Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aqeeqah
Aqeeqah
E-mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: http://WWW.IRFI.ORG
Children are a precious gift from God to the family and whole of mankind. Arrival of a new baby
is a special time in a person's life, as well as a time of great change. Children are heralds of a
promise: the renewal of the world in and through the family. Our children, the springtime of the
family and society, are always a sign of hope for the world.
Joseph Smith founder of the Mormon Church said, "The richest of all my earthly joys is in my
precious children," he said. "Thank God!"
Children have the ability to bring the most wonderful sense of joy into our lives as well as
the most overwhelming feelings of exasperation.
Life is a wonderful thing. Parenting is hard, but the rewards far, far outweigh the work. Bearing
children--especially sons--was the greatest thing a woman could hope for, and represented her
greatest fulfillment. These days, many women have found other ways to fulfill themselves, and
although we still value our children highly, the negative sides of motherhood get much more
press than they used to. Further, there is a distinct sense in today's society that if a woman is "just
a mother," she has somehow fallen short of her potential as a human being.
Still, bearing children remains a desirable and even crucial goal for many millions of women in
our society. Women, who want children but are unable to have them, for whatever reason,
continue to feel the age-old pain of the childless woman. And women who have gone through the
pain of labor continue to feel the joy-the joy that a child is born into the world. Both the pain and
the joy are real.
In the Islamic tradition the Muslims introduce the new arrival to the family, friends and the
community by performing the Aqeeqah.
DEFINITION OF AQEEQAH
Aqeeqah is an Arabic word originally derived from the key word 'aq' which means to cut and
shred. To cut or shave the hair of the child.
The occasion is associated with 'cutting' because the child's head is shaven on the 7th day after
birth. One scholar's opinion is that 'aqeeqah' designates the child's hair itself at the time of
birth. A child is a gift of God. Child is adored and cherished. We give thanks to Allah (SWT).
Aqeeqah is an expression of Thanks and gratitude to Allah for the gift. This pleasure is shared
with the family, friends and community.
Hadeeth: Whoever has a child born to him and wishes to offer a sacrifice, then let him
sacrifice......
On the birth occasion of Hadhrat Hasan (R. A.), the Noble Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa sallam)
instructed Hadhrat Fatima (R. A.) to donate the equivalent amount to charity. The Prophet
(Sallalahu alaihi Wasallam) also donated the equivalent amount to the weight of Hadhrat
Fatima's hair to charity.
Hadhrat Imam Mohammad Baqir (R.A.) narrates, "Hadhrat Fatima (R.A.) gave the amount
equivalent to her daughter Zainab's (R.A.), Umme Kulthum's (R.A.), and her sons Hasan's (RA.)
and Hussain's (RA.) hair to charity."(Mu'atta Imam Mohammad pg. 286).
The above narrations show that to offer the equivalent amount of the weight of a child's hair in
silver is Sunnah. But if one were to give the charity in gold, then it would not harm anyone, if
one can afford to. That giving silver in charity is easily managed by any person - as opposed to
gold, which is more expensive.
Is Charity to be given in Gold or Silver?
What is established in the authentic ahaadeeth is that it is to be silver, it is confirmed in the
authentic Sunnah - that charity be given with the weight of the child's hair in silver. But if one
were to give the charity in gold, then it would not harm since it is reported from a group of the
Salaf. But silver is better for two reasons:
(i) It is what is established in the many authentic ahaadeeth as has preceded.
(ii) That giving silver in charity is easily managed by any person - as opposed to gold, which is
more expensive.
What we should do is to work out the value of the appropriate amount of silver in modern
currency. That is done by weighing the hair in grams then finding out the current value of that
amount of silver. The result will then be the amount of charity that is to be given.
An example: For hair, which weighs 2.5 grams, i.e. approximately one dirham. We multiply this
by the price of a gram of silver - which is not fixed - let us say that it is $0.16 per gram. Then
the amount of charity to be given will be 2.5 x0.16 = 40 cents and this is an amount of charity,
which will be easy for every Muslim - rich or poor.
However, if this were measured in gold, it would be harder since a gram of gold may cost about
$10.00 or more, - so upon our example the amount of charity to be given if it were given in gold
would be 2.5 x $10.00 = $25.00.
When a child was born Hadhrat Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz (RA.) would recite the adhaan in the
child's right ear and the iqaamah in the left."
Bismillahir-RaHmanir-RaHeem.
First of all, we would like to stress the fact that `aqeeqah is a Prophetic Sunnah. Muslims who
have the means to do it should not ignore it.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, states:
`Aqeeqah is a great Sunnah. It is part of the legacy inherited from Prophet Ibrahim (peace and
blessings be upon him) and a great Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, Every child is mortgaged to his
`aqeeqah.
`Aqeeqah involves sacrificing a goat or lamb on behalf of the child. It is giving thanks to Allah
for the gift of a child. The meat is distributed to the poor, or it can be used to arrange a feast to
which the poor as well as relatives and friends are invited.
It is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sacrificed a goat each for his
grandsons Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn. It is recommended that, on the day of `aqeeqah, the child is
given a good name, his/her head is shaved, and his/her hair is weighed and the equivalent in
money of its weight in gold is given in charity. If, for any reason, `aqeeqah cannot be done on the
seventh day, it can be done on the fourteenth, twenty-first or whenever possible. However, it
should not be unnecessarily delayed.
Furthermore, according to the vast majority of scholars in Islam, `aqeeqah is a highly
recommended practice (Sunnah). There is, however, a small minority of scholars who consider it
obligatory. This is the position of Imam Hasan Al-Basari.
Lastly, the significance of `aqeeqah is that it is part of the Abrahamic legacy. Prophet Ibrahim
(peace and blessings be upon him) was a man of tawhid (belief in the oneness of Allah), and his
entire life typified that of a perfect muwahhid or monotheist. He abolished sacrifices or rituals to
deities other than Allah and allowed sacrifices and prayers to be directed solely to Allah. The
rituals associated with `aqeeqah, therefore, can be considered as a childs initiation into the
lessons of tawhid.
In short, `aqeeqah is a great Sunnah, which all Muslims should practice, especially if they have
the means to do so.
`Aqeeqah is a great Sunnah. It is part of the legacy inherited from Prophet Ibrahim (peace and
blessings be upon him) and a great Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, Every child is mortgaged to his
`aqeeqah.
Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America states:
`Aqeeqah is a Sunnah. It is a ceremony done in thankfulness to Allah for the newborn child.
Although `Aqeeqah is not mentioned in the Quran, it is mentioned in Hadith. The Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have urged Muslims to make `Aqeeqah for their
children on the seventh day of their birth. If for some reason it was not possible to do it on the
7th day then it can be done at a later date. Those who cannot afford it can give some other charity
or just make du`a for their child.
Naming the child should be done as soon as the child is born. According to the Sunnah, every
child that is born alive should be given a name. If the `Aqeeqah was done before naming the
child, there is no harm. There is no need to repeat the `Aqeeqah.
The method of `Aqeeqah is to shave the babys head or to trim the hair. One may give silver or
gold out of charity according to the weight of the babys hair. One or two goats or sheep should
be slaughtered as sacrifice and the meat should be distributed among the poor, the friends, and
the family members can use part of it.
Some Prophetic hadiths mention two goats to be sacrificed for a boy and one for a girl. But,
according to Muslim jurists, one can sacrifice only one for the boy and one can also sacrifice two
for the girl.