is given them to
eat. The sugar represents the life of the young one given to the spirit
who possesses the first-born. A child born with teeth already visible
is believed to exercise a very malignant influence over its parents,
and to render the early death of one of them almost certain." [308]

8. Pregnancy rites.

In the seventh or ninth month of pregnancy a fertility rite is
performed as among the Hindus. The woman is dressed in new clothes,
and her lap is filled with fruit and vegetables by her friends. In
some localities a large number of pots are obtained, and a little
water is placed in each of them by a fertile married woman who has
never lost a child. Prayers are repeated over the pots in the names
of the male and female ancestors of the family, and especially of the
women who have died in childbirth. This appears to be a propitiation
of the spirits of ancestors. [309]

9. Childbirth and naming children.

A woman goes to her parents' home after the last pregnancy rite and
stays there till her confinement is over. The rites performed by the
midwife at birth resemble those of the Hindus. When the child is born
the _azan_ or summons to prayer is uttered aloud in his right ear,
and the _takbir_ or Muhammadan creed in his left. The child is named
on the sixth or seventh day. Sometimes the name of an ancestor is
given, or the initial letter is selected from the Koran at a venture
and a name beginning with that letter is chosen. Some common names
are those of the hundred titles of God combined with the prefix _abd_
or servant. Such are Abdul Aziz, servant of the all-honoured; Ghani,
the everlasting; Karim, the gracious; Rahim, the pitiful; Rahman,
the merciful; Razzak, the bread-giver; Sattar, the concealer; and
so on, with the prefix Abdul, or servant of, in each case. Similarly
Abdullah, or servant of God, was the name of Muhammad's father, and
is a very favourite one. Other names end with Baksh or 'given by,' as
Haidar Baksh, given by the lion (Ali); these are similar to the Hindu
names ending in Prasad. The prefix Ghulam, or slave of, is also used,
as Ghulam Hussain, slave of Hussain; and names of Hebrew patriarchs
mentioned in the Koran are not uncommon, as Ayub Job, Harun Aaron,
Ishaq Isaac, Musa Moses, Yakub Jacob, Yusaf Joseph, and so on. [310]

10. The Ukika sacrifice.

After childbirth the mother must not pray or fast, touch the Koran
or enter a mosque for forty days; on the expiry