So I believe it’s sunnah to have an aqiqa for your child. What I was told is that you are to shave their hair off the 7th day and pay charity that is of worth the weight of the hair in silver, as well as sacrifice a goat for a female child and 2 goats for a male child and distribute the meat to families and friends and the poor.
However, we see that in our culture, aqiqa ceremonies are celebrated way past the first year of the child’s birth.
Someone clarify this for me as I was having a discussion with a friend and I realized I have forgotten what’s really the right way of doing this.
^woah, really? That's interesting this is the first time I've heard something like this
I'm curious also, I even get confused when people do an aqiqa when the baby is a couple months old
We and everyone that I know has always done it on the 7th day
**as TLK bhai said it sunna only and NOT obligatory by any long shot. it CAN be deferred and back home in India its sometimes done at the time of wedding so the meat of the sacrificed animal can be used in order to reduce the cost of the wedding.
on the side note, i see pppl worrying too much about peripheral religious events and often ignore the religious obligation. i've seen ppl worrying about meelaad, Khatm-e-Qur'aan and many other customs while completely ignoring the five pillars of islam. what good is there in it if we miss out completely the obligatory rituals? is it because its NOT done everyday and there is a lot of fun? everyone must remember that he/she will be questioned by Allah about 5 pillars of islam and major sins. so remember Allah always coz one day we gonna face HIM. lets be prepared for that. aameen**
I mean what if you have a very difficult pregnancy/delivery, and are not able to be up and about by the 7th day? how does it work theN?
I think in this case the person should sacrifice the animal(s) and pay the amount in silver as required to fulfil the sunnah and then they could have their aqiqa ceremony whenever they want.
I took a class on the Fiqh of Pregnancy with Shaykh Yasir Birjas and he mentioned in it that its mustahab to do it on the 7th day, but it can be delayed for any reasonable reason and there is no time frame in which it must be done. But the sooner the better. And some scholars even say you should do an aqeeqa for a miscarriage that takes place after the rooh of the baby has been breathed into it
But I dont really understand why it would be delayed until the child is 12 or 20..?
I think in this case the person should sacrifice the animal(s) and pay the amount in silver as required to fulfil the sunnah and then they could have their aqiqa ceremony whenever they want.
This is what "needs" to be done. You could always have the celebration later in the name of aqiqa...but the actual aqiqa is what's mentioned above.
My parent had my sister's when she was 13 I think. Its a sunnah not farz so I guess when people don't do it, they aren't committing a sin. Just not earning extra sawab.
party is sep .. taht is not the aqiqa.. aqiqa is teh sacrficie and shaving of hair... its all connected into one sunnat. thats it. you can party sharty whenever you want. most ppl here do it when they visit pakistan cuz otherwise its super expensive. we did it here regardless ... hair was shaved on teh 7th day... money donated, 2 goats sacrificed in pakistan and meat distributed... the party we did i think when midget was a month and a half. in pakistan they just do it all together within the first week.
in my daughter's case on 7th day of her birth she was still in hospital and we were not allowed to touch her. I got her head shaved after 2.5 months of her birth because doctors strictly said no as her skull was too soft and they told me to wait till the due date. Her aqiqa was done at 3 months I believe it was not a celebration at all we gave away all in charity. Someone told me to give away silver equivalent to the weight of her hairs ....till now haven't got a chance to do it and this is not really practiced in my family too.
In my own case all the things were done as per norm including the aqiqa I think I was a week or 2 week old when it was done.
I did it for my daughter when I was visiting Pakistan and she was about 8 months at that time.
It was no celebration.I know that aqiqa meat must be distributed amongst family and poor and some for self,just like qurbani meat.So this is what was done.
I think I never knew that it should be done on the 7th day.
I don't think aqiqa celebrations/party/dawat has anything to do with the actual sunnah requirement of Aqiqa which has to be done on 7th day of child's life but as far as I know, Islamically, some people who cannot afford to sacrifice goat(s) or give money can do it later and there's no time limit.
i was 1yr when i had my aqiqa. then we were in pakistan and my dad bought a COW, which has 7 "parts". so my dad said, jis jis ka aqiqa abhi tak nahin hua, wo bhi abhi saat mein karle :D
my sis had her aqiqa,when she was 4, then wwe were again in pakistan and my dad bought 2 goats...
my son had his on his 1st birthday... it was a big party with nearly 100 ppl
.. .