Azami 7254

Muslim narrated it in the book of manners (22:2144) from Abdul-Ala bin Hammad, who said, Hammad bin Salama narrated to us, from Thabit Bunani, from Anas bin Malik, and he related it.Legal understanding of the hadith, these hadiths indicate that it is recommended to place chewed dates in the newborn's mouth at birth, and to pray for blessing for him. Nawawi, in his commentary on Muslim (14/122), reported that there is consensus on this. As for obtaining blessing from the saliva of the one who performs the tahnik, this is specific to the Prophet ﷺ. The companions used to bring their children to the Prophet hoping for the blessing of his saliva and his prayer. But after his death ﷺ, it was not reported from any of the companions, or the successors, or the scholars who came after them, that they used to bring their children to people of virtue and righteousness seeking blessing through them. Rather, everyone would perform the tahnik for his own child, whether the one performing it was a man or a woman.Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, related in Tuhfat Mawdud (p. 66) from Khallal that he said, "Muhammad bin Ali informed me, saying, I heard the mother of Ahmad bin Hanbal's son say, When labor pains seized me, my master was asleep, so I said to him, O my master, I am about to die. He said, Allah will bring relief. No sooner had he said, Allah will bring relief, than I gave birth to Saeed. When I had given birth to him, he said, Bring that date, referring to dates we had from the dates of Makkah, and I said to Umm Ali, Chew this date and put it in his mouth. So she did."If tahnik had been something specific to righteous people, Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, would have performed it himself, for he had more right to it than his slave woman. And Allah knows best.When Hafiz, in Fath al-Bari (3/367), mentioned that the hadith of Anas cited earlier can be understood to indicate that people of virtue should be sought out to perform tahnik for the newborn for the sake of blessing, the eminent scholar Shaykh Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, may Allah have mercy on him, commented on this, saying, "Seeking blessing from the Prophet ﷺ is something specific to him, and no one else can be compared to him in this, because of the blessing Allah placed in his body, unlike anyone else. So it is not permissible to seek blessing from anyone else, in order to close the door to shirk, and in following the example of the companions, for they did not do this with anyone other than him, and they were the most knowledgeable of people regarding the sunnah, and the foremost of them in every good deed ."