The Jurisprudential Rulings of the Father's Responsibility Toward the Child Before the Age of Discernment A Comparative Fiqh Study

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the Islamic legal rulings concerning the father's responsibility toward the child before the age of discernment through examining rulings related to newborn care, including the call to prayer in the newborn’s ear, tahneek, head shaving, naming, circumcision, and aqiqah. The study presents the opinions of jurists, their evidences, critical discussion, and the preferred views, while highlighting the educational, pedagogical, health, and social dimensions embedded within these rulings. The research adopts the inductive, analytical, and comparative methodology by examining Islamic legal texts, collecting juristic opinions, analyzing evidences, and comparing scholarly views.

The study concludes that Islamic law gives early and significant attention to the child from birth and regards the father’s responsibility as an essential component of the child’s religious and educational upbringing before the age of discernment. It further concludes that the practices of adhān, tahneek, naming, shaving, and aqiqah are legislated Sunnahs related to newborn care, that circumcision is most likely a confirmed Sunnah for males, and that aqiqah is a recommended Sunnah rather than an obligation, primarily assigned to the father though permissible for others to undertake. The study recommends enhancing parents’ awareness of Islamic rulings concerning newborns and encouraging specialized juristic studies in family and childhood issues.