RITUAL OF SACRIFICING QURBAN FOR THE NEWBORN IN THE TRADITION OF BOSNIAK MUSLIMS

To offer spiritual support to the child and remove anything that could hinder his progress, Islam has prescribed the ritual of sacrificing qurban for the newborn – akika. The ritual of akika was established by Allah's Prophet, a.s. who, as was recorded in collections of hadith, sacrifices qurbans for his grandsons Hasan and Husejn, and recommended to his followers to sacrifice qurban for the newborn and thus remove from him anything that could hinder his development. In line with the advice of Allah's Prophet, a.s., imams in Bosnia and Herzegovina suggest to parents to sacrifice one qurban for female children and, if possible, sacrifice two qurbans for male children, who are more exposed to misfortune, wars and temptations since, as is believed in Bosanska krajina, they need twice as much protection as female children.

According to the recommendation of fatwa-i-emin of the Mufti Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, all the meat of qurban for the newborn is distributed to relatives, neighbors and the poor, or a lunch should be organized where the prepared qurban meat is served, and then the prayer for the newborn's progress is performed. In urban environments, where parents cannot organize a large-scale feast due to a lack of space, the parents are advised to donate the qurban meat to charities.

If there are no obstacles, it is now customary among Bosniak Muslims on the seventh, fourteenth or twenty-first day upon birth of the child, or when the opportunity arises in the first months after it, to sacrifice a qurban for the progress of the newborn – akika, typically a ram or an ewe, and then invite imam of the jamaat, relatives, neighbors and friends to a feast which is prepared from the qurban meat. After the feast imam, together with the guests, performs a prayer asking Noble Allah to receive the sacrifice, to grant good health and progress to the child and to protect him from evils and misfortune in life.

In some small environments it is also a custom to distribute qurban meat to neighbors. When doing so, parents say to persons who receive the meat to what purpose the qurban was sacrificed. The person who receives the meat performs a prayer for the child aloud, asking Allah to bless him and grant him progress in life. At Lišnja near Prnjavor it is customary for parents, upon sacrificing akika, to roast the meant, make sandwiches and take them to the mosque, where the imam distributes them to children in the maktab. When the children have finished eating, imam, together with them and the parents, performs a prayer for wellbeing of the child for whom the qurban has been sacrificed.

An interesting custom related to the ritual of sacrificing qurban for the newborn can be seen in Ljubuški. Since many Bosniak Muslims from Ljubuški live abroad, where it is not possible for them to sacrifice qurban for their child, they typically send money to their relatives or neighbors who live in Ljubuški asking them to organize sacrificing qurban for their child. According to the agreement with the imam, qurban is sacrificed on Friday morning and the meat is distributed to all Bosniak Muslims who attend the Friday prayer in the mosque in Ljubuški on that day. During his address, the imam informs the present members of the jamaat that the meat of qurban for the named child will be distributed, and then performs a prayer for his wellbeing aloud. According to the custom, each member of the jamaat also performs a prayer for the child's happiness when he has received the meat upon leaving the mosque. In this way, the whole community prays to God to grant their new member all the good in life and protect him from evil.