Aqiqah: Definition, History, Evidence, and Procedures for Aqiqah

Birth and death are certain in this world. Everyone who is born on earth, at the same time someone dies.
Not only every day, but every second the sound of crying babies must be heard in one part of the world.
When someone dies, there needs to be an agenda that must be prepared. Among them are baths for the body, prayer for the body, delivery to the cemetery and so on.
Then, what for those who are just born to the face of the earth?
They also have an agenda to prepare. In Islam, there is worship that is intended for humans who are just born into this world.
 
This worship is called aqiqah.
Well, in this article, we will discuss in more detail about aqiqah.
Definition
When referring to Arabic, aqiqah means cutting and making a hole. In a general sense, aqiqah is a religious activity of slaughtering an animal in the form of a goat as a form of gratitude for the birth of a child.
The laws on worship differ based on the opinion of the scholars. Some say that worship aqiqah is obligatory, some say sunnah mu'akad and some say sunnah.
Of all the opinions that exist, the most authentic is the opinion that says that the law of aqiqah is the sunnah of mu'akad. This means that this is worship which is recommended to be carried out.

Theorem
The evidence for this command of worship is the hadith of the Prophet SAW. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said. "All babies were pawned with their aqiqah, which on the seventh day was slaughtered by an animal (goat), given a name, and had their hair shaved." (Saheeh, HR. Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and others).
Then from Salman bin 'Amir Ad-Dhabiy said if Rasulullah said, "Aqiqah is carried out because of the birth of a baby, then slaughter the animal and remove all disturbances from it." (Sahih Hadith History of Bukhari).
Then from Samurah bin Jundab said if the Prophet said, "All babies are mortgaged with their aqiqah which on the seventh day are slaughtered by animals (goats), given names and their hairs are shaved." [Saheeh, Hadith narrated by Abu Dawud 2838, Tirmidhi 1552, Nasa'I 7/166, Ibn Majah 3165, Ahmad 5 / 7-8, 17-18, 22, Ad Darimi 2/81, and others].
History
The implementation of aqiqah, namely the slaughter of an animal as part of the ceremony for the birth of a child has actually been done in the era of ignorance.
However, the implementation is certainly different from what has been guided by the Prophet Muhammad.
Buraida said that in the old days of ignorance, if one of them had a child, that person would slaughter a goat and smear the baby's head with goat's blood.
Smear a baby's head with goat blood? looks creepy, right?
In Islam this procedure is changed to be more humane.
Then, what are the procedures for aqiqah that has been taught by Islam?

Procedures
1. Implementation Time
This day of worship is usually held 7 days after the child is born. It can also be held 14 or 21 days later. As the hadith of the Prophet SAW. Abdullah bin Buraidah from his father, stated that the Prophet Muhamaad SAW said, "Aqiqah was slaughtered on the 7th day or the 14th or 21st day (HR. Baihaqi).
However, it is okay to carry out aqiqah at other times.
No need to be fixated on the seventh day and its multiples. If the condition of the parents is financially difficult, then aqiqah can be conditioned at a time when the parents are able to do it.
2. Number of Animals
There are differences in the number of animals slaughtered between boys and girls.
For a boy who was just born, the aqiqah was by slaughtering two goats. As for girls, he qiqqah with only one goat.
As in the hadith of the Prophet SAW.
Aisyah said if the Prophet said, "A baby boy is diaqiqahi with two of the same goats and a baby girl one goat." [Saheeh, Ahmad's Hadith History]
source: unsplash.com
3. Shaving Baby Hair.
After the goat slaughter has been carried out. So the next service is to steal / shave the baby's head.
As the hadith of the Prophet SAW, "All babies are mortgaged with their aqiqah, who on the seventh day are slaughtered by animals (goats), are given names and have their hair shaved." [Saheeh, Hadith narrated by Abu Dawud 2838, Tirmidhi 1552, Nasa'I 7/166, Ibn Majah 3165, Ahmad 5 / 7-8, 17-18, 22, Ad Darimi 2/81, and others].
4. Smear with perfumed oil.
After the baby's head is shaved, the head can be smeared with perfumed oil. This is what distinguishes it from the era of ignorance.
At that time, the baby's head was covered with goat's blood, while in Islam, the baby's head was smeared with perfumed oil.
5. Charity
The last is by giving alms. The alms calculation is taken from the weight of the baby's hair that is cut.
After the baby's hair is cut, the hairs are collected and then weighed. The resulting weight of these scales is then converted into silver.
Say, after being cut, you collect 2 grams of weight. So, the owner must give 2 grams of silver or its equivalent.

Conclusion
That is the explanation of aqiqah that needs to be known. Hopefully this explanation can add insight into worship aqiqah as a form of gratitude to Allah SWT.