All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
It is Sunnah to shave the hair of the newborn (male or female). This is based on the general meaning of the following Hadith: It was narrated from Qatadah, from Al-Hasan, from Samurh bin Jundab that the Messenger of Allah said: "Every boy is in pledge for his 'Aqiqah, so slaughter (the animal) for him on the seventh day, and shave his head, and a name" {Related by Abu Dawoud}.
An-Nawawi said: "It is recommended to shave the hair of the newborn (male or female) on the seventh day." Our fellow scholars said: "It is recommended to give charity equal to the weight in gold of the hair of the newborn (male or female). The evidence is the mursal report narrated by Maalik, Al-Bayhaqi and others from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn who said: "Faatimah the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) weighed the hair of Hasan, Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kalthoom, and gave the equivalent weight in silver in charity." {Al-Majmou`, vol.4/pp.432}.
The hair is shaved with a razor. It is not shortened with scissors or an electric hair clipper. However, whoever wishes to use the razor but fears injuring the newborn should take him/her to someone who masters this or can use the electric clipper and make the hair as short as possible. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
