sh-Shaykh as-Sa‘di.

He gives lectures on Wednesdays and monthly classes in Riyadh and Jeddah. He also has two programs on the al-Qur’an al-Kareem channel: Bayna an-Nabi salla Allahu ‘alahi wa sallam wa Ashaabihi (Between the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his Companions), Saturdays and Khutuwaat ‘ala Tareeq al-Islaah (Steps Towards Reform), Wednesdays, repeated on Mondays.

He has also contributed to TV programs and tapes on different subjects, amounting to more than 4500 audio hours over 23 years.

He has also written a number of books, including:

1. Koonu ‘ala al-Khayr A‘waanan (Cooperate in doing good)
2. The Muslim Home - 40 Recommendations
3. 33 Ways of Developing Khushoo in prayer
4. The Prophet’s Methods for Correcting People’s Mistakes
5. 70 Matters Related to Fasting
6. Dealing with Worries and Stress
7. Disallowed Matters
8. Prohibitions that are taken too lightly
9. What you should do in the following situations
10. Weakness of Faith
11. Means of Steadfastness: Standing Firm in Islam
12. I Want to Repent, But…
13. Problems and Solutions
14. Siraa‘ ma‘a ash-Shahawaat (Fighting Whims and Desires)

Shaykh al-Munajjid set up the Islam Q&A website (islamqa.info) in 1996 CE and has continued running it until now.

He is also the supervisor of the Islam Web Site (islam.ws) which includes eight sites.

He is also the supervisor of the Zad Group, which is involved in Islamic education and da ‘wah, with activities in the fields of mobile phones, telecoms, production, broadcasting, TV and publishing.

Islamabad!