Manners of Aqeeqa

In his book entitled Hilyah, Allamah Majlisi (r) says: Oblation for newborns is a confirmed Prophetic tradition, yet for those who are solvent enough to slaughter an animal. However, some scholars have deemed it obligatory. It is more preferable to slaughter the oblatory animal on the 7th day of the newborn’s birth. For fathers, it is a confirmed and highly recommended act. If fathers abandon offering such oblation until the newborn attains maturity, then this act becomes recommended to the mature boy as long as he is alive. According to many traditions, slaughtering an animal as oblation for the newborn is obligatory on their fathers. Other traditions maintain that each newborn is subject to oblation; if no oblation is offered for him, he may be exposed to various ordeals, including death.

Imam Sadiq (a) is reported to have said, “Oblation for the newborn is required by the solvent fathers. As for the insolvent fathers, they must offer an oblation for their newborns once they can. However, if they cannot afford oblation, they are then exempted. If a father has neglected to offer an animal as an oblation for his newborn, but he then offered an animal as sacrifice in the season of the ritual hajj, this offering will be acceptable as compensatory for the oblation.” According to another tradition, Imam Sadiq (a) was asked if it is acceptable to offer an oblation for the newborn who dies on the 7th day of his age, the Imam (a) answered, “If the newborn dies before the midday of the 7th day of his age, no oblation is required for him; but if he dies after that, then it is required to offer an oblation for him.”

According to another considerably reported tradition, ‘Umar ibn Yazid once said to Imam Sadiq (a), “In fact, I do not know whether my father did offer as an oblation for me or not.” The Imam (a) ordered him to offer an animal as an oblation for him. So, ‘Umar did while he was old. According to another acceptably reported tradition, Imam Sadiq (a) has said, “On the 7th day of the age of a male newborn, it is advised to give him a name, to offer an oblation for him, to shave the hair of his head, and to give as alms silver in the same weight of the newborn’s shaved hair. The leg and thigh of the slaughtered animal that was offered as an oblation for the newborn should be gifted to the midwife who has helped his mother give birth to him. The rest of the meat of the animal should be served as food for people and should be given as alms.”

According to another authenticatedly reported tradition, Imam Sadiq (a) has said, “When a male or female baby is born, the father is advised to offer a female sheep or a camel as an oblation for him/her on the 7th day of his/her age. On the same day, you should give him/her a name, shave the hair of his/her head, and give as alms silver or gold that is in the weight of the shaved hair.” According to another tradition, the midwife should be given a quarter of the meat of the slaughtered sheep. If his mother has given birth to him without the assistance of a midwife, then the mother should give a quarter of the meat of the slaughtered sheep to anyone she likes. From the meat of the slaughtered sheep, 10 Muslim persons should be served. Of course, the more the better. The father must not eat from the meat of the slaughtered sheep. If the midwife is Jew, she should be given the value of a quarter of the meat of the slaughtered sheep. According to another tradition, the midwife should be given 1/3 of the meat of the sheep that was offered as an oblation for the newborn. However, it is well known among master jurisprudents that the animal that should be offered as oblation for the newborns must be either a camel, a female sheep, or a goat.

Imam Baqir (a) is reported to have said, “On the days of the birth of Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (a), the Holy Prophet (s) uttered the adhan statements in their ears. On their 7th day, Lady Fatemah (a) offered a female sheep as an oblation for them. She gave the midwife a leg of the sheep and one dinar (which is equal to one mitigal of gold).” The animal to be offered as an oblation for the newborns is necessarily a more than 5 year old camel, a more than one year old goat, or a 6 month old sheep, although it is preferable that the sheep be 7 month old. If the animal is male, it must not be castrated (its testicles have been removed) and, preferably, its testicles are not pressed. Its horn must be sound; that is, its horns must not be broken to the root. Likewise, its ears must be sound and it must be neither extremely skinny, blind, nor too cripple to be ridden.

On the other hand, according to a tradition of a considerable chain of authority, Imam Sadiq (a) has said, “The laws that are appertained to the animals that are offered as sacrifice in the hajj season (uzhiyah) are not applicable to the animals that are offered as oblation for the newborns (Aqiqah).” Accordingly, it is acceptable to offer any sheep as oblation, no matter what its specifications would be, since the most important point in this issue is the meat of the slaughtered animal. Thus, the fleshier the better. As a famous rule among master jurisprudents, it is recommended for fathers to offer oblation for their male newborns and it is recommended for mothers to offer oblation for their female newborns. As much as I known, it is better for fathers to offer oblations for their male and female newborns, as is understood from many considerably reported traditions. Anyhow, there is no objection if a female offers oblations for both male and female newborns.

It is confirmedly recommended that the parents should not eat from the meat of the animals offered by them as oblation for their newborns. More preferably, the parents should not eat from any food one of its ingredients is any part of the meat of the oblatory animal. It is more discommended for mothers to eat from such meat than fathers. It is also preferable that none of the parents’ dependants should eat from the meat of such animals. It is also confirmedly recommended that the meat of the oblatory animal is cooked before it is given as alms. In other words, the meat of the oblatory animal must not be given as alms while it is raw and uncooked; rather, it must be at the least cooked with water and salt, although it is likely preferable to cook the meat of such animals with water and salt only. At any rate, there is no objection if the raw meat of the oblatory animal is given as alms. Even if a father cannot find any animal to offer as oblation for his newborn, it is not excusable to give its value as alms; rather, he must wait until such animals be available. It is also not conditional that only poor people are invited to eat from the meat of oblatory animals, although it is more preferable to restrict the invitation to the righteous and poor people.

Commenting on this topic, I, the author of this book, would like to add the following: As an approved law by the majority of scholars, it is discommended to break the bones of the animals that are offered as oblation for the newborns. This law, however, is not contradicted by the reported tradition that involves that the bones of such animals may be broken, their meat may be cut into pieces, and it is lawful to do anything to these animals after they have been slaughtered (legally). The author of Jawahir Kalam (Shaikh Muhammad Hasan Najafi Jawahiri) says, “The people of Iraq claim that it is recommended to put the bones of an oblatory animal in a white piece of clothes, tie it, and bury it. In fact, I have not seen any reported text confirming this claim. After all, Almighty Allah knows best.”