The Share of Aqiqah in the Large Sacrificial Animal & the Misbelief of La Madhabiyyah (Ghair-Muqallid)

Compiled By: Mufti Umar Anwar Badakhshani

Question

I have two questions:
1) Is it permissible to join aqeeqah and Udhiyya in one animal [cow, Buffalo or camel]? If yes, please kindly feed us with proof.
2) Why do the La Madhabiyya sect don’t accept aqeeqah and Udhiyya in one animal?

Answer

It is clear from your first question that you yourself know that a share of Aqiqah can be included in a large sacrificial animal, but you require proof of this to further understand it.

 The point is that according to the majority of jurists Aqeeqah can be added to large sacrificial animals (cows, oxen, camels), as there are many things in common between Sacrifice (Qurbani) and Aqeeqah.

1- The first reason:  The purpose of sacrifice is to worship Allah Almighty and get his closeness, similarly the purpose of the Aqeeqah is to worship, be thankful and close to Allah. Considerably both the acts are rites of Islam and the prime aim is to shed blood. There are many arguments in the Qur’an and Sunnah related to this.

 The Qur’an says about sacrifice:

وَلِكُلِّ أمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنْسَكًا لِيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ عَلَى مَا رَزَقَهُمْ مِنّ بَهِيمَةِ الْانْعَامِ (الحج:34)۔

Translation: “And we have ordained for every nation a sacrifice for the purpose that they may take the name of Allah when they sacrifice certain kinds of cattle which Allah has bestowed upon them.”

And the hadith says about the sacrifice:

عن عائشة رضی اللہ عنہا قالت: قال رسول اللّٰہ صلی اللّٰہ علیہ وسلم ما عمل ابن آدم من عمل یوم النحر احب الی اللّٰہ من اہراق الدم (سنن الترمذی ، مشکوۃ المصابیح)۔

Translation: Hazrat Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The son of Adam did not do anything on the day of sacrifice which is more pleasing to Allah than shedding blood (ie sacrificing).

The hadith about Aqeeqah says:

من وُلِدَ لهُ ولدٌ فأحبَّ أن يَنسُكَ عنهُ فلينسُكْ (صحيح أبي داود:2842)۔

Translation: Whoever has a child and wants to make a sacrifice (Aqeeqah) on his behalf, he should do so.

In this hadith, the word “nask” has been used for “Aqiqah”. It should be noted that the word “nask “and “mansak” have been used in many places in the Qur’an and Sunnah for sacrifice. This indicates that Qurbani and Aqiqah are rites of Islam.

It is narrated in another hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

مع الغلام عقیقۃ فاھریقواعنہ دما وامیطوا عنہ الاذیٰ (صحیح بخاری 822/2)۔

Translation: “There is Aqeeqah for the child (boy or girl). So you should Shed blood on his behalf and remove the dirt (scalp hair) from it.”

In this hadith, there is a ruling on Aqeeqah, that is, shedding blood, for the newborn child, and with the same words, there is also a ruling on Qurbani, as mentioned above in the hadith about Qurbani.

2- The second important reason is that the prime objective of Qurbani is to shed blood, equivalently the purpose of Aqiqah is also to shed blood. It is not obligatory by anyone to Sadqa all the Qurbani meat, in fact a man is allowed to eat the meat himself or feeds his relatives or friends, the sacrifice remains valid, exactly the same rule applies to the meat of Aqiqah.

When the prime purpose of the sacrifice is to shed blood, and it is permissible to participate in the combined sacrifice of a large animal similar rule goes for Aqiqah and the intention of shedding blood does not eliminate. The Qurbani is an obligatory act of worship when it is permissible to participate in the combined sacrifice, which is obligatory then it should be permissible in the Aqiqah also because the status of the Aqiqah is less than the sacrifice. (Qurbani is wajib on an eligible person and aqiqah is mustahab) If something is permissible in high obligatory act then participation in the lower act will be permissible in the first place. This is the reason why all the Imams in the Islamic jurisprudence issue the rules of sacrifice in the Aqiqah and the jurists have placed both in the same ruling.

2- Now we come to your second question.

If it is considered, the answer to your question has already been given in the answer to the first question, but we mention it again for the benefit of all. Why refuse to share the sacrifice? According to La Madhabiyyah (anti-madhab or Ghair muqallid) the meaning of sacrifice in the Aqiqah is iraqat al-dum (shedding of blood), that is, the slaughter of an animal on behalf of a newborn, whether it be a goat or a cow. According to them, blood should be shed compulsory on behalf of a newborn, and participation in a large animal does not serve the purpose of shedding blood, especially on behalf of a newborn, because while performing Qurbani not only seven people are sharing the sacrifice in a large animal but also shedding the blood of only one animal. Therefore, according to them sharing in Aqiqah is not valid.

It should be noted that this argument of the La Madhabiyyah (anti-madhab) is completely wrong. The reason has been explained above in the context of the first answer, that in Qurbani as well as in Aqiqah, the prime purpose is to shed blood, as it is described in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

عن عائشہ رضی اللّٰہ عنھا قالت: قال رسول اللّٰہ صلی اللّٰہ علیہ وسلم: ماعمل ابن آدم من عمل یوم النحرا حب الی اللّٰہ من اھراق الدم (سنن الترمذی ، مشکوۃ المصابیح)۔

It is narrated from Hazrat Ayesha that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “No deed of the Son of Man on the Day of Sacrifice is dearer to Allah than shedding blood.”

Since the real purpose of the sacrifice is to shed blood, and combined sacrifice of a large animal is permissible, when seven people are participating in the sacrifice of an animal, shedding blood is accepted by each one of them. The intention to shed blood does not eliminate even if a part of the Aqiqah is included in it. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made participation permissible, then there should not be any question arises for the participation in aqiqah in the first place. Thus Shaykh al-Mowaffaq ibn Qudama Hanbali writes in al-Mughni:

والشبہ قیاسھا علی الاضحیۃ ، لانها نسیکۃ مشروفۃ غیر واجبۃ فاشبھت الأضحیۃ (المغنی مع الشرح الکبیر 111/25)۔

And it is doubtful that this (aqiqah) should be compared to a sacrifice,(Qurbani) because this (aqiqah) is a sacrifice which is permissible (mustahab) but not obligatory (like the qurbani).so it should be like sacrifice.

وفی الفتاوی الشامیۃ، کتاب الأضحیۃ( 326/6):وكذا لو أراد بعضهم العقيقة عن ولد قد ولد له من قبل ؛ لأن ذلك جهة التقرب بالشكر على نعمة الولد ذكره محمد۔

وفی بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع (5/ 72):(ولنا) أن الجهات – وإن اختلفت صورة – فهي في المعنى واحد؛ لأن المقصود من الكل التقرب إلى الله عز شأنه وكذلك إن أراد بعضهم العقيقة عن ولد ولد له من قبل؛ لأن ذلك جهة التقرب إلى الله تعالى عز شأنه بالشكر على ما أنعم عليه من الولد، كذا ذكر محمد – رحمه الله – في نوادر الضحايا.

وفی بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع (10/ 278): فَلَا يَجُوزُ الشَّاةُ وَالْمَعْزُ إلَّا عَنْ وَاحِدٍ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ عَظِيمَةً سَمِينَةً تُسَاوِي شَاتَيْنِ مِمَّا يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُضَحَّى بِهِمَا ؛ لِأَنَّ الْقِيَاسَ فِي الْإِبِلِ وَالْبَقَرِ أَنْ لَا يَجُوزَ فِيهِمَا الِاشْتِرَاكُ ؛ لِأَنَّ الْقُرْبَةَ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ إرَاقَةُ الدَّمِ وَأَنَّهَا لَا تَحْتَمِلُ التَّجْزِئَةَ ؛ لِأَنَّهَا ذَبْحٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنَّمَا عَرَفْنَا جَوَازَ ذَلِكَ بِالْخَبَرِ فَبَقِيَ الْأَمْرُ فِي الْغَنَمِ عَلَى أَصْلِ الْقِيَاسِ.

وفی الفتاوى الهندية،كتاب الأضحية،ا لْبَابُ الثَّامِنُ فِيمَا يَتَعَلَّقُ بِالشَّرِكَةِ فِي الضَّحَايَا، 5/ 304:ولو أرادوا القربة -الأضحية أو غيرها من القرب- أجزأهم سواء كانت القربة واجبةً أو تطوعًا أو وجب على البعض دون البعض، وسواء اتفقت جهات القربة أو اختلفت بأن أراد بعضهم الأضحية وبعضهم جزاء الصيد وبعضهم هدي الإحصار وبعضهم كفارة عن شيء أصابه في إحرامه وبعضهم هدي التطوع وبعضهم دم المتعة أو القران، وهذا قول أصحابنا الثلاثة رحمهم الله تعالى، وكذلك إن أراد بعضهم العقيقة عن ولد ولد له من قبل، كذا ذكر محمد – رحمه الله تعالى – في نوادر الضحايا.