assalamoalaikum my brother died after birth,may be 30 yrs before.now i know that when the soul is in,we have to make aqeeqa for the child and give name to child.now what my parents have to do,they have to make aqqeqa now or not necessary,because we are unaware of that before. thanks

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad   is His slave and Messenger.

According to the view of the majority of the scholars performing an 'Aqeeqah for a new-born baby is a confirmed Sunnah and not an obligation, and this should be performed on the seventh day, and whoever died before this [seventh day], no 'Aqeeqah should be performed on him. However, some scholars are of the view that it is desirable to perform an 'Aqeeqah on him. Anyway, the matter is easy, if a person is solvent and performs an 'Aqeeqah on a stillborn child, it is expected that he will be rewarded for doing so. However, if the baby dies after seven days, then the correct opinion of the two views of scholars is that it is desirable to perform an 'Aqeeqah on him.

As regards naming him, then no scholar has said that it is an obligation to name him if the soul is breathed into him, nonetheless, some scholars are of the view that it is desirable to name the still-born child; this is the view of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence. However, few scholars are of the view that it is desirable to name the child who died after birth but before he was named; this is the view of the Shaafi'i School of jurisprudence.

As regards saying that it is an obligation to do so, then we have not come across any one who is of this view after investigating the matter.