The Obligation of the 'Aqiqah.

The Shaykh : For this reason, I say that it is obligatory for all Muslims, whatever their category among the three categories, to revive this Sunnah, which is the Sunnah of the 'Aqiqah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established it, indeed he commanded it, and he set conditions and rulings for it. It is incumbent upon every father to be knowledgeable about them.
First, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the 'Aqiqah in his saying: And in another hadith he said: Therefore, it is obligatory for the guardian, when he is blessed with a newborn, to slaughter on his behalf either two sheep if it is a male, or one sheep if it is a female. This phrasing in both hadiths suggests to the one who reflects on it that the 'Aqiqah is not a matter in which the Muslim has a choice, but rather it is an obligatory matter that is necessary. This is, of course, included in the general rule: "Fear Allah as much as you are able." And his saying (peace be upon him) in the well-known hadith: So his saying (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him): This expression is as if there is an implied word: "It is obligatory for the boy two sheep." And the other hadith, which is the first in the context, says: "The pledge is not released from him except by the 'Aqiqah." So this style of expression suggests to the one who reflects on it that the 'Aqiqah is not merely a followed Sunnah, but it is a necessary, binding, obligatory matter. The one who is able must do this: two sheep for the boy and one sheep for the girl. I say this while mentioning that most scholars hold that the 'Aqiqah is a confirmed Sunnah. I say most scholars hold this, otherwise the issue is more than that a matter of disagreement. For example, Abu Hanifa does not see the legitimacy of the 'Aqiqah and is content with stating the obligation of the Udhiyah. But the precise, fair scholars excused him by saying that when he stated the non-legitimacy of the 'Aqiqah, it was because these hadiths had not reached him, whether they were from his saying (peace be upon him) as you have heard, or from his action (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) as came in the authentic hadith: And in a narration, which is the stronger one: So the scholars excused Abu Hanifa when he said that statement by saying that these hadiths had not reached him, whether they were from his saying (peace be upon him) or from his action. This is very well known regarding many of the disputed issues in which scholars differed. The main cause of the disagreement is that some of them received the hadith and issued a ruling based on it, while others did not receive it, so they exercised their independent reasoning, and their opinion contradicted the hadith. Therefore, it is obligatory for their followers to prefer the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him) over the statement of their Imam. So the point is that we have here, or it has become clear to us so far, two rulings:
The first ruling is the obligation of the 'Aqiqah on the one who is able.
The second ruling is the distinction between the male and the female: for the male, two sheep, and for the female, one sheep.