Is it a desi tradition or a muslim one to shave a newborn’s hair off in his/her first week? And what are the reasons people choose to do this i.e. what is the wisdom behind this. Just curious.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
It's sunnah to shave your child's hair on the 7th, 14th or 21st day and weigh it...then donate the value of its weight in silver to charity. Also, a qurbani is done for a female child and 2 qurbanis are done for male child. This is the aqiqah.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
It's sunnah like Niksik has explained, not just desi tradition.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
It's Sunnah as Nikisik and Mehnaz said.....wisdom might be that after first shaving new hair grow more thicker and stronger and also it can be because of hygiene issue but it's a Sunnah so no question to this tradition.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
**there is no shara'ii requirement to shave the baby's head on 7th, 14th, 21st day...its all Hindu and desi traditions. Haqeeqa is required but one can be deferred to any later date if one has economic constraints and this is the reason why back home people do 'aqeeqas of their chil on another child's wedding when amimal is slaughtered anyway. islam doesn't make life harder by placing arbiterary numbers. there is no shara'ii tradition of those numbers.
Hareem Ji has very well described the wisdom behind this. :)**
The hair cutting can't be tradition as I have read about it in the islamic books. The hair isn't pak it has gone through the mum and blood etc. So we have to shave it.
I had my son with forceps delivery and they took blood from his head to monitor his heart beat whilst he was still in me so he had scabs that had to heal before we could shave it, so we waited until the 21 days I think. or 14 can't remember.
there is no shara'ii requirement to shave the baby's head on 7th, 14th, 21st day...its all Hindu and desi traditions. Haqeeqa is required but one can be deferred to any later date if one has economic constraints and this is the reason why back home people do 'aqeeqas of their chil on another child's wedding when amimal is slaughtered anyway. islam doesn't make life harder by placing arbiterary numbers. there is no shara'ii tradition of those numbers.
Hareem Ji has very well described the wisdom behind this. :)
Shukriya mr.Hashmat....and i agree that if you don't have any money available you can do the sacrifice and distribute meat later.
I see Aqiqah as a welcoming party for the new born and there are certain rituals which are part of Aqiqah ceremony and it's done at the 7th day, first you name the baby, shave the head and rub saffron water on baby's head, weigh the hair and distribute silver or money, circumsize if it's a boy and sacrifice sheep/goat and distribute meat among relatives and poor.
These are all Prophetic traditions and proven from hadith and taarikh.
I'm glad that I've done all of these rituals with all of my kids.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
First of all its Sunnah to take off hair
secondly if you shave the head 2/3 time in quick succession, MOSTLY kids get very heavy/beautiful and strong hair.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
^shukar hai koi tu aql ki baat ki hai
there is no shara'ii requirement to shave the baby's head on 7th, 14th, 21st day...its all Hindu and desi traditions. Haqeeqa is required but one can be deferred to any later date if one has economic constraints and this is the reason why back home people do 'aqeeqas of their chil on another child's wedding when amimal is slaughtered anyway. islam doesn't make life harder by placing arbiterary numbers. there is no shara'ii tradition of those numbers.
Hareem Ji has very well described the wisdom behind this. :)
Hindus shave hair after 1st year. This is a sunnah and not fardh.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
i know at least two muslim couples who have decided not to shave their babies' heads. i don't like that but they're not my kids, so whatever.
the way i see it is that was your baby's hair while it was growing inside you and now that its out and has begun a new stage in its life, it requires a fresh start.
in our family, babies usually get named when they're born or whenever the parents figure out what to call the baby! we shave the baby's head at home, surrounded by immediate family only and usually in the first couple of weeks (no fixed date), and give monetary sadqah to the masjid. and the aqeeqa is usually a big celebration in canada and we send money to pakistan for sacrifice and then the meat gets distributed there. i do like the thought of giving silver but how would one go about doing it in canada? where would you buy silver from? is it ok if its in the form of a chain/pendant or does one buy silver bars? isn't money more practical for a masjid?
also you're not supposed to throw the shaved hair, right? i think my mom said we wash it away.
Re: Newborn’s first haircut
I shaved my son’s head myself. I was so scared cause I thought it would hurt him, but he seemed to be in heaven, eyes rolling back and sighing … 
Re: Newborn's first haircut
I know a girl who refused to shave her child's hair because she wanted it to be long! Everybody told her the reasoning behind cutting the child's hair but she just wasn't having any of it. I personally don't agree with what she did, but whatever, her child - her choice.
Islamically it should be cut within the time period already specified by others and the weight of the hair should be donated to the poor in its value in silver.
This isn't a hindu tradition.
Wow…you’re so brave.
i think i can understand her feelings, after the birth some mothers become too sensitive about their babies, I remember i gave a good cry arter seeing the first shaven hair.
Re: Newborn's first haircut
i shaved heads of both of my sons within a week of their birth. as many have said its Sunnah than anything else.
Hashmat mate, it couldnt be hindu tradition as they wait until a year to cut a single hair of their babies, that is also advised by their pundit for "shub" time and day. I came to know this recently when i questioned long hair of six months old baby boy of my colleague.
get out! you did it yourself? that takes a lot of courage.
i was balling my eyes out when musa was getting his hair shaved 
Re: Newborn's first haircut
my mom's friend refuse to shave her daughter's hair and when the baby was 7 months old her hair were so week and they started falling so she shaved her head then.
another family that i know didn't shave their daughter's head and she is now 3 years old, her sister who was born about a year after her got her hair shaved and now u can see a major difference between their hair because the girl who didn't get her hair shaved have very fine almost dull looking hair and her sister has very thick shinny black hair.
And what are the reasons
stupidity. just don't do it man. let the child grow a bit. you will hear all kinds of make-the-arm-fit-the-sleeve arguments that it's more hygeinic and what not but at the end of the day it's just some primitive tradition people have carried on on the name of religion. I smack myself couple of times every time I remember how my family made me do it and how stupid it really is. wait at least couple of months.
^
What is so stupid about shaving your kids head on the 7th day, what is going to happen? What happened to millions and millions of Muslims in last 1500 yrs who performed that sunna that you are finding faults in it all of a sudden?
Re: Newborn's first haircut
What is so stupid about shaving your kids head on the 7th day
mindless following thinking it's some kinda 'sawab'. that's what's so stupid. I mean it won't be so stupid if you shave head thinking your baby would look cute .. at least there would be some rational behind it but doing something just BECAUSE cave people did centuries ago is stupid.