How many goats are needed for aqiqah for a boy and a girl?

Explanation

The Prophet ﷺ said: for a boy two equal sheep, and for a girl one. He also did aqiqah with one ram each for al-Hasan and al-Husayn, which is why the Hanafi and other scholars say one animal for a boy is enough.

Animal conditions (the same as qurbani):

• Goat: at least one lunar year old.
• Sheep: one year, or six months if it looks as big as a one-year-old.
• Cow: two years. Camel: five years.
• Free of major defects such as blindness, lameness or severe illness.

Shares: in the Hanafi school, a cow or camel can be split into seven shares. A family can take two shares for a boy and one for a girl, or even mix qurbani and aqiqah shares in one cow on Eid.

The meat: it is treated like qurbani meat. The parents, grandparents and the whole family may eat it; the idea that parents may not eat aqiqah meat has no basis. You may give it raw or cooked, gift it to relatives and give to the poor. Do not pay the butcher with the meat or the skin, and do not sell the skin for your own use. Twins need a separate aqiqah each. You may also pay a trusted charity to slaughter on your behalf in another country. Work out the count with the aqiqah calculator, and see when to do it.

The evidence

Where the ruling is recorded

• Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Udhiyah, closing discussion on aqiqah. Aqiqah follows the conditions of udhiyah, including shares.
• al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Udhiyah. Ages and defects of sacrificial animals, and the seven shares in a cow or camel.
• Kashshaf al-Qina', Chapter on aqiqah. The Hanbali view that a whole cow or camel is required for one child.

This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.