The Aqeeqah Ceremony and Head Shave of Muslim child The Aqeeqah ceremony consists of 2 Islamic acts, firstly it is the head shave and secoundly the sacrifice of an animal. The animal that is sacrificed is given out to family, friends, the poor and some is kept for ones own family. The amount to sacrifice can be found narrated by Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “To whomsoever a child is born, and he wants to perform a sacrifice of Aqeeqah on behalf of it, he should sacrifice two goats for a boy and one for a girl.” Sunan Abu Dawood 2:2836 There are many barbers who specialise in shaving the baby’s head and great care should be taken as paramount should be the child’s safety so it is best to search for recommendations. I know many families who have used clippers (such as beard trimmers) which are very good as even on contact with skin they do not cause any cuts whatsoever.   Shaving the newborn Muslim baby is Sunnah by the seventh day which is given evidence by al-Tirmidhi (1439) from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) offered a sheep as ‘aqeeqah for al-Hasan, and said: ‘O Faatimah, shave his head and give the weight of his hair in silver in charity.’ It is also noted that Ibn Al-Qayem (Allaah's mercy upon him) narrated about the great benefit of shaving the Muslim newborn's hair: Shaving his head removes the harm from him, removes the weak hair so that stronger and firmer hair replaces it and it is beneficial for the head. In addition, it comforts the newborn and opens the head's skin openings... And along with this is a strengthening of his eye sight, his sense of smell and hearing. Please refer to Ahkamul Tifl: Ahmad Al-Eesawee 192