The difference between the aqiqa and the sacrifice

Question

Question: Is the ruling on the aqiqa like that of the sacrifice or not? If it is, then giving the thigh to the midwife and the head to the barber, and breaking the bones, which is written to be mustahabb — where then is it established that the ruling is like that of the sacrifice? And is this recommendedness (istihbab) established by the word and deed of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or is it a statement of the Imams, or of the jurists?

Answer

The sacrifice is wajib, whereas the aqiqa is mubah (permissible), at most mustahabb, and that too when it is performed with the intention of worship; according to the other Imams too it is mustahabb. Hence according to the Hanafis it is in no case like the sacrifice, nor according to the other Imams, because there is a vast difference between wajib and mustahabb.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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