The first hours

1The adhān in the baby’s ear

Abū Rāfiʿ, the Prophet’s ﷺ freed servant, said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ call the adhān of the prayer into the ear of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī when Fāṭimah gave birth to him” (Abū Dāwūd 5105; al-Tirmidhī 1514)^2,3.

Scholars have graded this report differently, and you should know both views. Al-Tirmidhī called it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Nawawī accepted it as sound. Its chain, however, rests on ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, whom many critics weakened. Ibn Ḥajar said the report “rests on ʿĀṣim, and he is weak”. Al-Albānī first graded it ḥasan, then later revised his grading and weakened it².

Most scholars still recommend the adhān. They rely on those who accepted the report, such as al-Tirmidhī and al-Nawawī, and on the practice of the early Muslims; ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, for one, gave the adhān to his own newborns⁴. Ibn al-Qayyim explained the wisdom. The first words your child hears are the greatness of Allah and the testimony of faith, the same words we hope will be on their lips when they leave this world. Shayṭān flees from the adhān, and the call to Allah reaches the child before any other call⁵.

2What about the iqāmah in the left ear?

Many families give the iqāmah in the left ear too. The Ḥanbalī manual Kashshāf al-Qināʿ counts it as sunnah¹⁰. In the Shāfiʿī school, al-Nawawī reports that “a group of our scholars” recommend it⁹.

The two reports that mention it are weak, and al-Albānī judged both of them fabricated (see the box above). Ibn al-Qayyim cites them together with al-Bayhaqī’s warning that their chains are weak⁵. So we do not call the iqāmah a confirmed sunnah. If your school or your imam recommends it, it is a short addition. If you only give the adhān, you have done what the stronger report describes.

3Taḥnīk: a first taste of something sweet

Taḥnīk means softening a little date and gently rubbing it on the baby’s palate. Abū Mūsā said: “A son was born to me, so I brought him to the Prophet ﷺ. He named him Ibrāhīm, rubbed his palate with a date, prayed for blessing for him, and handed him back to me” (Bukhārī 5467)¹³.

Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr travelled to Madīnah heavily pregnant and gave birth at Qubāʾ. She brought her son, ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr, and laid him in the Prophet’s ﷺ lap. He chewed a date and put a little of his saliva in the baby’s mouth, so the first thing to reach that child’s stomach came from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then he rubbed the baby’s palate with the date, prayed for him and blessed him. The Muslims rejoiced greatly at this birth (Bukhārī 5469)¹⁴. ʿĀʾishah added that they searched for a while before they found a date (Muslim 2146a)¹⁵.

When Anas brought his newborn half-brother, the baby began to lick the date, and the Prophet ﷺ said: “The Anṣār love dates!” (Muslim 2144a)¹⁶. Al-Bukhārī tells the same story without these words (Bukhārī 5470)¹⁷. ʿĀʾishah summed up his habit: newborns were brought to him, “and he would pray for blessing upon them and do their taḥnīk” (Muslim 2147)¹⁸.

A mother, grandmother or aunt can do it too. Al-Nawawī says the one doing taḥnīk should be a good person, “and if there is no man, then a righteous woman”⁹. When Imām Aḥmad’s son was born, Aḥmad asked for dates from Makkah, and a woman of the household chewed one and did the taḥnīk¹⁹.

1. Pack soft dates

   Put two or three soft dates in your hospital bag. Soft varieties are easiest to mash.¹³

2. Check with your nurse

   Ask first, especially if the baby is premature, on oxygen, or being treated for low blood sugar.

3. Soften a tiny piece

   Wash your hands. Mash a tiny piece of date with a clean spoon until it is a soft paste. The books describe chewing it, but doctors advise against putting pre-chewed food in a baby’s mouth, because it can pass on infections.^20,21

4. Rub, don’t feed

   Rub a fingertip of the paste on the roof of the baby’s mouth. A trace is enough; do not put a piece of date in the mouth.⁹

5. Pray for the baby

   Ask Allah to bless your child, in your own words or with the duʿāʾs below.¹³

6. No honey

   If you have no date, the scholars allow something else sweet, but never honey for a newborn.²²

4Your first duʿāʾ for your baby

The Prophet ﷺ “prayed for blessing” for the newborns brought to him (Bukhārī 5467; Muslim 2147)^13,18. These reports record no fixed wording, so you can ask Allah for every good thing in your own language and your own words. You are the person who loves this baby most, and your duʿāʾ is precious.

Before she even knew the future of her daughter, Maryam’s mother named her and placed her in Allah’s care: “I have named her Maryam, and I place her and her children in Your protection from the accursed devil” (Āl ʿImrān 3:36)²⁴. It is a beautiful duʿāʾ for any mother to make over her child.

The Prophet ﷺ sought refuge for his grandsons al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn with words he said Ibrāhīm used for Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq (Bukhārī 3371)²⁵. When Umm Sulaym brought her young son Anas, he prayed for him (Bukhārī 6334)²⁶. For the young Ibn ʿAbbās he prayed for understanding of the religion (Bukhārī 143)²⁷.

From the Qurʾān, you can also pray as Zakariyyā did (Āl ʿImrān 3:38)²⁸, as Ibrāhīm did for his children (Ibrāhīm 14:40)²⁹, and as the servants of the Most Merciful do: “Our Lord, give us joy and comfort in our spouses and our children” (al-Furqān 25:74)³⁰.

5Bringing your baby to the righteous

In Madīnah, parents carried their newborns to the Prophet ﷺ so that he would pray for them and do their taḥnīk (Muslim 2147)¹⁸. The chapter heading over these reports in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, added by its later editors (Imām Muslim himself did not title his chapters), reads: “the recommendation of taḥnīk at birth, and of carrying the child to a righteous person to do it”¹⁶.

Today, many families ask a grandparent, an imam or a righteous friend to visit, give the adhān or do the taḥnīk, and pray for the baby. It is a lovely way to welcome a child into the community. Remember, though, that a parent’s own duʿāʾ needs no go-between.

6Congratulating the parents, for a daughter or a son

Good news of a birth is a Qurʾānic joy: the angels gave Zakariyyā the news of Yaḥyā (Maryam 19:7; Āl ʿImrān 3:39)^31,32, and Ibrāhīm was given “the good news of a forbearing boy” (al-Ṣāffāt 37:101)³³. Ibn al-Qayyim says it is recommended to hurry to share good news, and to congratulate those who already know³⁴.

He adds a point every family should hear. One should not congratulate for a son and stay silent for a daughter; congratulate for both alike, and leave the habit of the Jāhiliyyah, who welcomed sons and grieved over daughters³⁴.

The best-known words of congratulation come from the salaf, not from a ḥadīth. A man congratulated a new father with “Enjoy your horseman!”, and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī corrected him: “How do you know if he will be a horseman or a donkey?” Then he taught him what to say^34,4. Al-Nawawī reports similar words from al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, and recommends that the parent answer with a duʿāʾ⁹. We found no grading of either chain.

So “bārak Allāhu lakum” and “Mabrūk” are good, general duʿāʾs, and the words reported from al-Ḥasan are a beautiful formula from the early Muslims. Do not present any of them as a wording the Prophet ﷺ taught; we know of no such wording.

1. Congratulate for girls too

   Say the same warm words for a daughter as for a son.³⁴

2. Use the words reported from al-Ḥasan

   Būrika fi l-mawhūb, wa-shakarta l-wāhib, wa-balagha ashuddah, wa-ruziqta birrah. (To a mother: shakarti, ruziqti; for a daughter: ashuddahā, birrahā.)⁴

3. Reply with a duʿāʾ

   Parents can answer: Bāraka Llāhu laka wa-bāraka ʿalayk, or: razaqaka Llāhu mithlah.⁹

7In the hospital: a short plan

Most of this fits into the first quiet moments after birth. You do not need permission to whisper an adhān to your own baby. If you share a room, a soft voice into the baby’s ear is all that is needed. The books describe the adhān as given “at birth”⁹, and they mention no particular volume; speaking softly is our practical advice.

Who gives the adhān? Al-Mughnī mentions the father⁴. The other books we read simply say it is sunnah^9,10, so anyone in the family can give it: the father, a grandfather, an uncle, or a Muslim friend or imam who visits. A mother or grandmother may give it too: the Shāfiʿī scholar al-Shabrāmallisī says it is sunnah “even from a woman”, because this is not the prayer adhān that belongs to men, but remembrance of Allah for blessing³⁵. If your own school or imam teaches otherwise, follow them.

If the baby is taken to the NICU or needs care first, there is no rush. The Companions’ babies were often brought to the Prophet ﷺ for taḥnīk some time after the birth: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr was born at Qubāʾ and then carried to him¹⁴. Give the adhān and do the taḥnīk as soon as the medical team says it is safe.

1. Before labour

   Agree who will give the adhān, and pack soft dates.⁴

2. After birth

   Hold the baby. Softly recite the adhān (words below) into the right ear.^2,6,10

3. If your school recommends it

   Recite the iqāmah softly into the left ear.¹⁰

4. Taḥnīk

   With your nurse’s OK, rub a trace of softened date on the baby’s palate.⁹

5. Make duʿāʾ

   Ask Allah to bless and protect your baby.^13,25

6. Choosing a name

   You may name the baby today or on the seventh day; see the naming guide.¹³

Sources

1. Qurʾān, al-Shūrā 42:49–50 He gives daughters to whom He wills and sons to whom He wills, or gives both.
2. Sunan Abī Dāwūd 5105 Abū Rāfiʿ: I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ call the adhān of the prayer into the ear of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī when Fāṭimah gave birth to him. Grading: Graded differently. al-Tirmidhī: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. al-Albānī first graded it ḥasan (Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 1173), then weakened it (al-Kalim al-Ṭayyib 211; Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd 5105). Ibn Ḥajar: it rests on ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, who is weak (al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 4/1501). Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ: isnād ḍaʿīf.
3. Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 1514 The same report of Abū Rāfiʿ. al-Tirmidhī said: “a ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth”. (His next remark, that scholars act on it, is about the ʿaqīqah: two sheep for a boy and one for a girl.) Grading: al-Tirmidhī: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. al-Albānī (later): ḍaʿīf (Ḍaʿīf al-Tirmidhī 1514). Darussalam (on sunnah.com): ḍaʿīf.
4. Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī) 9/464 Some scholars said it is recommended for the father to give the adhān in his child’s ear when born. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz would wrap his newborn in a cloth, give the adhān in the right ear and the iqāmah in the left, and name the child. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī’s words of congratulation. The Prophet ﷺ did taḥnīk with dates.
5. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, ed. al-Arnaʾūṭ, ch. 4, pp. 30–31 The wisdom of the adhān: the first words to reach the child are Allah’s greatness and the testimony of faith, Shayṭān flees from it, and the call to Allah reaches the child before Shayṭān’s call. He also cites the iqāmah reports with al-Bayhaqī’s note that their chains are weak.
6. Sunan Abī Dāwūd 499 ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd’s report of the words of the adhān, which the Prophet ﷺ approved as a true vision. Grading: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ (al-Albānī, as shown on sunnah.com)
7. Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār (Ḥanafī) 1/385 and 1/387 The adhān is recommended (yundab) for the newborn. Whoever gives the adhān for a newborn should turn his face at “ḥayya ʿalā…” as in any adhān (1/387).
8. al-Ḥaṭṭāb, Mawāhib al-Jalīl (Mālikī) 1/434; 3/257 Mālik disliked giving the adhān in the newborn’s ear (reported by Ibn Abī Zayd). Some scholars recommended it. al-Ḥaṭṭāb: “people’s practice has run on it, so there is no harm in doing it.”
9. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī) 8/442–443 The sunnah is to give the adhān in the newborn’s ear at birth, boy or girl, in the words of the prayer adhān; a group of scholars add the iqāmah in the left ear. Taḥnīk with a date is sunnah, or something sweet if there is no date; the one who does it should be a good person, “and if not a man, then a righteous woman”. The parent is congratulated with the words taught by al-Ḥusayn, and replies with a prayer.
10. al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-Qināʿ (Ḥanbalī) 3/28–29 It is sunnah to give the adhān in the newborn’s right ear, boy or girl, when born, and the iqāmah in the left. Taḥnīk with a chewed date rubbed inside the mouth is sunnah.
11. al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (marfūʿ), Musnad Abī Yaʿlā 6780; Ibn al-Sunnī, ʿAmal al-Yawm wa-l-Laylah 623 Whoever has a child and gives the adhān in the right ear and the iqāmah in the left, Umm al-Ṣibyān (a harmful jinn) will not harm him. Grading: mawḍūʿ (fabricated): al-Albānī, al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah 321. al-Bayhaqī: “in its chain is weakness” (Shuʿab al-Īmān). Ibn ʿAdī: not preserved. al-ʿIrāqī: isnād ḍaʿīf.
12. Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān 8255 The Prophet ﷺ gave the adhān in al-Ḥasan’s right ear on the day he was born, and the iqāmah in his left. Grading: mawḍūʿ (fabricated): al-Albānī, al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah 6121. ḍaʿīf: al-Bayhaqī (“in its chain is weakness”). Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ: its narrator al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr ibn Sayf is abandoned (matrūk), and Ibn al-Madīnī and al-Bukhārī accused him of lying.
13. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5467 Abū Mūsā: a son was born to me and I brought him to the Prophet ﷺ. He named him Ibrāhīm, rubbed his palate with a date, prayed for blessing for him and gave him back to me.
14. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5469 Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr gave birth to ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr at Qubāʾ and brought him to the Prophet ﷺ, who chewed a date, put some in the baby’s mouth, did taḥnīk, prayed for him and blessed him. He was the first child born to the emigrants (Muhājirūn) after the Hijrah, and the Muslims rejoiced greatly.
15. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2146a The same event: ʿĀʾishah said they searched a while for a date before finding one, and the Prophet ﷺ named the baby ʿAbdullāh.
16. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2144a Anas: the baby began to lick the softened date, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “The Anṣār love dates,” and named him ʿAbdullāh. The chapter title in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (added by later editors, not by Muslim): taḥnīk at birth, and carrying the baby to a righteous person to do it.
17. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5470 Anas brought Umm Sulaym’s newborn son to the Prophet ﷺ with some dates. He chewed one, put it in the baby’s mouth, did taḥnīk and named him ʿAbdullāh.
18. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2147 ʿĀʾishah: newborn children used to be brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he would pray for blessing upon them and do their taḥnīk.
19. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, ch. 5, pp. 32–33 The ḥadīths of taḥnīk. When Imām Aḥmad’s son Saʿīd was born, Aḥmad asked for dates from Makkah, and a woman of the household chewed one and did the taḥnīk.
20. al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-Qināʿ 3/29 Taḥnīk is sunnah: a date is chewed and rubbed inside the baby’s mouth, and the mouth is opened so a little goes down.
21. CDC, MMWR 60(9), “Premastication of Food by Caregivers of HIV-Exposed Children: Nine U.S. Sites, 2009–2010” (2011) Premastication (chewing food before giving it to a child) has been documented to pass HIV, hepatitis B and group A streptococcus to children, and is associated with other infections.
22. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Botulism Do not feed honey to a child who is younger than 1 year old. Honey can contain the bacteria that cause botulism.
23. al-Ḥaṭṭāb, Mawāhib al-Jalīl (Mālikī) 3/257 Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar: it is recommended that the first thing to reach the newborn’s stomach is something sweet, as the Prophet ﷺ did taḥnīk with a date.
24. Qurʾān, Āl ʿImrān 3:36 Maryam’s mother, after giving birth to a daughter, names her Maryam and places her and her offspring in Allah’s protection from the accursed devil.
25. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3371 The Prophet ﷺ used to seek refuge for al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn: “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from every devil and harmful creature, and from every envious eye”, saying that Ibrāhīm used to say it over Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq.
26. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6334 Umm Sulaym said to the Prophet ﷺ, “Anas is your servant,” and he prayed: “O Allah, increase his wealth and children, and bless him in what You give him.”
27. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 143 The Prophet ﷺ prayed for the young Ibn ʿAbbās: “O Allah, give him understanding of the religion.”
28. Qurʾān, Āl ʿImrān 3:38 Zakariyyā prays: “My Lord, grant me from Your grace a good child; You hear every prayer.”
29. Qurʾān, Ibrāhīm 14:40 My Lord, make me one who keeps up the prayer, and my children too. Our Lord, accept my prayer.
30. Qurʾān, al-Furqān 25:74 Our Lord, give us joy and comfort in our spouses and our children, and make us an example for the God-fearing.
31. Qurʾān, Maryam 19:7 Allah gives Zakariyyā the good news of a boy named Yaḥyā.
32. Qurʾān, Āl ʿImrān 3:39 The angels call to Zakariyyā while he prays: Allah gives you good news of Yaḥyā.
33. Qurʾān, al-Ṣāffāt 37:101 So We gave him (Ibrāhīm) the good news of a forbearing boy.
34. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, ch. 3, pp. 27–29 It is recommended to bring the good news of a birth and to congratulate. One should not congratulate for a boy and not for a girl, but for both alike, to leave the custom of the Jāhiliyyah. Through Ibn al-Mundhir: al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī taught, “May the gift be blessed for you, may you thank the Giver, may the child reach maturity, and may you be granted the child’s kindness.” Grading: A saying of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (a Successor), not a ḥadīth. al-Nawawī (al-Majmūʿ 8/443) attributes the same words to al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī.
35. al-Shabrāmallisī, Ḥāshiyah on al-Ramlī’s Nihāyat al-Muḥtāj (Shāfiʿī) 8/149 On “it is sunnah to give the adhān [in the newborn’s ear]”: “even from a woman, because this is not the adhān that is the duty of men; its purpose is only remembrance of Allah, for blessing.”

Read next

• The seventh dayThe ʿaqīqah, shaving your baby’s hair and giving its weight in silver, and how to count the seventh day, with each ruling from the four schools’ own books.
• Choosing a nameWhen to name your baby, the names the Prophet ﷺ loved and the ones he changed, names to avoid, the kunyah, and spelling it for a US birth certificate.