Offering Aqeeqah in another country where there is a time difference

3-10-2005 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible to arrange for Aqeeqah in any other country other than where the baby is born? I am asking this as we are in Canada and were thinking of offering Aqeeqah in India. There is a time difference of 12.5 hours. So if Aqeeqah has to be performed then can it be performed on the same day as 7-days after birth of the child? For example, if child is born on Thursday then 7th day is Wednesday but due to time difference is it better to do Aqeeqah on Wednesday or Thursday?

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Answer:

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. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

There is no harm to slaughter the 'Aqeeqah (i.e. the slaughtering done for a newborn) in another country than the one where the baby was born especially if there is a considerable benefit. For instance if the country where you want to slaughter the 'Aqeeqah is poorer than the country of your son's birthplace. The best day for slaughtering the animal is on the seventh day. The day the baby was born should be included in the counting of the seven days, if he was born daytime; but if he was born night time, then the counting starts from the next day, this is the view of the majority of the scholars.

However, the counting should be according to the time of the baby's birthplace [and not the time of the country where you want to slaughter the 'Aqeeqah] because the narration about the 'Aqeeqah being a recommended act is that it should be performed on the seventh day, and in principle it should be slaughtered in the country where the baby is born, hence it is the time of the baby's birthplace that should be taken into account.    

Allaah Knows best.