Aqiqah · the Islamic welcome sacrifice
Across Muslim Africa the seventh day brings aqiqah: a sheep or goat sacrificed in thanks (two for a boy in many communities), the baby’s head shaved, silver given in charity, and the name announced.
Does your family know it this way?
The names it answers to
- ʿAqīqahArabic
What happens
- 1
The sacrifice
An animal is slaughtered with the intention spoken for the child; the meat is cooked and shared, a third going to the poor.
- 2
The shaving and the silver
The baby’s hair is shaved and its weight in silver (or an equivalent) given as sadaqah.
- 3
The naming and tahnik
The name is announced; a softened date may touch the newborn’s palate (tahnik) following the Prophet’s example.
WHY
Gratitude for life is made material and immediately redistributed: the child’s first act in the ledger of the world is generosity.
The adhan and the sweet first taste consecrate hearing and tongue: a life keyed to prayer and kindness.
WHYs are plural by design: your family may hold another. Dispute or add below; disagreement is recorded, never erased.
Who practices it
Provenance
- generated: 2026-07-04
- source: Model-knowledge aggregation pass (2026-07-04); unverified, awaiting community affirmation.
This entry is a hypothesis awaiting its people. If your family does it differently, that difference is exactly what we want recorded.
Nearby in the library
Imbeleko · introducing the child to the ancestors
The Nguni rite in which a goat is slaughtered at the family homestead to introduce a newborn (or a person never introduced) to the ancestors and formally place them in the clan.
Xhosa · Zulu · Ndebele +2
Ìkómọjáde · the Yoruba naming day
On the seventh (girls), ninth (boys), or eighth day by family practice, the Yoruba child is carried out and named before family, with symbolic foods placed on the tongue and the oríkì declared.
Yoruba
Ịgụ aha · the Igbo naming ceremony
The Igbo child is named before kin, often on the 7th or 28th day market cycle, with kola nut broken, the circumstances of birth honoured in the name, and the paternal line affirmed.
Igbo