The Sunnahs of Udhiyyah: A Guide to Eid Sacrifice in Islam

Understanding the Sunnahs of Udhiyyah: A Lesson from Muntaqaa Ibn Al-Jarood

What has come concerning sacrifices, 5th Lesson | Benefits from Muntaqaa Ibn Al-Jarood

بســـم اللــه الرحــمــن الـرحـــيــم

By Shaykh, the ‘Allaamah, the Trustworthy Advisor, Abu ‘Abdirrahman Yahya bin ‘Ali Al-Hajoori – may Allaah preserve him

(The sunnahs of Udhiyyah)📚

 923 – Ali bin Kashram narrated to us, he said Easa informed us, on the authority of Shu’bah, on the authority of Qataadah, he said: “I heard Anas bin Maalik may Allaah be pleased with him saying…” I said: “You heard him?, he said: “Yes, the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ used to slaughter with two rams Amalahayn, Aqranayan, and mentioned the name of Allaah upon them and say Allaahu Akbar, and verily I saw him slaughter them with his own hand putting his foot on the side of its neck.”

The chain of narration with the author is authentic and the hadith is agreed upon by the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslims)

¤ And in it is affirmation of the Udhiyyah (Eid sacrifice)

¤ And its legitimacy is agreed upon

¤ And it is that he ﷺ slaughtered two rams, and that is in times of ease.

¤ And in it is the Amlah and it is the white with black on the sides.

¤ And in it is the recommendation of it being fat and having two horns due to its meat being better.

¤ And it appears that the people of Madinah used to fatten their Udhiyyah.

¤ And in it is that the name of Allaah is mentioned and the saying Allaahu Akbar.

¤ And in it is that he slaughtered with his own hand, and this is more preferable.

¤ And in it is the recommendation of slaughtering oneself.

¤ And that he puts his foot on the side of its neck in order to trap it so it doesn’t escape and this is more relieving for it.

¤ As for the hadith prohibiting putting the foot on the sacrificial animal then it is inauthentic.

¤ And in the hadith: Is the legitimacy of mentioning the name of Allaah on the sacrifice and that it is a condition for its acceptability.

Ibn Qudaamah said: And there is no differing in the recommendation of saying the Tasmiyyah (saying Bismillaah) and the Takbir (saying Allaahu Akbar), and there is no differing that the sacrificial animal is accepted without saying Takbir.

Qurtubi may Allaah have mercy on him said at the statement of Allaah:

(وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ)

“And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice (i.e. a ram);”

In this verse is evidence that the Eid slaughter is being a sheep is better than camels and cows, and this is the madhab of Malik and his companions, they said: The best Eid sacrifice is the male dha’n (sheep with wool fur), and the female dha’n is better than the male mi’z (sheep with non wool fur), and the male mi’z is better than the female mi’z, and the female mi’z is better than the camels and cows, and their evidence is:

(وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ)

“And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice (i.e. a ram);”

(Then he said): and some of them said: If he knew an animal better than the ram he would have been ransomed with it…..

And it is recommended to slaughter the camel facing the qiblah standing up with its left leg tied and the sheeps and cows lying down on their left side facing the qiblah, and it is said Bismillaah, Allaahu Akbar, O Allaah! From you and to you, O Allaah! Accept from me just as you accepted from Ibraahim your khaleel.

And it is recommended for the one slaughtering to take charge of the slaughter himself if he is proficient at slaughtering, because it is an act of worship and seeking closeness (to Allaah), and taking the Prophet ﷺ as an example being that he slaughtered his Eid sacrifices himself and slaughtered his hady (Hajj slaughter), and if he does not take charge himself then it is allowed.

¤ And it is recommended to eat a third of it, give charity with a third of it, and give a third of it as a gift, that is if there is no reasoning for giving preference to either of those over the other, if for example the poor, were in abundance, it may be recommended to give more than a third in charity, and likewise if he feels he will give gifts more than he will give to the poor, and likewise eating so wherever the need or benefit is more he takes according to the situation.

¤ And in it is that the companions may Allah be pleased with them all used to relay the actions of the Prophet ﷺ in this and other than it. Allaah said:

(لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ)

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah ﷺ you have a good example to follow,”…

¤ And the people of knowledge mention the sunnahs and act upon them and they are distinguished by that.

¤ The scholars have unanimously agreed that eating from the hadiy is a Sunnah and not obligatory.

The ruling on exchanging the Eid sacrifice Shawkaani said: So if it escaped or became defected without negligence he is not binded with exchanging and if he makes it obligatory (upon himself) if he specifies (the defect) or else he subtracts from its value on the day of the damage, and if it goes below what is (legally) accepted he can sell it and  exchange it for something similar or better…

Shaykh may Allaah preserve him, said to sum up is that if it becomes damaged or lost, he exchanges it.

And if he is in times of difficulty and is in need of selling it, it is allowed to sell it, Allah does not burden a soul beyond its scope, and he is not abandoning an obligation but rather it is a Sunnah according to a number of companions.

What remains is the Eid sacrifice on behalf of the deceased. It is not obligatory on the deceased except if he bequeathed for it to be slaughtered as charity.

And Allaah knows best

Transcribed to Arabic and summarised by:

By Hamood Ath-Thawaabi

may Allah reward him with good

on the 7th, Muharram, 1440H

Translated by:

Abu ‘Abdillah ‘Omar bin Yahya Al-‘Akawi