Is It Permissible to Perform an Aqeeqah for a Grown Woman Before Her Marriage?
Question: As salamu alaykum Dear Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. My sincere apologies. I previously asked this question but did not explain it clearly. (also it becoming habits ) A girl’s ‘aqeeqah was never performed when she was young. Now, before her marriage, her family wants to hold a mehendi gathering but call it an ‘aqeeqah instead, so that Salafi relatives will attend. My questions are: 1. Is doing this considered a bid‘ah? 2. Can an ‘aqeeqah be performed for a girl after she has grown up? Previous question: https://asksunnah.com/questions/ruling-attending-mehendi-function-if-it-is-called-an-aqeeqah
Summary:
If an aqeeqah was not performed for the girl when she was young, it is permissible to slaughter an aqeeqah for her after she has grown up, and it is not considered a bidah merely because it was delayed. However, if the mehendi gathering is what is actually intended in the first place, and it is then called an “aqeeqah” as a means of getting those who would otherwise refrain from attending the mehendi gathering to attend, then this should not be done. Rather, if they want to perform an aqeeqah, it should be a genuine aqeeqah performed with the intention of aqeeqah, and not merely a different name given to a mehendi gathering.
Answer:
First: The Basis for the Legislation of Aqeeqah
From the Sunnah:
- Narrated by Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, and an-NasaiIt is authentically reported from Umm Kurz رضي الله عنها that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“For a boy, two sheep, and for a girl, one sheep.” Authenticated by Al-Albani رحمه الله.
Thus, aqeeqah is a prescribed Sunnah for a newborn, and one sheep is to be slaughtered for a female.
Second: Is It Permissible to Perform Aqeeqah for Her After She Has Grown Up? Yes. The ruling on performing aqeeqah for an adult when it could not be performed during childhood
From the Scholars:
- Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz رحمه الله was asked about children for whom aqeeqah had not been performed until they had grown up. He said:
“The Sunnah is to perform aqeeqah for them even if they have grown up.”
He also explained that one sheep is to be slaughtered for a female and that aqeeqah is a Sunnah and is not obligatory.
- In another fatwa entitled “The Ruling on Slaughtering the Aqeeqah for a Son After He Has Grown Up,” he رحمه الله said:
“And if you slaughter it even after he has grown up, that is better.”
- He was also asked about someone who had reached adulthood without an aqeeqah having been performed for him. In “What Is the Ruling on Aqeeqah for an Adult?” he said:
“The aqeeqah is the responsibility of his father, and if he performs aqeeqah for himself, there is no harm in that.”
Accordingly, if the girl's father now wishes to perform a genuine aqeeqah for her, there is no harm in doing so, even if she has reached adulthood and is now approaching marriage.
Third: Is Performing the Aqeeqah Before Marriage a Bidah? The mere fact that the aqeeqah takes place before the marriage does not make it a bidah, because the reason for the aqeeqah is that it was not previously performed for her, not because of her marriage. However, it should not be believed that there is an aqeeqah connected to marriage or that it is from the Sunnah to hold an “aqeeqah for the bride” when her marriage approaches. There is no aqeeqah in the Shariah that is performed because of marriage. Rather, this is simply an aqeeqah that was delayed from the time of her birth. Therefore, the more accurate wording would be: “This is the aqeeqah of so-and-so, for whom aqeeqah was not performed when she was young,” rather than saying that aqeeqah is one of the rites associated with marriage. Fourth: What About the Mehendi Gathering and Calling It an Aqeeqah? Here, a distinction must be made: If the family slaughters a sheep for the girl with the intention of the legislated aqeeqah, then prepares food from it and invites relatives, this is a valid aqeeqah in principle. Ibn Baz رحمه الله mentioned that among the permissible ways of handling the aqeeqah is for the household to eat from it and feed relatives and neighbors, or to prepare a meal and invite people to it. However, if what is actually intended is to hold the mehendi gathering itself, and they do not intend the aqeeqah for its own sake, but merely change its name to “aqeeqah” so that those who would otherwise refrain from attending the mehendi gathering will attend, then this is a form of deception and misleading through the use of names, and it should not be done. Changing the name does not change the reality of the act. Conclusion: Performing aqeeqah for this girl after she has grown up is permissible and prescribed, and it is not considered a bidah because an aqeeqah was not performed for her when she was young. There is no special aqeeqah in the Shariah for a bride or because of marriage. Therefore, it is not permissible to believe that an “aqeeqah for the bride” is a Sunnah associated with marriage. If a sheep is slaughtered with the genuine intention of aqeeqah for the girl and the relatives are gathered for a meal, there is no harm in that, even if it coincides with the time of her approaching marriage. As for using the name “aqeeqah” merely as a cover for a mehendi gathering so that Salafi relatives will be induced to attend, this is not what is prescribed, and names should not be changed as a means of deception. It is better to keep the two matters separate: if they want to perform an aqeeqah, they should hold it as a genuine and separate aqeeqah. If they want to hold a mehendi gathering, they should call it by its proper name, and its ruling will depend on the activities that it contains.
And Allah knows best.
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