All praise and thanks belong to Allaah, and may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon the most noble of all the prophets and messengers.
وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ (الحج: 32)
And whoever honors the symbols of Allāh – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts. (al-Hajj:32)
Certainly, honoring the symbols of Allaah (salient feautures of Islaam) is a sign of piety, and since the udh-hiyah (sacrifice offered at ‘Eid al-Adh-ha) is one such symbol which occurs annually, we have decided to gather here some important matters and questions related to this sh’eerah (symbol/salient feature). May it be of benefit and may Allaah reward our scholars who gathered these issues and made it easy for us to compile them.
1. Definition of Udh-hiyah
Udh-hiyah refers to animals of the an’aam class (i.e. camels, cows, sheep or goats) which are slaughtered on the days of ‘Eid al-Adh-ha as a means of drawing closer to Allaah.
2. The Evidence for it being Prescribed
From the Quraan:
"فصلِّ لربك وانحر"
which means: So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. (108:2)
From the Sunnah:
a. It was narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari (5558) and Saheeh Muslim (1966) that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sacrificed two white rams speckled with black. He slaughtered them with his own hand, said ‘Allaahu akbar’ and put his foot on their necks.”
b. Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with her) related that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) said: “If you see the hilal (new moon) of Thul Hijjah, and any of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should not cut (anything) from his hair and his nails.
c. It was narrated from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever offers a sacrifice after the prayer has completed his rituals (of Eid) and has followed the way of the Muslims.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5545.
Consensus:
The scholars of Islaam have unanimously agreed that offering this sacrifice is prescribed in Islaam as related by al-Imaam Ibn Qudaamah in al-Mughni.
3. Its Ruling:
Although the scholars unanimously agree that it is prescribed, they differ as to the ruling of this sacrifice.
a. It is an emphasized Sunnah (Sunnah Muakkadah)
This is the view of the vast majority of scholars and they base their opinion on some of the following:
The hadeeth of Umm Salamah mentioned earlier in which she reported that the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “…and any of you wants to offer a sacrifice…” As can be seen, he said “any of you wants to”. This indicates that it is a matter of choice and not an obligation.
It is established that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both) did not offer the sacrifice out of fear that people would consider it an obligation.
b. Abu Hanifah and al-Awza’ee (may Allaah have mercy on them) opined that it is an obligation upon those who are able. They based their opinion on some of the following:
The fact that the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) did it, and the general rule is that we follow his lead.
The saying of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam): “Whoever can afford to offer a sacrifice but does not do so, let him not approach our place of prayer.” (al-Albani declared the hadeeth hasan-sound)
So what should I do? Upon close examination of the evidences (there are many more than what has been briefly mentioned above), one will find that the arguments on both sides are very strong. Therefore, the wise and intelligent one will be keen to offer this sacrifice. Firstly, because it is a sunnah (and everyone agrees with that), then because it is certainly the safer thing to do. The rewards for this act of worship are great and we should strive to attain it. Offering the sacrifice is a win-win choice!
To be continued...
