Chapter on the ʿAqīqa

The ʿaqīqa is a recommended Sunnah. It consists of slaughtering, on the newborn’s seventh day, an animal from the eight classes of livestock that are also valid for the Eid sacrifice; it must not be taken from wild game or from birds.

Some narrations from Mālik state that it is to be done only with sheep, excluding camels and cattle. Its meat is to be given in charity and eaten, following the same rulings as the Eid sacrifice.

The reports from Mālik differ as to which Sunnah carries greater emphasis—the Eid sacrifice or the ʿaqīqa. One set of reports gives precedence to the Eid sacrifice, another to the ʿaqīqa. In my judgment they are equal, for both are Islamic rites: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed them, commanded them, and approved them.

Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā relates from Mālik that if a child’s seventh day falls on the Day of Sacrifice, Mālik preferred that the father perform the ʿaqīqa and forgo the Eid sacrifice. Mālik would not count the day of birth among the child’s first seven days unless the birth occurred before dawn; otherwise he discounted that day. He also preferred that the boy be named on the seventh day. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A boy is held in pledge by his ʿaqīqa; a sacrifice is offered for him on his seventh day and he is given his name.”

We have explained the details of this chapter in the book al-Tamhīd—praise be to Allah. There is no ʿaqīqa after the seventh day, and it is