What is the ʿaqīqah for a newborn and when should it be done?

The ʿaqīqah is the sacrifice offered for a newborn: the Prophet ﷺ said that every child is pledged by his ʿaqīqah, slaughtered for him on the seventh day, when he is named and his head is shaved. The reports narrated from ʿĀ'ishah and Umm Kurz by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa'i specify two comparable sheep for a boy and one for a girl. The majority of scholars (Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī, Mālikī) hold it is a strongly emphasised sunnah rather than an obligation, while some — including the Ẓāhirīs and one narration from Aḥmad — held it obligatory; the Ḥanafīs treated it as permissible rather than a confirmed sunnah. If the seventh day passes it may still be done later, and the meat is eaten, gifted and given in charity like an ordinary sacrifice.

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