Birth, marriage and farewell

For each rite, find who takes part, what is done, and what the source says it is for. Keep apart what the law requires and what families add by custom, and say which one your source describes.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam, in an article signed by Th. W. Juynboll and J. Pedersen, defines the 'akika as the sacrifice on the seventh day after a child's birth. On that day it is recommended to give the child a name, to shave its hair and to slaughter a victim ². If the sacrifice was neglected on the seventh day it may be made later, even by the child itself once grown, and the greater part of the meat is given to the poor and needy ². The shorn hair is also called sakika, and the article says the law recommends giving alms in silver or gold equal in weight to the hair ². The Kuwaiti encyclopaedia defines the aqiqa, juristically, as what is slaughtered for the newborn in thanks to God, with a specified intention and conditions ³.

On the animal. Al-Nawawi, in al-Majmu', reports that the Shafi'is and the majority recommend not breaking its bones and disapprove of smearing the newborn's head with its blood, against al-Hasan and Qatada ⁴. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says the 'akika derives from old Arabian heathenism, that in pre-Islamic times the child's head was wetted with the blood of the animal, and that some traditions say Muhammad allowed the Muslims to do the same; the jurists hold this not to be desirable, although it is still done, for example in Palestine ².

On the funeral prayer. The Kuwaiti encyclopaedia records that the Hanafis and Malikis required the body's presence before the worshippers, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis allowed prayer over an absent deceased ^5 6 7. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says the prayer is performed normally in the presence of the corpse, and names two exceptions: when the body has disappeared in a natural disaster such as a flood, or in battle, and when homage is paid in several places to an eminent Muslim who has recently died ⁸. The museum prefers none of these.

There are three kinds of source: a modern academic encyclopaedia, the Encyclopaedia of Islam; a jurists' encyclopaedia, the Kuwaiti encyclopaedia of jurisprudence; and a legal commentary, al-Nawawi's al-Majmu', which sets out the scholars' views by name. The record of the aqiqa says the Hanafi view is not given in it from Hanafi books. For the funeral prayer, the Encyclopaedia of Islam says the supplication for the deceased has no fixed formula, and the museum's record does not give its wording from that article ⁸. The museum's copy of the article's entry on the funeral procession is broken in its scan, so the record does not summarise it. The record also holds recorded talks by preachers; this lesson does not use them for what is done.

These records bring together jurists, a modern encyclopaedia and a legal commentary. Choose one detail from either rite, and say which of those sources you would trust most to tell you what families actually do on the day, and why?

• The aqiqa: the seventh day as the Encyclopaedia of Islam describes it, and al-Nawawi's survey of the scholars.
• The funeral prayer: how it is performed, and its pillars and conditions in each school.
• Washing the deceased: what comes before the prayer, in its own record.
• Nikah: how the four schools define the marriage contract, a third rite of passage.