Source: Excerpt from the book "Aḥkām wa Masā'il: Kitāb o Sunnat kī Roshnī Main" by Shaykh Mubashshir Ahmad Rabbānī
Can a camel or cow be slaughtered for ʿAqīqah? What is the authenticity of the narration quoted in Nayl al-Awṭār through Ṭabarānī?
The Sunnah regarding ʿAqīqah is not to slaughter camels or cows, rather goats and rams are to be slaughtered.
Despite the abundance of cows and camels during the noble era of the Prophet ﷺ, he never offered a camel or cow for ʿAqīqah, nor did he assign shares in such animals for this purpose.
If such practice were legislated, we would have certainly found a precedent or permission from the Prophet ﷺ. Instead, the general public offered rams for ʿAqīqah, following the example of the Messenger ﷺ.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ عَقَّ عَنِ الحَسَنِ وَالْحُسَيْنِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا كَبْشَيْنِ كَبْشَيْنِ
"The Prophet ﷺ offered a ram each as ʿAqīqah for Ḥasan and Ḥusayn."
[Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ḍaḥāyā, Bāb fī al-ʿAqīqah, 2841]
Another narration from al-Nasā’ī states:
عَقَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الحَسَنِ وَالْحُسَيْنِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا بِكَبْشَيْنِ
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ offered two rams as ʿAqīqah for Ḥasan and Ḥusayn."
[al-Nasā’ī, Kitāb al-ʿAqīqah, Bāb Kam Yuʿaqqu ʿan al-Ghulām, 4224]
Umm Kurz al-Kaʿbiyyah رضي الله عنها narrated:
عَنِ الغُلَامِ شَاتَانِ مُكَافِئَتَانِ، وَعَنِ الجَارِيَةِ شَاةٌ
"For a boy, two comparable goats, and for a girl, one goat should be offered as ʿAqīqah."
[Abū Dāwūd, 2834; al-Nasā’ī, 4221]
The narration in question is as follows:
من وُلِدَ له غلامٌ فليعق من الإبل أو البقر أو الغنم
“Whoever is blessed with a boy, let him offer ʿAqīqah from camels, cows, or goats.”
This narration is recorded in:
① Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad ibn Marwān al-Wāsiṭī —
Imām al-Dāraqutnī said: "ليس بالقوي" (He is not strong).
[Lisān al-Mīzān 1/11, Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 1/33, Tārīkh Baghdād 6/5]
② ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maʿrūf al-Khayyāṭ al-Wāsiṭī —
He is unknown (majhūl); no biography exists in the books of narrators.
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله stated:
"هو غير معروف ليس له ترجمة فى شيء من كتب الرجال"
(He is unknown, with no biography in the books of narrators.)
[Irwā’ al-Ghalīl 4/394]
③ Masʿadah ibn al-Yasaʿ al-Bāhilī —
A known liar (kadhdhāb).
Al-Haythamī said:
"وفيه مسعدة بن اليسع، وهو كذاب"
(Masʿadah is in the chain, and he is a liar.)
Imām al-Dhahabī:
"هالك، كذبه أبو داود"
(He is ruined; Abū Dāwūd declared him a liar.)
Aḥmad ibn Muqbil:
"We have long torn up his narrations."
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 4/98, Lisān al-Mīzān 6/691]
He was declared rejected by:
He fabricated strange narrations such as claiming:
“I saw a circumcised locust.”
A detail so bizarre that scholars rejected his narrations.
④ al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī —
A mudallis narrator. The narration is muʿanʿan, and it is a principle of ḥadīth science that a mudallis narrator’s report is not accepted unless he explicitly states he heard (سمعت) or narrated (حدثني) from his teacher.
Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله said:
"لا نقبل من المدلس حديثًا حتى يقول فيه: حدثني أو سمعت"
[al-Risālah, p. 380, no. 1035]
When a son was born to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr, someone suggested offering a camel as ʿAqīqah. Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah replied:
"معاذ الله، ولكن ما قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: شاتان مكافئتان"
"God forbid! Rather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: two similar goats."
[al-Bayhaqī, Kitāb al-Ḍaḥāyā 9/301, ḥadīth no. 19280]
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله graded its chain as ḥasan.
[Irwā’ al-Ghalīl 4/390]
Based on the authentic narrations and clear prophetic practice, camels and cows are not to be slaughtered for ʿAqīqah, neither as full animals nor as shared sacrifices. The Sunnah is to slaughter sheep or goats, which are abundantly available and were consistently used by the Prophet ﷺ.
❖ Question:
Can a camel or cow be slaughtered for ʿAqīqah? What is the authenticity of the narration quoted in Nayl al-Awṭār through Ṭabarānī?
❖ Answer:
The Sunnah regarding ʿAqīqah is not to slaughter camels or cows, rather goats and rams are to be slaughtered.
Despite the abundance of cows and camels during the noble era of the Prophet ﷺ, he never offered a camel or cow for ʿAqīqah, nor did he assign shares in such animals for this purpose.
If such practice were legislated, we would have certainly found a precedent or permission from the Prophet ﷺ. Instead, the general public offered rams for ʿAqīqah, following the example of the Messenger ﷺ.
❖ Authentic Aḥādīth Regarding ʿAqīqah:
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ عَقَّ عَنِ الحَسَنِ وَالْحُسَيْنِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا كَبْشَيْنِ كَبْشَيْنِ
"The Prophet ﷺ offered a ram each as ʿAqīqah for Ḥasan and Ḥusayn."
[Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ḍaḥāyā, Bāb fī al-ʿAqīqah, 2841]Another narration from al-Nasā’ī states:
عَقَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الحَسَنِ وَالْحُسَيْنِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا بِكَبْشَيْنِ
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ offered two rams as ʿAqīqah for Ḥasan and Ḥusayn."
[al-Nasā’ī, Kitāb al-ʿAqīqah, Bāb Kam Yuʿaqqu ʿan al-Ghulām, 4224]Umm Kurz al-Kaʿbiyyah رضي الله عنها narrated:
عَنِ الغُلَامِ شَاتَانِ مُكَافِئَتَانِ، وَعَنِ الجَارِيَةِ شَاةٌ
"For a boy, two comparable goats, and for a girl, one goat should be offered as ʿAqīqah."
[Abū Dāwūd, 2834; al-Nasā’ī, 4221]❖ Fabricated Ḥadīth Quoted in
The narration in question is as follows:
من وُلِدَ له غلامٌ فليعق من الإبل أو البقر أو الغنم
“Whoever is blessed with a boy, let him offer ʿAqīqah from camels, cows, or goats.”
This narration is recorded in:
- al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr by Ṭabarānī [no. 229, p. 102]
- Majmaʿ al-Zawā’id, Kitāb al-ʿĪd wa al-Dhabā’iḥ, Bāb al-ʿAqīqah [1145]
- Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn, [vol. 3, pp. 332–333]
- Irwā’ al-Ghalīl, [vol. 4, p. 393]
❖ Defects in the Chain of Transmission:
① Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad ibn Marwān al-Wāsiṭī —
Imām al-Dāraqutnī said: "ليس بالقوي" (He is not strong).
[Lisān al-Mīzān 1/11, Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 1/33, Tārīkh Baghdād 6/5]② ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maʿrūf al-Khayyāṭ al-Wāsiṭī —
He is unknown (majhūl); no biography exists in the books of narrators.
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله stated:
"هو غير معروف ليس له ترجمة فى شيء من كتب الرجال"
(He is unknown, with no biography in the books of narrators.)
[Irwā’ al-Ghalīl 4/394]③ Masʿadah ibn al-Yasaʿ al-Bāhilī —
A known liar (kadhdhāb).
Al-Haythamī said:
"وفيه مسعدة بن اليسع، وهو كذاب"
(Masʿadah is in the chain, and he is a liar.)
Imām al-Dhahabī:
"هالك، كذبه أبو داود"
(He is ruined; Abū Dāwūd declared him a liar.)
Aḥmad ibn Muqbil:
"We have long torn up his narrations."
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 4/98, Lisān al-Mīzān 6/691]He was declared rejected by:
- Imām Aḥmad
- Yaḥyá ibn Maʿīn
- Abū Khaythamah
He fabricated strange narrations such as claiming:
“I saw a circumcised locust.”
A detail so bizarre that scholars rejected his narrations.
④ al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī —
A mudallis narrator. The narration is muʿanʿan, and it is a principle of ḥadīth science that a mudallis narrator’s report is not accepted unless he explicitly states he heard (سمعت) or narrated (حدثني) from his teacher.
Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله said:
"لا نقبل من المدلس حديثًا حتى يقول فيه: حدثني أو سمعت"
[al-Risālah, p. 380, no. 1035]❖ Supporting Evidence from Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها:
When a son was born to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr, someone suggested offering a camel as ʿAqīqah. Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah replied:
"معاذ الله، ولكن ما قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: شاتان مكافئتان"
"God forbid! Rather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: two similar goats."
[al-Bayhaqī, Kitāb al-Ḍaḥāyā 9/301, ḥadīth no. 19280]Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله graded its chain as ḥasan.
[Irwā’ al-Ghalīl 4/390]❖ Final Verdict:
Based on the authentic narrations and clear prophetic practice, camels and cows are not to be slaughtered for ʿAqīqah, neither as full animals nor as shared sacrifices. The Sunnah is to slaughter sheep or goats, which are abundantly available and were consistently used by the Prophet ﷺ.
