Aqiqah

In Islam, aqiqah is a highly encouraged practice of sacrificing a goat in conjunction with the birth of a child. For the occasion, preferably two goats are sacrificed for a baby boy and one goat for a baby girl. Although it is best held on the baby's day 7, 14 or 21 ,it can be held anytime before the child reaches puberty.Besides sacrificing the animal, during that day the child's head is shaved and the value of the weight of the shaved hair in silver is donated to the poor. Nowadays people do away with shaving the baby's head but instead just cut off a few hairs.The reasons to perform the sacrifice is to show gratitude to God's blessing of granting a child, to bring you closer to God and to strengthen relationship with family, friends and the community.

Some time after the birth of my grandkids, Noah Iskandar and Lola Malia, I started to prepare for the aqiqah - arranging for the caterer, decor provider, favours and preparing the invitation list.

A day before the aqiqah date ,tents were set up in the house compound and the decor for the event was fixed. Two bassinets were arranged at the end of the living room,one for each baby. The colour scheme was pale blue for Noah and soft peach for Lola.A tray was set with a pair of small scissors, a bowl of Zam Zam water ( the Holy spring water from Mekah) and a bowl of mashed dates. A coconut filled with coconut water and decorated with crystals ,was placed next to it. Two trays containing favours in baby blue and soft peach was put on each side of the bassinets.

At 10.00 am on the event day, a group of 'Marhaban' ladies arrived. They all looked nice dressed in uniform baju kurung ( Malay traditional costume comprising of a long skirt and a long tunic ). Guests , mostly family members and neighbours began to arrive soon afterwards.Noah and Lola were then placed in the bassinets and their parents sat proudly besides the bassinets, with the even prouder grandmother (yours truly) scurrying around to make sure everything went on smoothly.The Marhaban group started the ceremony by reciting prayers, singing praises to God and the Prophet (pbuh) and singing to the babies with words of advice and wisdom.

Close family members then snipped off a few strands of hair from Noah's head and placed the cut hair in the coconut. Noah was then given a sip of the Zam Zam water and a taste of the mashed dates.

After that, it was Lola's turn to have her hair cut. She was also given the Zam Zam water and dates.

Family photographs were taken to commemorate the event.

Like all Malaysian traditions , food is a main agenda . Once the ceremonies were over, guest were invited to partake the spread of local cuisine prepared by the caterer.