Page 143 - รวมเล่มศาสนาในประเทศไทย ภาคภาษาอังกฤษ

Traditional Rites

Rites related to life, from birth to death, include :
Celebration of Childbirth; When a child was born, the Muslim call
to the prayer is the first words a newborn Muslim baby should hear.
They are whispered into the right and left ear of the child by his or
her father. Afterwards, a name with good meaning is given to the
baby. Seven days after birth, there is a ritual ceremony for cutting
of the hair of the baby. If parents can afford a celebratory feast, they
will serve food made from goat and sheep meat. The baby is raised
in good health, happiness and loving warmth, and brought up with
training in the religious practices, so learning about manners and
knowledge can take place. When the child reaches the age of 7, he
must begin to perform the prayer to gain faith in Islam.
The Wedding: The process of a Muslim wedding is
simple. It begins with the groom and the elders of his clan making a
proposal to the bride’s family. If it is accepted, preparations are then
made, as to the dates of ceremony, housing and the celebration, etc.
The most important subject to be agreed upon is the Mahr, or dowry,
that the groom has to give to the bride. The wedding ceremony called
Nikah is to be arranged at the bride’s house or at the Masjid of the
bride’s community, or some other arranged place, that is agreed
upon by both sides. People attending the ceremony are parents or
guardians of the bride and the groom; the wedding couple is seated
with the Mahr placed in front of them, witnessed by two male Muslims.
After the dowry is accepted, the guardian then presents the bride to
the groom and once the groom accepts her the ceremony is complete.
Before the ceremony begins, the Qur’an is recited and is followed
by the sermon of the Imam, or an elder, about the role and duties of
husband and wife, as well as the rules of marriage. When the ritual
ceremony is completed, it will normally be followed by a celebratory
feast, called the walima. The feast is set to be moderate to avoid
over indulgence or show wasteful spending.
Sunat, or Khitan in Arabic, is a surgical removal of
In the Muslim regulations, the funeral must be done
the foreskin from the human penis, it is an important requirement of quickly, whenever possible, it should be done within 24 hours after
Islam following the practice of Nabu Muhammad, the Prophet. The death.
period for conducting this rite depends on the decision of parents.
Clothing: The Islamic rules are dictated concisely on
Death: When a close relative or friend passes away,
the funeral ceremony or Janazah involves the preparation of the the code of clothing; it should cover most parts of the body and not
be too revealing. Men are not to be dressed in women’s clothing
corpse and the arrangement for visits to the corpse. The corpse and vice versa. Men must cover the body at least from the navel to
normally remains at home or at the Masjid, so that relatives and the knee and never wear silk, nor gold. For women, the whole body
friends can visit, pray for a blessing from Allah and also give must be covered and the head is covered with a Hijab. Only the face
condolences to the family. The corpse is bathed to cleanse the body, and the two hands are allowed to be uncovered.
then enshrouding with white cloth. After that, the corpse is placed
on a cot or directly in the coffin before moving it to the masjid Dietary: The restriction in Islam on dietary intact
for a prayer ceremony to give blessings to the deceased person. divides the food into two categories, the harām (unlawful) or
It is a short rite of approximately only 5 minutes. When the rites are forbidden food, and the halāl (lawful)” or the food that is healthy
finished, the corpse will be transferred for burial in the kubor or the and allowed. Before and after the meal, the name of Allah has to be
gravesite, within the casket or without, as preferred. However, the declared and thanks given.
corpse should be placed reclining on the right side, facing the same
direction of daily Muslim prayer. Then the attendants stand around
the grave to pray for the deceased person.
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