Q42 :When my son was seven days old, I gave him the
name of Ar-Rafi’ and did the “aqeeqah” on his behalf. Recently, I was
told by a friend that this name was one of attributes to Allah, and I
should change it. I did that, but a scholar in our netmunity told me
that I should do another ‘aqeeqah’ for the other name. Is this
true?
A42 : Let me say first that Er-Rafi’ is an
attribute of Allah, but it is not one of those which may be used only
with Allah. If you had retained your son’s name, that would have been
appropriate. Now that you have changed it, your action itself is
permissible. The opinion of the scholar who told you that you need to
have a fresh aqeeqah for your son is perhaps mistaken. Aqeeqah is the
slaughtering of one or two sheep to organize a party to which
neighbours and relatives are invited so that they join in the
celebration of the new arrival and share in the joy of the family Allah
has blessed with a son or daughter. Therefore, the aqeeqah is offered
for the child, not for the name. No fresh aqeeqah is renetmended in
your case.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )