Will you give information about spreading a piece of date on the lips of a newborn baby?
Dear Brother / Sister,
The first food to be given to a baby (Tahnik):
It is sunnah to chew something sweet and put it in the mouth or spread on the lips of a newborn baby. It is mandub for a righteous person to do it. It can be done through sweet things like raisins and sugar but it is mustahab and more virtuous to do it with dates.
Hz. Aisha narrates:
“Newborn babies were taken to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He would pray for blessing and squeeze the juice of the date he softened in his mouth into the mouth of the baby.” (Bukhari, Daawat 3; Ibn Majah, Taharah 77, 523)
As it is seen, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was careful about the first food given to a newborn baby and wanted it to be something different from breast milk. As a matter of fact, various narrations show that he did it not only for his grandsons but also for all children of Muslims as a principle.
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