Welcoming a child

• The adhan and iqamah. Soon after birth, the adhan (the call to prayer) is whispered into the baby's right ear and the iqamah (the command to rise for worship) into the left. Its importance: the very first words the child hears are the greatness and oneness of God. A Muslim's life is framed by these words — they will be among the last a dying Muslim hears too.
• Tahnik. Something sweet — traditionally a softened date, following the Prophet's practice — is gently rubbed on the baby's gums, often by a respected relative. Its importance: a prayer that the child's life will be sweet, and a first link between the child and the wider believing community.
• Tasmiyah — the naming, usually on the seventh day. Names are chosen with care: names of God prefixed with 'Abd ("servant of"), names of prophets, or names with good meanings. A name in Islam is a hope for the character.
• Circumcision (khitan) of boys, seen as part of the practice of Ibrahim and a sign of purity and belonging. Timing varies widely by culture, from a few days old to several years.

The first words

Aqiqah and the shaving of the head

• Aqiqah — a sacrifice made in thanksgiving for the child, usually on the seventh day. A common tradition is two animals for a boy and one for a girl, though many Muslims today argue for equal treatment. The meat is shared: family, friends and, crucially, the poor. Its importance: gratitude to God expressed not in words but in feeding others.
• Head shaving. The baby's first hair is shaved off. Traditionally the hair is weighed, and the equivalent weight in silver (or its value) is given to charity. Its importance: a symbol of purity and a fresh start, and — again — a birth that produces a gift to the poor.

Pattern to notice (and to use in an essay): every single Muslim rite of passage attaches a duty to the needy. A birth means meat and silver for the poor; a wedding means a feast that neighbours are invited to; even the end of Ramadan means zakat al-fitr before the celebration. Islam does not allow a family's joy to be private.

Which rite of passage?

Tap a card, then tap the rite it belongs to.

The nikah

In Islam marriage is a contract, not a sacrament. It is strongly encouraged — a Muslim is expected to marry if able — and it is the only lawful setting for a sexual relationship and for raising a family.

• Aqd nikah — the marriage contract. The essential elements are an offer and acceptance spoken in front of witnesses (customarily two), and the free consent of both the bride and the groom. A marriage without the woman's consent is invalid. The contract may set out conditions — for example that the wife may work or study, or may retain the right to divorce.
• Mahr — the dowry. A gift of money or property from the groom to the bride. It is hers, not her father's and not the household's, and she keeps it if the marriage ends. Its importance: it gives a woman financial security independent of her husband. Note the direction of payment — the exam trap is to describe it as a payment for a bride.
• The ceremony. Usually simple: a mosque, a home or a hall; an imam or any qualified Muslim may officiate; verses of the Qur'an are recited and a short sermon given on the rights and duties of husband and wife.
• Walimah — the wedding feast, given by the groom after the marriage. Its importance: it makes the marriage public, so there is no doubt or secrecy, and the community shares the joy. The Prophet (pbuh) taught that the guests should include the poor, not only the rich.
• Customs vary enormously by culture — mehndi nights, processions, particular colours and dress. These are cultural, not required by Islam: an important distinction, and one Muslims themselves make.

What makes a nikah valid?

Death, burial and belief

The beliefs behind the rites. Muslims believe that life is a test and this world a preparation; that God is sovereign — He gives life and takes it, and He alone knows the hour; and in akhirah, the life after death, resurrection and judgement. Death is therefore a return, not an ending. A dying Muslim is encouraged to say the shahadah, and family recite the Qur'an at the bedside.

The rites.

• Ghusl — the body is washed, usually three times, by family members of the same sex, with dignity and modesty.
• Kafan — the body is wrapped in a simple white shroud, plain and unsewn, the same for a king and a pauper. Its meaning: equality in death, and the shroud deliberately recalls the ihram worn on Hajj.
• Salat al-janazah — the funeral prayer, offered in congregation, standing, asking God's forgiveness for the deceased. It is a communal duty: the community must turn out.
• Burial, quickly — usually within a day if possible. The body is placed in the grave lying on its right side, facing Makkah. Graves are traditionally simple and often unmarked or plainly marked. Cremation is forbidden, because the body is God's creation, given in trust, and will be raised.

Why burial, and why plain?

Mourning: where Muslims differ

Cambridge asks specifically about differences within Islam regarding mourning periods, and the reasons for these differences. Handle it with care and precision.

• Common ground. Grief is natural and tears are permitted — but Muslims are taught to avoid extravagant displays such as wailing, tearing clothes or elaborate memorials, because these can look like protest against God's decree. The customary mourning period is around three days, during which the community visits, brings food and offers condolences. A widow traditionally observes a longer period, the iddah, of four months and ten days.
• The difference. Many Muslims — especially in Shi'a communities, and in many South Asian cultures — hold gatherings on the third, seventh and fortieth day after a death, with Qur'an recitation, food and remembrance. Devotion to the Prophet's family, and the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, give lament and public mourning a settled religious place in Shi'a life.
• The reasons for disagreement. Those who keep these commemorations argue they comfort the bereaved and send blessings to the dead. Those who avoid them — many Sunni Muslims, and reform-minded scholars in particular — argue that the sunnah favours simplicity, that the Prophet (pbuh) discouraged extended mourning ceremonies, and that costly gatherings can burden a grieving family. It is a disagreement about what counts as sunnah and what counts as culture.

How to write about this: attribute views ("many Shi'a Muslims…", "many Sunni scholars argue…"), give the reason behind each, and do not declare a winner. That is exactly what the mark scheme rewards.

Match the term to its meaning

Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.

Halal and haram: food and clothing

Halal means permitted; haram means forbidden. These are not fussy rules but a way of making every ordinary act — eating, dressing — an act of obedience.

Food

• Haram: pork and its products; blood; carrion (an animal found dead); meat not slaughtered in the prescribed way; and alcohol and other intoxicants.
• Halal meat is slaughtered with a swift cut by a sharp blade, the blood drained, and the name of God pronounced over the animal. Muslims disagree about whether pre-stunning is acceptable; the underlying principles both sides appeal to are mercy to the animal and remembering that life is taken only by God's permission.
• Impact on daily life: reading every label; halal butchers and restaurants; refusing a drink at a work party; school and hospital catering — small, constant, public acts of identity.

Clothing

• The principle is modesty (haya) for both men and women — clothing that is not tight, transparent or showy, and behaviour that matches.
• Many Muslim women wear the hijab (headscarf); some wear a fuller jilbab or niqab; others dress modestly without covering the hair. Muslims themselves disagree about what is required, and many women describe the hijab as a free choice and an act of worship — and resent being told either to wear it or to remove it.
• Men are also required to be covered and modest, and many Muslim men avoid gold and silk. Modesty is not a women's issue in Islamic teaching, though it is often discussed as if it were.

Halal and haram

Roles, children and parents

Roles and responsibilities of men and women. Islamic teaching describes men and women as equal before God — equal in creation, in religious duties and in reward — while many Muslims also hold that they have complementary roles. Traditionally, the husband is the provider, financially responsible for the household even if his wife has her own income (which remains hers), and the wife has primary responsibility for the home and children. Other Muslims argue that these are descriptions of a seventh-century society, not eternal commands, and point to Khadijah, a leading businesswoman who employed the Prophet (pbuh), and to 'A'ishah, a scholar whose teaching shaped Islamic law, as evidence that Islam never confined women to the home.

Nurture of the young. Parents are responsible for a child's faith, not just their welfare: teaching the shahadah, salah and the Qur'an, sending them to the madrasah, and — above all — modelling the behaviour they want. Children are described as a trust (amanah) from God, for which parents will answer.

Care of the elderly. This is one of the strongest duties in Islam. Surah Al-Isra' 17:23–24 commands worship of God alone and kindness to parents, forbidding even a word of impatience to them in old age (v23) and telling the believer to lower the wing of humility towards them (v24). In practice, most Muslim families care for elderly parents at home; putting a parent into residential care is often regarded as a last resort and can carry real stigma — though Muslims in Britain increasingly debate this where care needs are medically complex.

Honouring parents

When a marriage ends

• Divorce is permitted — but disliked. Islam allows divorce because a broken marriage can harm everyone in it; but Muslim teaching treats it as the most detestable of permitted things. Reconciliation must be attempted first, with arbitrators from both families.
• Talaq — divorce pronounced by the husband, followed by a waiting period (iddah) of about three months, during which reconciliation is encouraged and any pregnancy will become clear. The wife keeps her mahr.
• Khul' — a woman's right to initiate divorce, typically by returning the mahr, and (in most legal systems) confirmed by a court or a shariah council. Cambridge names khul' explicitly: know that a Muslim woman is not trapped in a marriage she wishes to leave.
• Remarriage is permitted and often encouraged, especially for widows and divorced women. There is no stigma attached to a widow remarrying in Islamic teaching — although in some cultures there is, which Muslims themselves criticise as culture overriding religion.
• Different attitudes. Some Muslims apply the traditional rules strictly. Others argue that in modern societies the process must be reformed — that women should have equal access to divorce in practice as well as in principle, and campaign against the abuse of "triple talaq", which several Muslim-majority countries have restricted or banned.

Tradition and change in the family

Why some Muslim communities maintain traditional roles

• They believe the roles are revealed, set out in the Qur'an and the sunnah, and therefore not for humans to redesign.
• They see them as complementary rather than unequal: different duties, equal worth, with the woman protected from the obligation to earn.
• They value stability: clear roles, children raised by a parent at home, elders cared for within the family.
• For minorities, tradition preserves identity against a surrounding culture they may see as individualistic and hostile to faith.

Why some Muslim communities support change

• Economic reality — most families now need two incomes; and many Muslim women are highly educated and want to use that education.
• Re-reading the sources — pointing to Khadijah and 'A'ishah, and arguing that culture, not the Qur'an, produced many restrictions.
• Justice — if God is just ('adl), then practices that harm women, such as forced marriage (which Islam forbids, since consent is required), must be confronted.

The emotional and spiritual challenges. Be honest about the cost of change. Young Muslims can feel torn between parents and peers, and guilty either way. Parents can fear they are losing their children's faith. Converts may have no family support. Muslims who divorce, or who work in mixed workplaces, may face community judgement. And there is a spiritual worry underneath: how do you tell the difference between reforming culture and abandoning revelation? Cambridge rewards candidates who can express that tension rather than pretending it does not exist.

Reasons for change

I5 Rites of passage and the family — the big ideas

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