The time of the 'aqiqa

Three sheets set out the time of the 'aqiqa: the rank of the seventh day and its make-up times, the case of the adult who was not slaughtered for in his childhood, the counting of the day of birth, and the exact hour of the slaughter with its night validity.

Each opinion is reported as the sheet assigns it, with the cited hadiths, their stated grades and the referenced books.

The seventh day and the make-up days by the schools

Al-Hasan al-Basri holds the 'aqiqa obligatory for the boy on his seventh day; if it was not done, he slaughters for himself. Al-Layth ibn Sa'd holds the slaughter takes place within the days of the seventh; if the 'aqiqa was not ready on the seventh day, it may be done later, without obligation after seven days; Abu Umar states that al-Layth held it obligatory during the seven days. Ata' likes, when the seventh has escaped the family, a delay to the next seventh; Ahmad, Ishaq and al-Shafi'i say the same; Malik adds nothing beyond the second seventh; Ibn Wahb allows the third seventh, the opinion of Aisha, Ata', Ahmad and Ishaq. Malik holds the day of birth is counted only if the child was born before the dawn of that night; this restriction looks like a matter of preference: slaughtering on the fourth, the eighth, the tenth or later suffices, and the criterion is the slaughter, not the day of cooking and eating.

The 'aqiqa of the adult not slaughtered for in his childhood

The Malikis and the Hanbalis in the madhhab state the text: the adult not slaughtered for in his childhood does not slaughter for himself, the Prophet's companions whom the pre-Islamic era had not slaughtered for not having slaughtered for themselves in Islam. Ibn Battaal cites the Prophet's saying: "with the boy, his 'aqiqa", Malik's proof, and the fatwa imams of the cities follow this line. Ibn Abd al-Barr sets out the debate: Malik reports from Nafi' that whoever asked Abdullah ibn Umar for an 'aqiqa, among his people, received it, and that he slaughtered for his children one sheep each, boys and girls; some see in this the proof that he allowed the slaughter of the adult as of the child; the hadith does not prove it, the asker possibly meaning his child or himself; Ubaydullah and Ayyub report the same word of Ibn Umar, who added: "for the boy a sheep, for the girl a sheep". Those who allow the adult's slaughter rest on the hadith that Abdullah ibn Muharriz reports from Qatada, from Anas: "the Prophet slaughtered for himself after the sending of prophethood"; Ibn Muharriz's hadith is no proof, and it is said Qatada ruled by it; Ma'mar reports from Qatada: "one not slaughtered for, his sufficient beast suffices him." Abu Umar concludes that the sayings "one to whom a child is born and who wishes to slaughter for him", "with the boy an 'aqiqa", "the boy is pledged by his 'aqiqa" and "the newborn is pledged by his 'aqiqa" all indicate the child's slaughter, not the adult's, the schools debating the first, second or third seventh. Al-'Ayni decides: the adult does not slaughter for himself, and the fatwa imams of the cities follow.

Ibn Qudama sets the case: if the child was not slaughtered for at all and he grew up and earned his living, no 'aqiqa weighs on him; Ahmad was asked and answered: "that falls to the father", the sunna belonging to another; Ata' and al-Hasan hold he slaughters for himself, the 'aqiqa being legislated about him and the boy pledged by it, so his ransom deserves to be legislated for him; the school's answer: it is legislated for the father, none other performs it, like a stranger, in the image of the zakat of breaking the fast. Ibn al-Qayyim devotes a whole chapter to the question in Tuhfat al-Mawloud: al-Khallal opens the chapter of the one not slaughtered for in childhood who slaughters for himself as an adult; Isma'il ibn Sa'id al-Shalanji asked Ahmad: a man learns from his father that none was slaughtered for him, does he slaughter for himself? He answered: "that falls to the father"; Maymuni reports that Ahmad mentioned a report about the adult, weakened it, then held it good that one not slaughtered for as a child be so as an adult, adding: "if someone does it, I do not dislike it", and: "I know nothing about the adult", then: "whoever does it, it is good", some people obligating it. Al-Khallal reports that Abu Dawud transmitted the hadith of al-Haytham ibn Jamil that the Prophet slaughtered for himself, and that Ahmad held Ibn Muharriz's hadith strange and weakened it; Abd al-Razzaq concludes the scholars abandoned Ibn Muharriz because of this hadith. Al-Bahuti decides: the newborn does not slaughter for himself grown up, the 'aqiqa being legislated for the father; if other than the father slaughters for himself grown up, it is not disliked, for lack of proof, but the act takes no 'aqiqa status. A group chooses the recommendation: he slaughters for himself if his father did not, the author of the Mustaw'ib, of the Rawda, of the Ri'ayatayn, of the Hawawayn and of the Nazm holding it, in following the Prophet. The Shafi'is and some Hanbalis allow the man to slaughter for himself grown up if none was done in his childhood.

Al-Mawardi fixes the stages: the 'aqiqa delayed beyond the seventh counts as make-up fulfilling the sunna; one chooses not to pass the period of lochia, then the period of suckling, then the period of minority; past majority, its status falls away for others, and the child suffices for his own 'aqiqa; the adult is not barred from slaughtering for himself. Al-Shafi'i reported from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, from al-Muthanna ibn Anas, from his father Anas: "the Messenger of Allah slaughtered for himself after the revelation of prophethood", reported by al-Bazzar in his Musnad (7281), al-Ruyani in his Musnad (1371) and al-Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar (3/78), authenticated by al-Albani in al-Sahiha (2726). Al-Nawawi reports that al-Rafi'i holds the status falls away for others past majority, the man remaining free for himself; al-Qaffal and al-Shashi hold it good that he slaughter by the hadith of the Prophet slaughtered after prophethood; al-Buwayti says verbatim "none slaughters for an adult", meaning another's slaughtering for the adult, not his slaughtering for himself; the hadith is reported by al-Bayhaqi through the line of Abdullah ibn Muharriz.

Counting the day of birth

The Malikis and the Shafi'is in the famous view hold that the seventh day is not counted if the child was born after the dawn of that day; seven are counted from the day following the birth; if born at night, that day is counted for him. The Shafi'is in the sound line and the Hanbalis count the day of birth among the seven; if born at night, the day following that night is counted for him without dispute. Among the Hanafis, Ibn Abidin reports from al-Siraj al-Wahhaj the simple rule: slaughter a sheep when seven days have passed over the child.

The make-up: the fourteenth and twenty-first days

The jurists differ over the delayed slaughter: is the animal lost or does one slaughter on the fourteenth and twenty-first days? The Malikis hold the time is the seventh; past it, the 'aqiqa falls away by the famous view; it is said it may be done near the seventh; it is said it may be done on the second seventh only, then the third, then nothing. Al-Hattab knows no opinion of the school beyond the third seventh; the Nawadir report that the Iraqis slaughter for the adult; Ibn Sirin says this is not known in Medina; al-Juzuli places that word outside the school. The Shafi'is, the Hanbalis and many of the people of knowledge hold the slaughter in the second week, the fourteenth day, then the twenty-first. At-Tirmidhi concludes after the hadith of al-Hasan from Samura:

The boy is pledged by his 'aqiqa: slaughter for him on the seventh day, name him and shave his head.

reported by at-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, a hasan sahih hadith

a hasan sahih hadith, acted upon by the people of knowledge: the seventh day is preferred, then the fourteenth, then the twenty-first. The Shafi'is extend: then each week; another line holds that after three successive sevens the time of choice departs; one does not pass the period of lochia, then of suckling, then of custody until the age of discernment, then of minority; past that term, the status falls away for others and the man remains free to slaughter for himself in his old age. The Hanbalis hold the seventh, then the fourteenth, then the twenty-first, as reported from Aisha; all of it by way of recommendation, the slaughter beyond remaining valid by the aim's attainment; beyond the twenty-first, two readings: each seventh carries the recommendation, the twenty-eighth then the thirty-fifth and so on, or any time counts, the make-up not being time-bound like the udhiya's. Ibn al-Qayyim cites Abu Dawud in his Book of questions: Ahmad holds the slaughter on the seventh; Salih ibn Ahmad reports from his father: the seventh, then the fourteenth, then the twenty-first; Maymuni reports from Aisha: seven days, fourteen, twenty-one; Abu Talib reports from Ahmad: twenty-one days. The proof is Samura's hadith, sahih; Abdullah ibn Wahb reports the line of Amra from Aisha: "the Prophet slaughtered for al-Hasan and al-Husayn on the seventh day, named them and ordered the nuisance removed from their heads"; Abu Bakr ibn al-Mundhir reports the line of Amr ibn Shu'ayb: "on the newborn's seventh day, the order to name him, sacrifice for him and remove the nuisance from his head"; this is the view of most of the people of knowledge, the highest authority reported being Aisha, then al-Hasan al-Basri and Qatada: the seventh day.

The hadith of the Prophet's slaughtering for himself

The last sheet decides the hadith on which the holders of the adult's slaughter rested: the hadith of Abdullah ibn Muharriz, from Qatada, from Anas, "the Prophet slaughtered for himself after the sending of prophethood", is declared false; al-Bayhaqi calls it strange; Abd al-Razzaq concludes the scholars abandoned Ibn Muharriz because of it; the hadith reported by other lines, from Qatada or Anas, is nothing: a false hadith, Ibn Muharriz weak, his weakness by consensus, the masters declaring him abandoned. Ibn Rushd concludes: the majority group holds the slaughter of the young boy and the young girl only; al-Hasan said apart that the girl is not slaughtered for; some allowed the adult's slaughter; the majority's proof is the saying "on his seventh day", and the dissident's proof the said report of Anas.

The hour of the 'aqiqa's slaughter

No disagreement: the most meritorious is to slaughter the 'aqiqa in the forenoon of the seventh day. The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis hold the best moment is the day's start at sunrise, in the forenoon, and that night slaughter remains valid; the Shafi'is specify it is sunna to slaughter at the day's start at sunrise; the Hanbalis recommend the forenoon slaughter as a good omen. The Malikis set the condition of a daytime slaughter, from the dawn of the seventh to its sunset: the 'aqiqa not being tied to a prayer, the analogy with the offerings outweighs the one with the sacrificial animals; night slaughter does not count. Ibn Rushd specifies: one who slaughters by night gains nothing; before sunrise after dawn, Ibn al-Majishun holds the count, the more apparent line, and the Mabsut holds the reverse, Ibn al-Qasim's apparent transmission. Ibn Rushd divides the time in three: meritorious, from the forenoon to midday; disliked, after midday to sunset and after dawn to sunrise; barred, the night, in which the slaughter does not count.

Practical note

Hold to the common frame: the seventh day in the forenoon, a make-up on the fourteenth then the twenty-first by the majority, the adult not slaughtered for in childhood owing nothing yet remaining free according to respected lines, and the daytime hour being the safest for validity in the Maliki view.