Tasmia Qwani or Tasmiya Khwani also known as ''Bismillah'' is a centuries old traditional Deccani muslim family ceremony in which a Muslim child is initiated to read the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

. The ceremony is celebrated with multiple traditional customs. After a Muslim child grows to the age of four years and four months the traditional ''Bismillah'' ceremony is performed in which, any elder person from the family or a religious head from the community make the child to recite the first five verses from Surath Al-Alaq—(96th Chapter of the Quran), and from then on wards the child is regularly taught to learn the Quran. The ceremony is celebrated on any convenient day with relatives, neighbors and friends, on the ceremony day early morning Naubat—(drummer and shehnai players are placed on a small podium) is played outside the house, in the evening ladies play ''Dholak ke geet''— (household songs based on local Folklore) in a family gathering, later the child is prepared to get ready for function and this preparation is called ''Haldi''—(

Turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

and

Sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

paste is applied on the body for fragrance) before shower, female child’s hands and foot are decorated with ''

Henna Henna is a dye prepared from the plant ''Lawsonia inermis'', also known as the henna tree, the mignonette tree, and the Egyptian privet, the sole species of the genus ''Lawsonia''. ''Henna'' can also refer to the temporary body art resulting fr ...

'' fortnight of ceremony, the male garb is

Sherwani Sherwani is a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia. Like the Western frock coat it is fitted, with some waist suppression; it falls to below the knees and is buttoned down the front. It can be collarless, have a shirt-style collar, ...

and female is

Khara Dupatta Khada dupatta (upright stole) is the traditional wedding dress of Hyderabadi Muslim brides in the Indian subcontinent. It is an elaborate wedding ensemble comprising a kurta (tunic), chooridaar (extra-long slim pants that gather at the ankles ...

and

Gajra A Gajra is a flower garland that is worn by dharmic women across the world during festive occasions, weddings, or as part of everyday traditional attire. They are made usually of varies types of jasmine flowers but rose, crossandra and barl ...

. Once all the relatives arrived, particularly after ''

Isha prayer The Isha prayer ( ar, صلاة العشاء ', "night prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Isha prayer is technically the second prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is t ...

''—(Late night 5th and last prayer of the Day) the child is set to recite the verses of the Quran after which the relatives congratulates the parents and present gifts and flower garlands to the child and parents. The traditional

Marfa Music The Marfa is a form of celebratory rhythmic music and dance from Hyderabad, India, among the Hyderabadi Muslims, adapted from Afro-Arab music of Hadhramawt in Yemen. It is played at a high tempo using instruments such as marfa, '' daff'', ''dho ...

is played followed with sword dance by the youngsters.

References

External links

Prince Mukarram Jah on his Tasmia Qwani
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qwani, Tasmia Culture of Hyderabad, India Islam in Hyderabad, India *