Lecithin, Love, and Lies!

Miera opened the Mini Cookies packet. She paused just before dipping in to fish out the mini cookies. She read the ingredients on the side on the packet. The small prints forced Miera to extend the printed surface to about one-and-half feet away from her eyes. Long sightedness, she was often reminded, a sure sign of old age! At 55, she never felt happier in her life. Old maybe, but very happy! And for her, that was that mattered.

'Lecithin!' she burped the word. Simultaneously, she flipped the Mini Cookies packet into the trash bin under her study table.

She moved back to the food hamper which she won as a lucky draw prize last night at her company annual dinner. She examined all the packets of ready to eat cookies and biscuits. She sighed. All of them contained one or more ingredients which have been identified by the Religious Fatwa group as Non-Halal. After discarding all of those packets into the trash bin she was left with a few bottles of fizzy drink and a few packets of roasted peanuts! She  grabbed one of the groundnut packets and move back to the sofa, and flicked the remote control looking for BBC lifestyles channel. To be specific she was looking for the 'Antique Roadshow' programme.

Once she had to decline an invitation from her neighbour to a 'Cukur Jambul' event because she didn't want to miss a particular episode of the program. 

 "That is pathetic!" Said her daughter Saffiya when told the reason for her staying home despite many guests were already arriving at her neighbour's house about three doors away!

"Maybe. But if I tell you that the other reason I don't attend is because Mencukur Jambul is not the practice of the Prophet, does that make it okay for me to not go?" Miera said, without taking her eyes off the 46 inches screen of one of the two Sony TV sets she had.

Saffiya left her swivelling laptop table chair, moved closer and sat next to her mother.

She said, "Mom, Cukur Rambut Bayi is one of the Sunnah! Therefore, not a good excuse!"

Miera grimaced and pouted her lips. She gestured to Saffiya and said, "Bring your laptop here, let us google and find out what is the Islamic law regarding upacara Mencukur Rambut Bayi!"

In a flash Saffiya was back next to her mother with the Macbook Air on her lap.

"Ok, google for Islamic law about shaving a baby's hair" Said Miera, and in saying that she wrapped her arm around Saffiya's waist.

Saffiya edged even closer to her mother and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. She googled and her face lighted up when she saw the search result. She showed what was on her Macbook screen to her mother.

"The Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said,

"Every child is in pledge for it's Aqeeqah which is sacrificed for it on its seventh day, and it is named on it, and its head is shaved" (Abu Dawood)Shaving the baby's head

On the seventh day after the birth the head of the baby should be shaved. So when al-Hasan was born the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) told his daughter, Faatima (RA),

"shave his head and give the weight of his hair in silver to the poor" (Ahmad)

The right side of the head should be shaved first, then the left as mentioned in the hadeeth,

"shave, and he indicated to the right side of his head, and then the left" (Muslim)

Miera pulled away the Macbook from Saffiya's lap. She read the whole page, then the next page.

"Thanks, but I apologize Saffiya for not shaving your head when you were a baby!" She gave Saffiya a hug.

"Moommmmm....shaving is only for a baby boy!" Said Saffiya.

"Aik...where did you read that? The hadith said, 'each baby', which means it applies to both boys and girls!" Said Miera, this time felling triumphant!

'I know, just teasing you mom! Kasi chance lah Mom menang!" Said Saffiya, cheekily!

"Sayang, please help me to search about Lecithin!" Miera requested.

Instead of doing what her mother asked her, Saffiya placed the Macbook on the carpet, and she stretched out on the sofa placing her head on her mother's lap.

"Mom, I love you!" She said in a whisper.

"I love you too darling...but what is it that you want now?" Miera had got accustamoed to Saffiya's tactical move whenever she wanted something. Often in the past whenever Saffiya wanted something from her mother, she would do the same thing, cuddling up to her mom.

"Mom...I want to invite Idham home to meet you. I love him mom, please say can...." Saffiya whispered, ever so softly almost sounding like the purrs of their Siamese cat.

*******Ngantuk dah! Besuk sambung lah*******