Giving Charity in Place of ʿAqīqah
Author: Imran Ayub Lahori
Performing ʿAqīqah vs. Donating the Equivalent Value
It is better to perform ʿAqīqah instead of donating the price of the animal, because this is the Sunnah, and this is what the Prophet ﷺ instructed.
Ibn Qudāmah (رحمه الله):
Slaughtering the ʿAqīqah animal is superior to giving its price in charity. Imām Aḥmad (رحمه الله) explicitly stated this and said: When a person does not have enough wealth to perform ʿAqīqah, he should take a loan for it. I hope that Allah will reward him fully for reviving the Sunnah.
Imām Ibn al-Mundhir (رحمه الله):
Imām Aḥmad spoke the truth. Indeed, reviving the Sunnah and adhering to it is superior. And in the narrations we have transmitted, there is such emphasis on ʿAqīqah which is not found in any other matter. Since it is a form of sacrifice that the Prophet ﷺ commanded, it is therefore more virtuous, similar to walīmah and qurbānī.
[Al-Mughnī: 13/395] ✅
