ʿAqīqah: Two Goats for a Boy and One for a Girl
Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
The Ruling of ʿAqīqah
For a boy, two goats are to be sacrificed, and for a girl, one goat. This should be done on the seventh day after birth, when the child is also named and the head is shaved.
➊ Umm Karz al-Kaʿbiyyah رضي الله عنها narrates:
عن الغلام شاتان مكافئتان وعن الجارية شاة
“For a boy, two equivalent goats, and for a girl, one goat (should be sacrificed).”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd 2458; Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 4/390; al-Nasāʾī 7/165; al-Dārimī 2/81; Ibn Ḥibbān 1060; Musnad Aḥmad 6/381; al-Ḥumaydī 1/167; ʿAbd al-Razzāq 7953; al-Bayhaqī 9/310]
➋ In another narration, a woman asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about ʿAqīqah. He replied:
نعم ، عن الغلام شاتان وعن الأنثى واحدة
“Yes, for a boy two goats and for a girl one goat.”
[Musnad Aḥmad 6/381; al-Nasāʾī 7/165; al-Tirmidhī 1516; Ibn Ḥibbān 1059; al-Ḥākim 4/237; al-Dāraquṭnī 4/270; al-Bayhaqī 9/301; Sharḥ al-Sunnah 11/265]
➌ Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
أن رسول الله عـق عن الحسن والحسين بكبشين كبشين
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed ʿAqīqah for al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn رضي الله عنهما by sacrificing two rams each.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: al-Nasāʾī 3935, 4224; Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 1164]
➍ ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reports:
أمرنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يعق عن الغلام شاتان وعن الجارية شاة
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded us to perform ʿAqīqah: two goats for a boy and one goat for a girl.”
[Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq 24236]
➎ Samurah رضي الله عنه narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said:
كل غلام رهينة بعقيقة تذبح عنه يوم سابعه ويسمى فيه ويحلق رأسه
“Every child is in pledge for his ʿAqīqah, which should be sacrificed on his seventh day, and on that day he is named and his head is shaved.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd 2463, 2838; al-Tirmidhī 1522; Ibn Mājah 3165; al-Nasāʾī 7/166; Ibn al-Jārūd 910; al-Ḥākim 4/237; Musnad Aḥmad 5/17; al-Dārimī 2/81; Mushkil al-Āthār 1/453]
✅ Conclusion:
- Two goats for a boy, one goat for a girl is the authentic Sunnah.
- The sacrifice should be done on the seventh day, along with naming the child and shaving the head.
