Resurrecting Islam

Abstract

This past weekend I participated in an akika, a naming ceremony for the newborn child of a Muslim family. This family, like so many in the United States, is ethnically mixed: the mother is American and the father is Senegalese. As the ceremony progressed, the guests acclimated to the many languages that were being spoken and to the explanations that had to be provided for each aspect of the akika. Everyone's understanding of the application of this aspect of Islam was being enhanced. The father recited the Quran and made dhikr over his son, the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) was made in one ear and the takbeer (God is Great!) recited in the other. A friend of the father shaved and collected the baby's hair (its weight in silver would be given as charity [sadaqa] to the poor by the parents), the father sacrificed two sheep and a family friend from Egypt helped cook the meat. I was given the honor of holding the baby, little Muhammad Al-Mustafa, while his head was shaved. I cried as I contemplated the significance of the occasion. We were practicing our Islam in North America. We were the answer to the prayer of the slave.