Al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt - Ibn Rush al-Jadd - (1/449)

Al-Muqaddimāt al-MumahhidātIbn Rush al-Jadd

and it was said that the seventh day is reckoned from sunset; others said from dawn, and others from noon. Another view is that the day of birth is counted if any part of it remains before sunset, as we shall explain later, Allah willing.

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The rulings governing the ‘aqīqah are the same as those governing sacrificial animals, since it is a sacrificial rite. Neither its hide nor its meat may be sold, and the butcher may not be given any of its meat as payment for slaughtering it. The same defects that disqualify sacrificial animals must be avoided in it. Its meat may be eaten and given in charity, its bones are to be broken, and none of its blood is to be applied to the child. Leaving its bones unbroken and smearing the child with its blood were practices of the age of ignorance.

It is related that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “For a boy there is an ‘aqīqah, so shed blood on his behalf and remove harm from him.” It has been said that removing harm from him, as commanded in the hadith, means abandoning the practice of the people of the age of ignorance, who smeared his head with its blood. Another view is that it means shaving his head, and this is the more apparent interpretation. Allah, Almighty and Majestic, says:

“Whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the scalp must offer a ransom of fasting, charity, or sacrifice.” [Al-Baqarah: 196]

Thus, He prescribed a ransom for a person in ritual consecration who removes harm from himself by shaving his head. Likewise, the ‘aqīqah also carries, alongside [the sacrificial rite, the sense] of a ransom for the newborn, as harm is removed from him by shaving his head. It was for this reason—and Allah knows best—that ‘Atā’ said: “Shaving should precede slaughter.”

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The sunnah is to slaughter it during the morning, up until noon. It is disliked to slaughter it in the afternoon, after noon, or in the predawn hours before sunrise. If it is slaughtered at night, however, it does not suffice.

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The best animals for the ‘aqīqah are sheep, followed by goats, then cattle, then camels. It has also been related from Mālik that only sheep or goats may be used for the ‘aqīqah.

فقيل: يحسب السابع من غروب الشمس وقيل من طلوع الفجر وقيل من زوال الشمس. وقيل يحسب ذلك النهار إن بقيت منه بقية قبل الغروب على ما سنذكره بعد هذا إن شاء الله. فصل وحكم العقيقة حكم الضحايا؛ لأنها نسك فلا يباع جلدها ولا لحمها ولا يعطى الجزار على جزارتها شيئا من لحمها، ويتقى فيها من العيوب ما يتقى في الضحايا، ويؤكل منها ويتصدق وتكسر عظامها ولا يمس الصبي بشيء من دمها؛ لأن ترك كسر عظامها وأن يلطخ الصبي بشيء من دمها من أفعال الجاهلية. وقد روي عن النبي ﷺ أنه قال: «في الغلام عقيقة فأهريقوا عنه دما وأميطوا عنه الأذى»، فقيل: إن إماطة الأذى عنه المأمور به في الحديث بترك ما كان أهل الجاهلية يفعلونه من لطخ رأسه بدمها. وقيل بل ذلك حلق شعر رأسه، وهو الأظهر. قال الله ﷿: ﴿فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا أَوْ بِهِ أَذًى مِنْ رَأْسِهِ فَفِدْيَةٌ مِنْ صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍ﴾ [البقرة: ١٩٦] فأوجب الفدية على المحرم لإماطة الأذى عن نفسه بحلق شعر رأسه، فكان العقيقة فيها أيضا مع [النسك معنى] الفدية عن المولود لإماطة الأذى عنه بحلق شعر رأسه. ولهذا المعنى والله أعلم قال عطاء: يبدأ بالحلق قبل الذبح. فصل وسننها أن تذبح ضحوة إلى زوال الشمس، ويكره أن تذبح بالعشي بعد زوال الشمس أو بالسحر قبل طلوع الشمس. وأما إن ذبحها بالليل فلا يجتزأ بها. فصل وأفضل ما يعق به الضأن ثم المعز ثم البقر ثم الإبل. وقد روي عن مالك أنه لا يعق إلا بالغنم.