Conditions of Udhiyah

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"

Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

  

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu

Conditions of Udhiyah

There are six conditions for the udhiyah:  

1  : It should be one of the anaam class of animals, which are: camels, cattle, sheep and goats, because  

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies, that they may mention the Name of Allah over the beast of cattle that He has given them for food”

[al-Hajj 22:34]  

Baheemat al-anaam (translated here as “beast of cattle”) includes camels, cattle and sheep. This is what is well known among the Arabs, and this was the view of al-Hasan, Qataadah and others.  

2 : It should have reached the age stipulated in shareeah, which is six months  for a sheep and the age at which the animal is considered to be an adult for any other animal, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not sacrifice anything but an adult animal, unless it is difficult for you, in which case you may slaughter a six-month old lamb (jadh’ah).” Narrated by Muslim. 

A mature animal means one that is considered to be an adult.  

In the case of camels it means one that is five years old. 

For cattle, it means one that is two years old. 

For sheep it means one that is a year old. 

The jadh’ah is that which is half a year old. So it is not correct to sacrifice a camel, cow or goat that has not yet reached maturity, or a sheep that is less than six months old.  

3 : It should be free of any faults that would render it unsuitable for sacrifice, of which there are four:  

a: An obvious defect in one eye, such as when the eye is sunken in its socket, or when it sticks out like a button, or is white and obviously defective.  

b: Obvious sickness, whose symptoms are clearly apparent in the animal, such as fever that prevents it from grazing and causes loss of appetite; mange that obviously affects its flesh or its health; deep wounds that affect its health, and so on.  

c: Obvious lameness, which prevents the animal from walking normally.  

d: Emaciation that leaves no marrow in the bones, when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about what should be avoided in udhiyah, he gestured with his hand and said: “Four: a lame animal which is obviously lame, a one-eyed animal whose defect is obvious, a sick animal whose sickness is obvious, and an emaciated animal that no one would choose.” Narrated by Maalik in al-Muwatta’ from the hadeeth of al-Bara ibn Aazib. According to a hadeeth narrated from him in al-Sunan, he said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up among us and said: ‘There are four which are not permissible for sacrifice,’” and he mentioned something similar. Classed as saheh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1148.  

These four faults render an animal unsuitable for sacrifice, and they include similar faults or more severe faults.  

So the following animals are also unsuitable for sacrifice:  

1: One that is blind in both eyes.

2: One that has eaten more than it can stand, until the danger has passed.

3: One that has encountered difficulty in giving birth, until all danger has passed.

4: One that has suffered something that could kill it, such as strangulation or a fall from a high place, until the danger has passed.

5: One that is unable to walk because of a defect.

6: One that has had one of its forelegs or hind legs cut off.  

If these are added to the four defects mentioned in the text, the number of those that cannot be offered as sacrifices reaches ten – these six and the four mentioned above.   

4 : The animal should belong to the person who is offering the sacrifice, or he should have permission for that either on the grounds of shareeah or from the owner. The sacrifice is not valid if the animal slaughtered does not belong to the person who is sacrificing it, such as one that has been taken by force, stolen, or taken on the basis of a false claim, etc, because it is not permissible to draw closer to Allah by means of sin. A sacrifice offered by the guardian of an orphan from the orphan’s property is valid if that is customary and if he feels sad about not offering a sacrifice. 

A sacrifice offered by a guardian from the property of the person under his care is valid, if done with permission.   

5 : No one else should have any rights to the sacrificial animal; the sacrifice of an animal that is held in pledge is not valid.  

6 : It should be slaughtered at the time specified in shareeah, which is from after the Eid prayer on the Day of Sacrifice until sunset on the last of the days of al-Tashreeq, which is the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah. So the days when the sacrificed may be offered are four: the day of Eid after the prayer, and the three days after that. Whoever slaughters it before the Eid prayer is over, or after sun sets on the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah, his sacrifice is not valid, because of the hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari from al-Bara’ ibn Aazib (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever slaughters (his sacrifice) before the prayer, it is meat that he has brought to his family, but that is not the sacrifice.”  

And he narrated that Jundub ibn Sufyaan al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying, ‘Whoever slaughters the sacrifice before he prays, let him replace it with another.’”  

And it was narrated that Nubayshah al-Hadhali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘The days of al-Tashreeq are the days of eating, drinking and remembering Allah.’” Narrated by Muslim.  

But if he has an excuse for delaying it beyond the days of Tashreeq, such as if the animal ran away, without there being any negligence on his part, and he could not find it until after the time was over, or he appointed someone else to slaughter it and that person forgot until the time was over, then there is nothing wrong with slaughtering it after the appointed time. This is by analogy with the one who sleeps and misses a prayer, or forgets it – he should pray it as soon as he wakes up or remember it.  

It is permissible to slaughter the udhiyah at any time, night or day, but it is better to slaughter it during the day, and it is better to slaughter on the day of Eid after the two khutbahs. Each day is better than the day that follows it, because that means that one is hastening to do good.

What should be done with the sacrifice ?

1. It is mustahabb or preferable for one who has made a sacrifice not to eat anything on that day before he eats from it, if this is possible, because of the Hadith, "Let every man eat from his sacrifice." (Sahih Al-Jami, 5349).

This eating should be after the Eid Prayer and khutbah. This is the opinion of the scholars, including Ali, Ibn Abbas, Malik, Ash-Shafii and others. The evidence for this is the Hadith of Buraidah, may Allah be pleased with him: "The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) would not go out on the Day of fitr until he had eaten, and he would not eat on the day of adha until he had slaughtered (his sacrifice)." (Al-Albani said: Its Isnad (Chain of Transmission) is Sahih. Al-Mishkat, 1/452).

2. It is better for a person to slaughter the sacrifice himself, but if he does not, it is mustahabb for him to be present when it is slaughtered.

3. It is mustahabb to divide the meat into three: one third for consumption, one third to be given as gifts and one third to be given in charity. This was the opinion of Ibn Masud and Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them. The scholars agreed that it is not permissible to sell anything from its meat, fat or skin.

In a Sahih Hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) is reported to have said: "Whoever sells the skin of his udhiyah, there is no udhiyahfor him (i.e., it is not counted as udhiyah)." (Sahih Al-Jami`, 6118).

The butcher should not be given anything of it by way of reward or payment, because Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded me to take care of the sacrifice and to give its meat, skin and raiment (covering used for protection) in charity, and not to give anything of it to the butcher as a compensation. He said, ‘We will give him something from what we have.'" (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

It was said that it is permissible to give the butcher something as a gift, and that it is permissible to give some of it to a Kafir if he is poor or a relative or a neighbor, or in order to open his heart to Islam.

source-islam-qa.com