Shaved at last!

He's supposed to have his head shaved off 10 days ago but last night he became a 'baldy' at last.. poor Amru and he's only 17 days old! Yes, it's the Islamic tradition to shave off a newborn baby's hair. It's not obligatory but recommended in Islam the evidence being :  

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘A boy is in pledge for his Aqiqah, sacrifice is made for him on the seventh day, his head is shaved and he is given a name.’

The rite of the Aqiqah is a Sunnah (or tradition) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which includes sacrificing 2 sheeps or goats if it's a boy, one for a girl; giving a good name for the baby and shaving off the baby's head and giving the weight of the hair of the baby in gold or silver as sadaqa or charity. All these are recommended to be done on the 7th day of birth.
However, Amru has already been named, the sheeps' sacrifice will be done during second day of Eidul-Adha (so that we could hold a feast as people are celebrating Eidul-Adha on the day, too). That left shaving of the head which the parents were clearly too scared to do...as it's such a delicate thing, shaving a 7-day-old baby's head (me, included). So, it has been left until last night.. 
Apparently a family friend gave birth last week and the couple were having a 'shaving ceremony' and inviting  about 20 guests (mutual friends of Bang Long's as well) so we decided to join in. (I cooked about 4 kilos of beef rendang to add to their feast..). Some pics from last night:

Little Amru still handsome with his head of hair..

Ammar consoling little brother in the car on the way to head-shaving, probably meaning to say: "It's ok..it'll grow.." (his vocab to date consists of - 'ayah', 'dee', 'naa', 'aba' and 'here'...)

Umayr showing off his baby brother to his friend

The male guests..

Each guest snipping off a little bit of hair from the babies as the selawat is chanted..

Baby Amru's turn..this part of the ceremony is not exactly sunnah but I supposed it gives each guest a chance to greet the newcomers close and personal..

The mothers and their newborns

The hosts' new baby girl - Aufa Basyirah

Other babies present: this one is so cute and chubby!

Another cutie..

Ammar trying to socialise with the cutie..(not with his limited vocab - too bad, dearie!)

Here's Amru being shaved by one of the ladies...

Umayr's girlfriend friend who's a girl..

The beef rendang..

Guests enjoying the food

Hey, I'm still cute without my hair, okey! (latest pic update: a few minutes ago)

 You may wonder what is the benefit of this tradition... so start googling, people! Never mind I've done it for you:

Ibn Al-Qayem (Allah's mercy upon him) said about the benefit of shaving the newborn's hair: Shaving his head removes the harm from him, removes the weak hair so that stronger and firmer hair replaces it and it is beneficial for the head. In addition, it comforts the newborn and opens the head's skin openings... And along with this is a strengthening of his eye sight, his sense of smell and hearing. Refer to Ahkamul Tifl: Ahmad Al-Eesawee 192.