Aqeeqa

[Zuhair Nasir]

Assalamualikum

I WANT TO ASK CAN WE EAT THE AQEEQA OF OUR OWN BABY OR GIVE IT TO POOR PEOPLES ?And can we rempve the hair b4 seven days and can do AQEEQA?

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,


All Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Our Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam)


Jazak'Allah for your question. The animal which is sacrificed, in thanksgiving of a child, is called 'aqiqah', which is normally given on the seventh day after the birth. If it is impossible to give on the seventh day, then it is permissable to give it, whenever possible, but not too late, as the Sunnah of the beloved Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) will have been performed.


The removal of the hair, should be done on the seventh day as is mentioned, and the amount of weight of the hair, in 'aqiqah', should be given as charity (sadqah) to the poor people. However this is not limited, as it can be given to the poor, and/or to friends, and/or to neighbours. It can however be given raw, and/or cooked, as is the tradition.


People may eat this as a form of invitation (da'wat), or it can be given as wished, to whomever it is necessary, it does not have a condition. The bones should not be broken as a form of good omen, and if they are, it does not really matter. If the meat is cooked sweet, it indicates the piety of the child, that he will be pious.


Normally it is two goats for a boy, and for a girl, it is a female goat. It is permissable for a female animal for the girl, and male animal for the boy, but if it isn't, it does not matter. If two goats can not be given for a boy, then one goat may also suffice, for a boy, as the 'aqiqah' will have been performed.


May Allah the Almighty help Muslims to act upon the rest of the fara'idh and Sunnahs, of the Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), and may He make our world, and hereafter, a better place.



Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab



M. Waseem Ashrafi