What is the 'Aqiqah? Is it a confirmed Sunnah or a recommended practice, and is the one who does not perform it sinful?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : This is a questioner from Syria. The questioner is Faisal Ahmad, a Syrian resident in the Kingdom. He says in this question: I ask the honorable Shaykh to clarify for us the 'Aqiqah, its meaning and its technical definition. Is it a confirmed Sunnah or a recommended practice? And is the one who does not perform it sinful? I ask for a complete detail on this. May we be rewarded.
The Shaykh : Yes. The 'Aqiqah is the sacrificial animal for the newborn. It is derived from the word "aqq," which means cutting, because the one who slaughters cuts its jugular vein and what must be cut during slaughter. It is a Sunnah. For a male newborn, two animals are slaughtered, and one is sufficient. For a female, one animal is slaughtered. The Sunnah is that it be slaughtered on the seventh day of his birth. The scholars said that if that is missed, then on the fourteenth; if that is missed, then on the twenty-first; if that is missed, then on any day. One eats from it, gives it as a gift, and gives it in charity. If he wishes, he gathers his relatives and neighbors around it. Some scholars held that it is obligatory for the one who is able to afford it, but the correct view is that it is not obligatory for the one who is able to afford it; rather, it is disliked for the one who is able to afford it to leave it. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Yes. The 'Aqiqah is the sacrificial animal for the newborn. It is derived from the word "aqq," which means cutting, because the one who slaughters cuts its jugular vein and what must be cut during slaughter. It is a Sunnah. For a male newborn, two animals are slaughtered, and one is sufficient. For a female, one animal is slaughtered. The Sunnah is that it be slaughtered on the seventh day of his birth. The scholars said that if that is missed, then on the fourteenth; if that is missed, then on the twenty-first; if that is missed, then on any day. One eats from it, gives it as a gift, and gives it in charity. If he wishes, he gathers his relatives and neighbors around it. Some scholars held that it is obligatory for the one who is able to afford it, but the correct view is that it is not obligatory for the one who is able to afford it; rather, it is disliked for the one who is able to afford it to leave it. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.