In light of the upcoming amendments to the Employment\nAct, the Women\u2019s Aid Organisation (WAO) is calling for the introduction of at\nleast seven days of paternity leave in the private sector, similar to the\ncurrent practice of the public sector. \nThis news brings to mind the to-do list that Islam highly recommends\nparents, especially fathers to carry out in welcoming the new born. If\npaternity leave is granted to fathers working at the private sector, it will help\nMuslim fathers to play their roles according to the Sunnah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Muslims, the first seven days after the child is\nborn is very important, especially for the father. Other than to help out and\nbe with his wife and their new born baby, there are a few things that fathers need\nto do, as recommended by Islam. Although\nsome of these responsibilities can be postponed, it is best to do them within seven\ndays after the baby is born, following the Sunnah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Islam there are some recommended to do list with\nregards to the new born: (i) saying the azan<\/em>\nand iqamah<\/em> to the new born ; (ii) performing\ntahnik<\/em>; (iii) shaving the baby\u2019s head;\n(iv) giving name to the baby; and, (v) performing the aqiqah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing that a father needs to do is to say\nthe azan<\/em> and the iqamah <\/em>to the new born. While azan<\/em>\nis the call for prayer that we hear every day from the mosques, iqamah<\/em> is the final call to prayer which\nis done more swiftly as it addresses those who are already in the mosques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally, this takes place at the hospitals. After the baby is cleaned, the father will\ncarry the baby close to his chest and say the azan<\/em> to the baby\u2019s right ear and iqamah<\/em> to the left ear. By\ndoing this it is hoped that the first thing the baby hears is the word of the\nSupreme call which contains Allah\u2019s magnificence and glory and the shahadah<\/em> which represent his first step\ninto Islam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, fathers are recommended to perform the tahnik<\/em>. \nIt refers to the act of placing something sweet like chewed dates or\nhoney, inside the baby\u2019s palate. \nNormally, the honour of doing this is given to a pious and righteous man,\nin order to seek his blessing and hoping that the baby grows up as pious and\nrighteous. This man will chew the dates,\nput some of it on his fingertip, inserts it in the baby\u2019s mouth, and gently moves\nhis finger right and left, until the whole mouth is rubbed with the chewed dates. It is believed that this act will strengthen\nthe muscles in the baby\u2019s mouth and thus enhance its suckling experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thirdly, Islam recommends that the head of the new born\nis shaved on the seventh day. The hair\nis then weighed and the equivalent price of silver is to be identified and\ngiven away to the poor and needy. Shaving\nthe baby\u2019s head will get rid of the weaker hair the child is born with and\nopens up the pores so that stronger hair can grow. Giving money to the poor and\nneedy serves as a social function that reflects social solidarity and\ncooperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fourthly,\ngiving name to the baby. The Prophet\nMuhammad peace be upon him, once said, \u201cYou\nwill be called on the Doomsday by your names, your father\u2019s name, so choose\nnice names<\/em>.\u201d Parents are advised to\nchoose the most beautiful names, following the Prophet\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last but not\nleast, aqiqah<\/em>, which involves slaughtering\na goat or a sheep for the new born and sharing its meat with friends and\nfamily. The Prophet peace be upon him\nsaid which means, \u201cAqiqah must be offered\nfor every newly born child, to be slaughtered on his seventh day, and he is\ngiven a name, and has haircut.<\/em>\u201d \nAlthough aqiqah<\/em> is not\nobligatory, it contains many benefits and Muslims are encouraged to perform\nit. It is a way of expressing gratitude\nto Allah for the blessing of having a child. \nIt is also believed that aqiqah<\/em>\nbrings a child close to Allah soon after entering this world. Furthermore, it is a cause for gathering\nfamily, friends and the community in welcoming the new born. No doubt aqiqah<\/em> can be done later, it is highly\nrecommended to do it on the seventh day as what the Prophet did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apparently,\nmany fatherhood responsibilities need to be done for a new born, especially\nduring the first seven days. In that sense, the seven days paternity leave for\nthe private sector is very much anticipated as Muslim fathers can follow the\nSunnah of the Prophet in welcoming the additional member of\nthe family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In light of the upcoming amendments to the Employment Act, the Women\u2019s Aid Organisation (WAO) is calling for the introduction of at least seven days of paternity leave in the private sector, similar to the current practice of the public sector. This news brings to mind the to-do list that Islam highly recommends parents, especially…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}