Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. Can we distribute sweets among our neighbours and relatives for the newborn baby, not taking it as part of the Shariah, but in order to show happiness. I am asking as everyone ask for sweets, so is it allowed?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We have previously underlined in fatwa 83120 that it is recommended to hold the ʻAqeeqah ceremony for the newborn, and we highlighted its most important rulings. Muslims should keenly observe this ritual as it yields good benefits and blessings.

As for distributing sweets, the view adopted at Islamweb is that there is no harm in it and that it belongs to the permissible matters that are intended as a means of bringing joy to family and children as long as extravagance is avoided.

The fatwa of the Permanent Committee for Iftaa reads, “Distributing sweets on the occasion of the birth of a new baby is a custom, and the basic ruling regarding customs is that they are permissible. If a person practices it as a custom, not as an act of Sunnah or worship, then there is nothing wrong with that.”

What matters is that you do not replace the ʻAqeeqah with distributing sweets.

Allah knows best.