CHATTY AND NAMING
The birth of a child was invariably an occasion to celebrate. It was the sixth day after the delivery, that is the seventh day of the child’s life that the function called Chatti was held at the bride’s residence. The essence of the function was naming the child, tonsuring or shaving the head, Jhanda Layino, and optionally conducting khitan (Sunnath - circumcision) if male. The bride’s father invited the relatives on both sides, in consultation with the Bridegroom’s parents. The Dhami conveyed the invitation. If khitan was also scheduled, then the hajjam made special announcement on behalf of the father of the child.
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The child’s maternal uncle or, in his absence, the father of the child or else an elder in either family as desired by the rightful persons, held the child in his lap while the hajjam shaved the child’s head. It had also been a custom to let the child grow the hair for some years. This happened if the parents or grandparents had vowed that the hair or its equivalent in weight of silver or silver coins would be donated to any particular shrine, such as Ajmer Shareef, Nagore Shareef or even the mazaars in their native Bhuj or Abdaso, in Cutch, and had to wait until they could travel themselves or find someone going over there.
Whatever be the timing, Chatti or later, the hajjam would get a handsome remuneration. If it was on Chatti, he would also share the Gor with Dhami and Dai; Dai getting one half and other two sharing a quarter of the collection each. The hair would be weighed in a jeweller’s balance and the equivalent value would be donated to the shrine concerned, if vowed, otherwise it would be given away as charity.
HEAD TONSURE (REMOVING BIRTH HAIR)
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After the head shave the Dhai would give the child a warm water bath and dress it up with new clothes for the first time. A black dot with Kajal was placed on the right cheek or above the right eyebrow to nullify the effects of any evil eye. A charmed and knotted black thread was tied on the left wrist to ward off evil spirits. The child would also have a black cord tied on its waist. Baby girls would have a golden girdle..
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​The mother received the child from the Dhai and ritually presented it to her husband..The father took the child first for giving azaan, and then a name followed by Tahneek as all the three items were his prerogatives, Any of theses items, he would delegate to any elder of his choice. It could also be the Qazi if invited and present. Azaan would be given in the right ear and iqamat in the left, standing with the child, facing Qiblah. While giving the Azaan the child was slightly tilted so as to turn its face towards Qiblah.
AZAN
SELECTING THE NAME
​The name for the child was selected and decided by the father in consultation with both families, but the final decision rested with him only. In order that the lineology is remembered, it was a custom first to consider the name of a grand or great grand parent. However, a strong practice in vogue was to select a name from the Holy Qur’an. An elder would take Wudu and after offering two rakaats of namaz and prayer for getting the best name that Allah shall assign him, would close his eyes and open the Holy Qur’an on any page, on a Ryhal. He would read out the two open pages to find a full name or a verb or adjective that could lead to a name, generally an attribute of Allah. He would then present his findings to the father of the child, who will decide on a name in consultation with others. This exercise was normally done a day or two before the Chatti or a little while before the function. For a male child prefixing of the word “Abdel” (corrupted as Abdul) to a name derived from Allah’s attributes, to connote Allah’s servant, was essential, as without it the name represented Allah himself. It was customary to add “Mohammad” to the name so chosen, except when the chosen name was “Mohammad”, "Mehmood" or “Ahmad”.
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There were no such considerations in selecting the name for a girl child, although names of women and the wives of various prophets mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and wives and daughters of Rasool (SA) and As’habees (companions of the Prophet, SA) were preferred, picking the name from the Holy Qur’an not withstanding. One of the very early practices was to suffix the nukh, name of the clan, to the names of boys, such as Kamlani, Noorani, Hashmani, selat, etc. Later on this practice was discontinued, partly because the persons born away from Cutch could not identify themselves with any clan, though many did know and boasted about their nukh. The title originally used by the rich and the head of the Jamaath, Seth, corrupted as Sait, following the Turkish pronunciation and the local appellation Sett, became fashionable. The title Sait thus became a surname. Interestingly, there is still a small number of people who deserve to be styled as Seth or Sait, refraining from using it. Girls invariably bore the suffix "Bai".
ANNOUNCING THE NAME
It is traditionally believed that a child recognized sounds, taste and smell from the seventh day. The name, having already been decided upon, would be announced thrice into each ear, as if telling the child “your name is and shall be such and such” and it was believed that the child did understand that. The naming was followed by a dua (prayer) for the long life and prosperity of the child as a devoted Muslim. The tradition had it that this will be the name, suffixed by the name of the father, that will be recognized on the day of Judgment.
While guests would make gifts of cash or small ornaments like rings, bangles, and bracelets, the grandparents were looked upon to gift and took pride in giving ornaments like waist bands, chains, bangles, rings etc, and heavier ones if the child was a girl.
TAHNEEK (MAAKHI CHATTAYNO)
​The first taste the child should recognize, other than that of the breastmilk it was being fed with, must be administered solemnly and it was done ceremoniously. Rasool (SA) used to chew a piece of ripe date, soft and sweet, and place a bit of it in the mouth of the child. The Cutchi tradition was for the father or an elder to whom the rite was delegated to take the child in his arms or lap, dip his forefinger in honey rubbed with a gold ring, and to place the honey in between the lips of the child, three times. It was believed that the child would imbibe all the qualities of the person doing the tahneek.
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AQEEQAH
It was incumbent on the father of the child to perform aqeeqah by sacrificing a sheep or goat for a girl and two for a boy. The obligation arises on the seventh day, but the performance could be postponed to a later date. The Cutchi tradition was to make the sacrifice along with Chatti so that the invitees could be served with food prepared with the sacrificial meat. Even when it was postponed, if there was an occasion to connect, like the Khitan, puberty or marriage, the meat could be used for serving the guests.
Rasool (SA) used to insist that parents of the child for whom the aqeeqah was done should also eat from the same. However, some people, out of ignorance of this ruling, used to consider it as Charity and something the child, his or her parents, and grand-parents shall not partake from. When confronted with the issue they used to add another goat or so to the sacrificial meat to make it good for them to eat. Where there was no occasion to connect, the meat used to be distributed among friends, relatives and poor people, retaining a portion for themselves.