The Ruling on the 'Aqiqah and the Effect of Delaying It
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What is your opinion regarding one who delays the 'aqiqah to the point where a person related to me that he has three sons and said: I have not performed the 'aqiqah for them yet, but I will slaughter for them and distribute it,So what is the meaning of the saying: (the newborn is held hostage by his 'aqiqah) or something similar, may Allah preserve you and protect you?
The correct view: That the 'aqiqah is not obligatory and that it is a confirmed sunnah, and it is not befitting for a person to leave it,Until Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if he does not find the means, let him borrow, and Allah will compensate him, for he has revived a sunnah,But the saying of Imam Ahmad: so let him borrow, provided that he expects to be able to repay, like a person for whom the 'aqiqah has become due and he has no money, but he knows that at the end of the month his salary will come,We say: borrow and pay for the 'aqiqah at its proper time, on the seventh day.
As for the person who does not expect to be able to repay, he should not borrow; because the 'aqiqah is a sunnah, and repaying a debt is obligatory.
As for one who delayed it without an excuse and his intention was to do it but he was negligent, this -if Allah wills- he will be rewarded for it, but its reward is less than slaughtering it at its proper time, which is the seventh day from his birth, so if a person is born on a Wednesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Tuesday,And this is a rule: on the day before his birth is the 'aqiqah, and if he is born on a Wednesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Tuesday, and if he is born on a Tuesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Monday, and if he is born on a Monday, the 'aqiqah is on the Sunday, and this is a tested practice.
As for the distribution, the original ruling is that he distributes it and invites people to it, he distributes some to the poor and to the neighbors and invites them so that the sunnah is manifested and the sunnah becomes clear.
The questioner: What does it mean: (held hostage by his 'aqiqah) ?The Shaykh: The meaning of: (held hostage by his 'aqiqah) some of the scholars of knowledge said: he is held hostage such that he does not intercede for his parents on the Day of Resurrection,But Ibn al-Qayyim weakened this saying and said: (held hostage) meaning: he is detained and contracted, there may be many benefits in it; because the one who is held hostage is the thing that is detained,As if you pledged, for example, the car to the creditor, meaning: its benefit is detained from you.
The correct view: That the 'aqiqah is not obligatory and that it is a confirmed sunnah, and it is not befitting for a person to leave it,Until Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if he does not find the means, let him borrow, and Allah will compensate him, for he has revived a sunnah,But the saying of Imam Ahmad: so let him borrow, provided that he expects to be able to repay, like a person for whom the 'aqiqah has become due and he has no money, but he knows that at the end of the month his salary will come,We say: borrow and pay for the 'aqiqah at its proper time, on the seventh day.
As for the person who does not expect to be able to repay, he should not borrow; because the 'aqiqah is a sunnah, and repaying a debt is obligatory.
As for one who delayed it without an excuse and his intention was to do it but he was negligent, this -if Allah wills- he will be rewarded for it, but its reward is less than slaughtering it at its proper time, which is the seventh day from his birth, so if a person is born on a Wednesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Tuesday,And this is a rule: on the day before his birth is the 'aqiqah, and if he is born on a Wednesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Tuesday, and if he is born on a Tuesday, the 'aqiqah is on the Monday, and if he is born on a Monday, the 'aqiqah is on the Sunday, and this is a tested practice.
As for the distribution, the original ruling is that he distributes it and invites people to it, he distributes some to the poor and to the neighbors and invites them so that the sunnah is manifested and the sunnah becomes clear.
The questioner: What does it mean: (held hostage by his 'aqiqah) ?The Shaykh: The meaning of: (held hostage by his 'aqiqah) some of the scholars of knowledge said: he is held hostage such that he does not intercede for his parents on the Day of Resurrection,But Ibn al-Qayyim weakened this saying and said: (held hostage) meaning: he is detained and contracted, there may be many benefits in it; because the one who is held hostage is the thing that is detained,As if you pledged, for example, the car to the creditor, meaning: its benefit is detained from you.