Islamic Fiqh > Udhiya and aqiqa > Aqiqah
The aqiqah of the newborn: origin of the name, ruling and divergence of the schools, number of the animals, the seventh day and making up, the choice of the animal, the adhan in the ear, the shaving, the meal, the bones and the wisdom of the rite.
The aqiqah is the animal slaughtered for the newborn on his seventh day, when he is named and his head is shaved: a confirmed sunna among Malikis, Shafi’is and Hanbalis, a recommended act among Hanafis ("the boy is bound by his aqiqah", Abu Dawud 2838, at-Tirmidhi 1522). The majority slaughters 2 equivalent sheep for the boy and one for the girl (Abu Dawud 2824-2825); the Malikis settle for one sheep for either (al-Muwatta 1069). Past the seventh day, it is made up on the 14th then the 21st; the adult not slaughtered as a child may slaughter for himself among the Shafi’is. The animal follows the regime of the udhiya: a white male preferred, no selling and no defect, meal and charity.
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Updated on 07 October 2026 at 6:42 PM
The aqiqah is the animal slaughtered for the newborn: among the Malikis, the slaughter of a sheep for him on the day of his seventh day; among the Shafi’is, what is slaughtered on the day his head is shaved; among the Hanbalis, the animal slaughtered for the newborn, or the meal offered on his account.
In Arabic, the word points to the cutting (al-’aqq), the root of the verb of ingratitude toward parents, because the slaughter cuts the throat and the jugular veins; others derive it from the hair of the newborn, whose plural is ’aqa’iq. The Arabs named the animal of the seventh day, at the time of the shaving, after its cause or its neighbor.
The boy is bound by his aqiqah: 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 and Hanbalis, and most of the people of knowledge hold it a confirmed sunna; Ibn al-Qattan notes that all the scholars affirm that it is a sunna, some making it obligatory, like the Zahirites, others not. The Hanafis hold it permissible, and in one opinion recommended: Abu Hanifa makes it neither an obligation nor a sunna, abandoning it being disliked.
The divergence stems from texts of opposite senses, Ibn Rushd summarizes: "every boy is bound by his aqiqah" points to obligation, while "Allah, most high, does not like cuttings; whoever has a child born to him, if he wishes to slaughter for it, let him do so" points to encouragement or permission (Abu Dawud 2842, a hadith judged hasan).
Some scholars of Kufa, then Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and al-Kasani, argued that the udhiya had abrogated it, on a report from Aisha; a view judged unfounded by Ibn Battal and Ibn Abd al-Barr, the practice of the Hijaz, ancient and recent, being constant, attested by Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar and Aisha.
On the girl there is unanimity: a single sheep. For the boy, the majority (Hanafis, Shafi’is, Hanbalis) retain 2 equivalent sheep, alike or close, male or female: Umm Kurz heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say "for the boy, 2 equivalent sheep; for the girl one sheep, male or female" (Abu Dawud 2824-2825); Hafsa reports from Aisha the order to slaughter for the boy 2 sheep and for the girl one (at-Tirmidhi 1513); Ibn Abbas specifies that he slaughtered "2 rams each" for Hasan and Husayn (an-Nasa’i 4545), the version said to be the most correct, while another says "one ram each" (Abu Dawud 2841).
The Malikis settle for one sheep for either: Ibn Umar used to slaughter for his children one sheep each, boys and girls (al-Muwatta 1069), and ’Urwa ibn az-Zubayr did the same (al-Muwatta 1072). The wisdom of the ratio of one to two lies in the ransom: the aqiqah ransoms the person as the diya compensates him, the woman’s share in it being worth half of the man’s. Ibn al-Qayyim reconciles the texts: the 2 rams of Hasan and Husayn are read together with those their mother Fatima slaughtered, and Allah has set the female at half of the male in inheritance, blood money, testimony, emancipation and the aqiqah.
The Malikis (the widespread view) and the Hanbalis claim it from the father: it comes out of his wealth, not that of the child, and it falls on no other relative, even if he maintains him; the Malikis slaughter for the orphan from the orphan’s own wealth. The Shafi’is charge it to whoever owes the maintenance: it is not drawn from the wealth of a rich child, since it is not obligatory, like the udhiya (al-Mawardi). One who was destitute on the seventh day then becomes well-off still slaughters within the recommended time; well-off after the seventh day and the postnatal bleeding (nifas), it lapses; during the nifas, two opinions (an-Nawawi).
If it was drawn from the wealth of the child, the guardian answers for it (reported by ad-Darimi), and the slaughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him) for Hasan and Husayn is explained by an-Nawawi: an order to their father, means provided, or parents in need at his expense.
The time of the aqiqah is the seventh day, with the naming and the shaving; it is also reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to order, when the seventh day of the newborn came, to name him, slaughter for him and ward off from his head the harmful. The counting divides: the Malikis, and the Shafi’is in one opinion, count the day of birth only if the child was born at night before dawn; the Shafi’is in their most correct opinion and the Hanbalis count it, the night counting for the day that follows it; the Hanafis wait for 7 full days (Ibn Abidin). With Malik this counting remains of the recommended: slaughtering on the 4th, the 8th, the 10th or later still counts, the essential being the sacrifice.
No divergence on the best hour, the full morning; Shafi’is and Hanbalis validate the night, the Malikis require the day, from dawn to sunset.
The wisdom of the seventh day, according to ad-Dahlawi, lies in the interval: the family is busy caring for the mother and the child, and many find the animal only by searching; prescribing the first day would have been too heavy, 7 days make a reasonable span.
If the seventh day passes, Shafi’is, Hanbalis and many scholars move the slaughter to the fourteenth, otherwise the twenty-first: at-Tirmidhi notes it after the hadith of Samura, and it is reported from Aisha "7 days, 14, 21". Past the twenty-first, the Hanbali school hesitates between each following seventh and any moment. The Shafi’is bound the making up: not beyond the postnatal bleeding, then the breastfeeding, then the custody, then puberty; beyond that, the duty lapses for others.
The Malikis hold that it lapses after the seventh day (the widespread view), with opinions delaying it to the second then the third seventh; "the people of Iraq slaughter even for the adult" remained unknown in Medina according to Ibn Sirin.
The adult for whom no slaughter was made as a child divides opinions: the Malikis and the Hanbali textual ruling deny that he slaughters for himself, the Companions not slaughtered in the jahiliyya having not done so; Ahmad replied "it goes back to the father", the sunna lying in the right of the father, like the charity of breaking the fast (Ibn Qudama). The Shafi’is and part of the Hanbalis deem it recommended, on the report that the Prophet (peace be upon him) slaughtered for himself after prophethood (al-Bazzar 7281, judged sahih by al-Albani); Ahmad said: "if someone does it, it is good; among the people, some make it obligatory".
The aqiqah follows the regime of the udhiya: same age, same disqualifying defects, same recommended qualities (Ibn Qudama). Unanimity admits the camel, the bovine and the sheep, except for an opinion reported from Malik admitting only the sheep. The minimum is the weaned sheep (jadha’) or the goat whose two front incisors have grown (thaniyy). Disqualified are the manifestly one-eyed, the manifestly lame, the manifestly sick, the emaciated without marrow, and the one that has lost more than half of an ear or of a horn; disliked are the animals with slit ears, pierced, cut in half or from the top; the male is preferred to the female, the sheep to the goat.
On the best animal, two lines: the sheep is preferred among the Malikis, a Shafi’i line and the Hanbali text, nothing being transmitted on the camel or the bovine in the aqiqah. The other line, among the Shafi’is (the madhhab) and a Hanbali riwaya, orders camel, then bovine, then weaned sheep, then goat, as with the udhiya; Ibn al-Mundhir replies that the precise text (2 sheep, one sheep) takes precedence over the general ("shed blood for him").
The Shafi’is, the Hanbalis and many scholars recommend the adhan in the right ear of the newborn and the iqama in the left, on the act reported by Abu Rafi’: "I saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) call the adhan in the ear of Hasan when Fatima gave birth to him, for the prayer" (Abu Dawud 5105, at-Tirmidhi 1514, a hadith judged hasan). The reports that promise on this occasion protection against "Umm as-Sibyan" are judged fabricated by the specialists of hadith; the sound foundation is the act of Abu Rafi’.
Ibn al-Qayyim gives its secret: the first word that strikes the hearing carries the greatness of Allah and the testimony that brings into Islam, at the entry into the world as the tawhid will be at the departure. The Malikis report that Malik disapproved of this adhan, while some scholars judged it recommended.
The shaving of the head is recommended for the boy and the girl according to the Malikis, the Shafi’is (the madhhab) and a Hanbali line, by the generality of the hadith; al-Hasan said that warding off harm means shaving the head (Abu Dawud 2840). The Hanbali text and certain Shafi’is reserve it for the boy. Added to it is the charity of the weight of the hair: the majority recommends it, in gold or in silver according to the Malikis and the Shafi’is, in silver alone according to the Hanbalis.
The foundation is the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Fatima at the birth of Hasan: "shave his head and give in charity the weight of his hair in silver to the poor" (Ahmad 27227, al-Bayhaqi 9/304, a hadith judged hasan); Fatima weighed the hair of Hasan, Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum (al-Muwatta 1067).
Unanimity admits eating from it, giving it in charity and offering it to the neighbors, the regime being identical to that of the udhiya: charity, meal, gift, storing, prohibition of selling (an-Nawawi). Malik ranks the animal of the birth among the offerings: the family eats from it, charity is given from it, and the child is not touched by its blood (reported by Ibn Abd al-Barr). Ibn Sirin said "do with it what you wish"; Ahmad recommends water and salt, any other seasoning being harmless.
On the meal, the Hanbalis prefer that it be cooked and that people be invited: "let them bear it", Ahmad replied to those who said the cooking was heavy. The Shafi’is prefer the charity of the meat and the broth, cooked, sent to the poor, the invitation remaining permitted, and the sweet cooking being preferred, as a good omen of the sweetness of the character of the child, cooking it sour not being disliked according to their most correct opinion. The Hanafis cook it all then give it in charity.
The Malikis dislike inviting people, for fear of showing off: the household eats from it, the neighbors, rich and poor, are fed; Malik once slaughtered at night to avoid the invitation, then in the morning the animal of the aqiqah, and gave of it to the neighbors: "whoever has the means, let him do the same" (al-Hattab).
Hanafis and Hanbalis, and the Shafi’is in one opinion, dislike breaking the bones of the aqiqah and prefer separating the limbs at the joints: it is reported from Aisha "2 equivalent sheep for the boy, one for the girl, cooked whole, no bone broken; one eats, feeds and gives in charity", and the mursal report of Ja’far ibn Muhammad from his father: concerning the aqiqah of Fatima for Hasan and Husayn, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said "let a thigh be sent to the midwife, eat, feed, and break no bone" (Abu Dawud, al-Marasil 379; al-Bayhaqi 19069).
The reason given is the good omen: the first animal slaughtered for the child announces the integrity of his limbs (Hanafis; Hanbalis, with ’Ata’ and Ibn Jurayj); the Shafi’is add to it the dignity of the whole gift and the role of ransom, whose bones remain whole like the person ransomed. The Malikis and the most correct Shafi’i opinion allow breaking, neither sunna nor recommended: Tuhfat al-Mawdud explains that the Arabs refrained from breaking out of fear for the child, a belief without foundation.
The Hanafis and the Shafi’is admit sharing: a camel or a cow counts for 7 newborns. The Hanafis require that all seek nearness to Allah, Zufar alone requiring one same purpose; the Shafi’is validate it even if some seek only the meat, as in the udhiya. The Malikis and the Hanbalis reject sharing in the aqiqah, nothing of the sort having come for it: "one head counts only for one head", said Ibn al-Qayyim; Ahmad had heard nothing of the bovine for 7 in the aqiqah, the animal having to shed a whole blood for a life.
If the arrival of a child coincides with the days of Eid, the Shafi’is (the opinion retained among them) and the Hanbalis in the most correct riwaya validate a single animal for both, the intention gathering the two titles; Ibn al-Qayyim reports that Ahmad slaughtered his udhiya for himself and his household while his grandson Abdullah was still a young child, and said: "I hope the udhiya counts for the aqiqah of the one for whom no slaughter was made". The Malikis, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami and a Hanbali riwaya refuse it: one blood does not count for two causes, while the wedding feast, whose purpose is to feed, may combine the udhiya.
Malik rules for whoever owns only one sheep that day: let him slaughter for the aqiqah (Ibn Rushd: if he hopes for the udhiya the following year, otherwise the udhiya, firmer in law).
Abu Talib, in Tuhfat al-Mawdud, describes the slaughterer saying "in the name of Allah, this is the aqiqah of so-and-so son of so-and-so", then "Allah, from You and for You": the animal of the birth gathers the meaning of the offering, of the thanksgiving, of the ransom, of the charity and of the meal offered at great joys. Everything recommended in the udhiya is recommended here: the charity of a part, the sharing of the meat, and the meal that spares the neighbors and the poor the burden of the cooking.
For further reading: the time of the aqiqah and the wisdom of the aqiqah on the seventh day.
Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudama · Hanbali school
Question 1769; he said: "The aqiqah is a sunna: for the boy, two sheep, and for the girl, one sheep.
The aqiqah is the animal slaughtered for the newborn; it has also been said that it is the meal that is prepared and to which one is invited on account of the newborn. Abu Ubayd said: the origin of the aqiqah is the hair upon the newborn, its plural is ’aqa’iq; from it comes the poet’s verse: "O Hind, do not marry Buhah, upon him weighs his aqiqah, consider".
Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudama · Hanbali school
Question 1769 (continued); he said: the aqiqah is a sunna according to the majority of the people of knowledge: Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Aisha, the jurists of the Successors and the imams of the great cities, except the people of opinion, who said: it is not a sunna, it is a practice of the jahiliyya. It was reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him), asked about the aqiqah, said: "Allah, most high, does not like cuttings", as if he disapproved of the name, then said: "Whoever has a child born to him, if he wishes to slaughter for it, let him do so." Reported by Malik.
Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudama · Hanbali school
Question 1771; he said: (and it is slaughtered on the day of the seventh). What is recommended is that the two sheep be alike, according to the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "two equivalent sheep", and in a version "two alike". Ahmad said: it means alike. In the hadith of Umm Kurz, she heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: "for the boy, two equivalent sheep, and for the girl one sheep, and there is no harm in their being male or female". Reported by Sa’id and Abu Dawud. The male is better, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) slaughtered for Hasan and Husayn a ram each, and sacrificed two horned rams. The aqiqah follows the regime of the udhiya, and the best in color is the white, as with the udhiya, for it resembles it. It is recommended to make it sleek, to admire its build and to find it pleasing. If one does otherwise, or slaughters a single ram, it counts, according to the hadith of Hasan and Husayn.
Yes: the slaughter moves to the fourteenth day, otherwise the twenty-first (reported from Aisha, noted by at-Tirmidhi after Samura's hadith). Malikis hold that it lapses after the seventh day, with opinions delaying it to the second then the third seventh. Past the twenty-first, the Hanbali school holds either each following seventh or any time.
Divergence: Shafi'is and some Hanbalis allow it and deem it recommended, based on the report that the Prophet slaughtered for himself after prophethood (al-Bazzar 7281, judged sahih by al-Albani); Ahmad said whoever does it, it is good. Malikis and the Hanbali textual ruling deny it: the sunna falls on the father, like zakat al-fitr, and Companions not slaughtered in jahiliyya did not slaughter for themselves.
Selling is excluded, as with the udhiya. Eating, giving in charity and offering to neighbors are agreed upon, the regime being that of the udhiya; Malik notes that the child is not touched by its animal's blood.
Agreed: one sheep suffices for a girl. For a boy, the majority (Hanafis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) require 2 equivalent sheep, male or female; Malikis settle for one sheep for either, on Ibn Abbas's hadith (one ram for Hasan and one for Husayn) and the practice of Ibn Umar and Urwa (al-Muwatta 1069, 1072). A single ram for the boy also counts.
Hanafis and Hanbalis, and Shafi'is in one opinion, dislike breaking the bones: limbs are separated at the joints, as a good omen for the child's integrity. Malikis and the soundest Shafi'i opinion allow it, neither sunna nor recommended. Sweet cooking is preferred among Shafi'is, a good omen for the child's character; Ahmad recommends water and salt, any other seasoning being harmless.
Divergence: Malikis (the widespread view) and Hanbalis claim it from the father, it comes from his wealth, never the child's, and they slaughter for the orphan from the orphan's own wealth. Shafi'is charge it to whoever owes the maintenance: father, grandfather, mother or grandmother, even if the newborn is rich, since it is not obligatory, like the udhiya.
Hanafis and Shafi'is allow it: a camel or cow counts for 7 newborns, each partner seeking nearness to Allah. Malikis and Hanbalis reject sharing in the aqiqa: one head counts for one head only, as it is the ransom of a whole person. On Eid day, one animal covers both udhiya and aqiqa only among Shafi'is (the retained opinion) and one Hanbali report.