The aqiqa of the newborn

The aqiqa is the sacrifice offered at the birth of a child. The word comes, the encyclopedia explains, from the newborn's hair that is shaved on the seventh day; the Arabs named the slaughtered animal after that shaving, and the jurists define it as the animal sacrificed for the newborn on his seventh day.

A confirmed sunna

The boy is bound by his aqiqa: slaughter for him on the seventh day, name him and shave his head.Abu Dawud 2838 ; at-Tirmidhi 1522

The majority of jurists (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) hold it a confirmed sunna; Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Abu Thawr and Ishaq enjoin not to neglect it when one has the means. The texts accumulate: Umm Kurz heard the Prophet say « for the boy, two equivalent sheep, for the girl one sheep » (Abu Dawud 2824-2825); Aisha reports the order given to her family to slaughter two sheep for the boy and one for the girl (at-Tirmidhi 1513); Salman ibn Amir heard « with the boy comes an aqiqa: shed blood for him and remove harm from him » (al-Bukhari 5154); Ibn Abbas specifies that the Prophet slaughtered rams for Hasan and for Husayn (Abu Dawud 2841 ; an-Nasa'i 4545). Some Kufans held it abrogated by the udhiya, a view the encyclopedia judges without ancient foundation.

Two sheep for a boy, one for a girl

On the girl there is unanimity: a single sheep. For the boy, the majority (Hanafis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) retain two equivalent sheep, based on the hadith of Umm Kurz and that of Aisha. Malikis settle for one sheep for either, based on the practice of Ibn Umar and Urwa reported by Malik (al-Muwatta 1069, 1072) and on Ibn Abbas's account. The encyclopedia notes the wisdom of the one-to-two ratio: the aqiqa is a ransom for the person, like the diya whose amount for a woman is half that of a man.

Choosing the animal and the spirit of the rite

The male is preferable, and the white animal as with the udhiya, the Prophet having slaughtered horned rams for Hasan and Husayn. The seventh day gives a reasonable interval after birth, time for the family to recover and find the animal. And what is recommended in the udhiya remains recommended here: giving a portion in charity and sharing the meat, since the birth animal combines the meaning of offering, thanksgiving and ransom.

Practical note

This page is limited to the birth sacrifice; the other customs of the seventh day fall outside the scope of the module.