A woman calling the Athaan in the ear of the newborn

5-12-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalam alaikum. as we know it is recomended for a new born baby the first words to hear is the call of ADHAN. it happens that in in some hospitals most of the nurses in the labour room and maternity wards are female. so is it ok to appoint a muslima nurse to make adhan for my baby so as to make the first words to be adhan?or is it a must for a male to make the adhan for the new born? Jazakallah Kheir....
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Ash-Shirwaani may Allaah have mercy upon him from the Shaafi’i School of jurisprudence stated that there is a difference of opinion in the Shaafi'i School about the issue of stipulating that the person who recites the Athaan in cases other than calling people to the prayer must be a male and he stated that the reliable opinion is that it is a condition to be a male. However, he reported from some scholars of the Shaafi’i School that they do not condition it and that the Sunnah (in this regard) is achieved by a midwife calling the Athaan in the ear of the new-born.

Indeed, it is most likely that this last opinion is the most correct opinion because a woman does not raise her voice in this kind of Athaan. Therefore, it is permissible to ask any (Muslim) nurse to call the Athaan in the ear of the new-born. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 85630.

Allaah Knows best.

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