Childhood and Education

In few cases are the Mohammadans so much fettered by the directions of their Prophet and other religious instructors as in the rearing and education of their children. In matters of the most trivial nature, religious precedents direct their management of the young. One of the first duties is to wrap the new-born child in clean white linen, or in linen of some other colour, but not yellow. After this some person (not a female) should pronounce the adán ¹ in the ear of the infant, because the Prophet did so in the ear of El-Ḥasan when Fátimeh gave birth to him; or he should pronounce the adán in the right ear, and the iḳámeh (which is nearly the same) in the left ²