Note 81 — Chapter II · INFANCY AND EARLY EDUCATION.

It is customary among the peasants throughout a great part of Egypt, on the first occasion of shaving a child’s head, to slay a victim, generally a goat, at the tomb of some saint in or near their village, and to make a feast with the meat, of which their friends, and any other persons who please, partake. This is most common in Upper Egypt, and among the tribes not very long established on the banks of the Nile. Their Pagan ancestors in Arabia observed this custom, and usually gave, as alms to the poor, the weight of the hair in silver or gold. The victim is called “’akeekah,” and is offered as a ransom for the child from hell. The custom of shaving one part of a child’s head and leaving another was forbidden by the Prophet.