NAMING THE NEWBORN ON THE SEVENTH DAY IN ISLAM By Ibrahim Teslim, Abdullahi Naming ceremony in any society is virtually a thing of joy that is usually celebrated with pomp and pageantry irrespective of the financial wherewithal of the celebrant, because having a newborn is a proverbial gift from God in any part of the world. In Islamic circle, there seems to be one controversy or the other over the precise day of celebrating naming ceremonies in Islam. Where you see scholars of Islam arguing on the fact that it is suppose to be celebrated on 7th day while other claims 8th day. This issues of which particular day to celebrate Aqeeqah (naming ceremony) has polarized some marriages and families due to misunderstanding the precise day it should be carried out in Islam. Majority of our fathers have religiously hold onto celebrating it the 8th day, and some parents can go extra mile in dis-owning any of their children who tries to do otherwise from "traditional practice" of the 8th day. What is the position of the Prophet (SAW)sunnah on this? Some authentic Hadiths require for a newborn to be named on its seventh day. Samurah Bin Jundub (RA) reported that Allah's Messenger (SAW) said: "Every child is mortgaged with its 'aqiqah, which is to be slaughtered for it on its seventh day. On that day, it should also be named, and its head should be shaved". ( Ahmad, Abu Dawud and others) And Abdullah Bin Amr (RA) reported: "The Prophet (SAW) commanded us to name a newborn on its seventh day, and to remove filth off it and perform its 'aqiqah." (at-Tirmidhi) Naming A Child Before The Seventh Day On the other hand, there are authentic reports indicating that the Prophet (SAW) named some newborns before the seventh day. Anas (RA) reported that on the morning following the birth of the Prophet's (SAW) son Ibrahim, the Prophet (SAW) said: "A baby-boy was born for me this past night. So I named him with my father's name, Ibrahim". [Bukhari & Muslim] Anas (RA) also reported that as soon as his mother, Umm Sulaym, gave birth to his young brother, Abdullah, she told him, "O Anas, take these dates, and do not let the baby eat anything until you first hand him to Allah's Messenger (SAW) in the morning". In the morning, Anas took the baby to Allah's Messenger (SAW). He found him wearing a striped cloak and marking some cattle that he had received. When he saw the baby he asked Anas, "Did Milhan's daughter deliver?" He replied, "Yes!" He said, "Wait until I finish what I am doing". He then put away what he had in his land, held the baby, and asked, "Did you bring anything with him?". He replied, "Yes, some dates". The Prophet (SAW) took some dates, chewed on them, mixing them with his saliva, opened the baby's mouth, and rubbed the chewed the dates inside his mouth. The baby began to hungrily suck the sweetness of the dates together with Allah's Messenger (SAW) saliva. Thus the first thing to enter that baby's stomach was the saliva of Allah's Messenger (SAW). He then said: "Watch how the Ansar love dates!". Anas then said, "O Allah's Messenger! Give him a name." The Prophet (SAW) rubbed the baby's face and named him Abdullah. [Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad and others]. From the above, we see that the Prophet (SAW) commanded naming a newborn on the seventh day. However, his practice shows that he named some newborns as soon as they were born. A few among the 'Ulama, such as al-Hasan al-Basri (RML) and Imam Malik (RML), hold the opinion that it is not permissible to name a child before the seventh day. Most of the 'Ulama, however, are of the opinion that it is permissible to name a newborn as soon as it is born, buy naming it should not be delayed past the seventh day. We find the latter opinion more appropriate for the following reasons: 1. It is not clear from the Prophet's (SAW) above commands that he prohibited naming a newborn before the seventh day. In other words, we do not have a text saying, for example, "Do not name a baby before the seventh day". 2. The best way to reconcile between the Prophet's (SAW) statement and actions is by allowing both of them to hold simultaneously- if possible. This reconciliation is possible in this case, and there is no need to assume that either of the two forms of evidence abrogates the other. Who Names the Child? The 'Ulama agree that the father has the first right to name the newborn. This is because Allah appointed him for the responsibility of leading the family. Allah (SWT) says: "Men are in charge of women by (right of) what (qualities) Allah has given one over the other and what they spend (in support) from their wealth". [Qur'an 4:34]. However, it is recommended for the father to show kindness to his wife by consulting with her and seriously considering her suggested names, especially if they are within the guidelines of good names that we discuss below. It is also recommended for the parents to consult with individuals of knowledge and wisdom who can help them find the most suitable names for their offspring. It is also the responsibility of the parents to give the child a good name. A good name is a name that is known to be pleasing to Allah (SWT) , approved by His Messenger (SAW), or acceptable to the righteous 'Ulama of Islam. Thus we conclude that the normal standard of Islam is to name a child as he/she is born before the naming ceremony and also to hold the naming ceremony on the 7th day which is in consonance with the authentic narration of the Prophet (SAW) as quoted above and NOT the 8th day that is generally practiced in our society today. The term 'Aqiqah simply means slaughtering of animal in the 7th day which is one of the essential things to be done that day. Another essential right we give the newborn is shaving the baby's hair on the 7th day. FOR EXAMPLE: If a baby is born today Saturday 18th of July,2015 by 10am, the child's naming ceremony will hold on Friday 24th July,2015 to complete the 7th day he/she is born and NOT Saturday 25th July because counting that will make it 8th day which has no basis in the sunnah of Rasul (SAW) and Islam in general. However, if another baby is born today 18th July, 2015 by 8:30pm or let's say the baby was born after Maghrib Prayer such birth has automatically springs into another day Islamically. Because in Islam whenever it's Maghrib time we have already cross into another day. So such child will be regarded as being born on Sunday owing to Islamic calculation of time. Therefore the baby's naming ceremony will hold on the 7th day which will now fall on 25th July, 2015 unlike what we have in the above scenario. May Allah grant us more understanding of this Deen and Soften our hearts of accepting the truth, amin. We conclude that a newborn should be named in Islam no later than the seventh day from birth and nothing wrong if named immediately after birth as this culture as now being a borrowed one in the west today. Let us return to the pristine and avoid evil innovation in our affairs (Islam).