The Prescribed Manner of the 'Aqiqah

Question: What is the ruling of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding a group of people where, when one of them dies, their closest relatives slaughter a sheep which they call the "aqiqah," and they do not break any of its bones, then afterwards they bury its bones and its marrow, and they claim that this is a good deed and that it is obligatory to do so?

Answer: This practice is a religious innovation (bid'ah) with no basis in the Islamic Shari'ah. It is obligatory to abandon it and repent to Allah from it, just as one must repent from all other innovations and sins, for repentance to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is obligatory from all of them. As He said: : [Surat al-Nur: 31], and He said: [Surat al-Tahrim: 8].
The prescribed aqiqah, which came through the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is: what is slaughtered for the newborn on his seventh day. It is two sheep for a male child and one sheep for a female child. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the aqiqah for al-Hasan and al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both). The person who performs it has the choice: if he wishes, he distributes the meat among relatives, friends, and the poor; and if he wishes, he cooks it and invites to it whom he wishes from among relatives, neighbors, and the poor. This is the prescribed aqiqah, and it is a confirmed recommended practice (sunnah mu'akkadah). If one leaves it, there is no sin upon him.