Translated from Urdu to English by: Musarhad

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Tue, 27-11-1432 AH = 25 Oct 2011
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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2 People For Whom Sacrifice Is Compulsory ................................................................................. 2 The Sacrificial Animal ................................................................................................................ 3 Some Important Rulings .............................................................................................................. 4 Days And Times For Sacrifice..................................................................................................... 5 The Method And Dua For Sacrifice ............................................................................................. 6 The Sacrificial Meat .................................................................................................................... 7 Sacrificial Hide ........................................................................................................................... 7 Issued by: Drul Ift',

Drul loom Sabeelus Salm, Hyderabad, India

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

Introduction
One day, the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) described the significance of the holy sacrifice and its boundless rewards in these words: : . ) ( Of the deeds a man does on the day of sacrifice the dearest to Allah is the flow of blood (of sacrificial animal). It will come on the day of Resurrection with its horns and its hair and its hoofs. Indeed, blood will be accepted by Allah at once even before it falls on the ground. So, please yourselves with it. (EQ 27244) In another Tradition, there is a warning from the noble Prophet: ) . ( Whoever does not offer a sacrifice despite having the means should not get close to our Idgah. (EQ 54023)

People for whom Sacrifice is compulsory

Sacrifice is compulsory for every resident (non-journeying) Muslim man and woman who owns the prescribed quantity of gold (20 dinar = 87.5 gram) or silver (200 dirham = 612.5 gram) or the corresponding sum of money ( 32,770; as on 25 Oct 20111) or equivalent in assets other than his basic needs. He should own this specified fortune on the morning of 10 Zul Hijjah. According to Imam Abu Hanifah (May Allahs Mercy be upon him), the sacrificer need not be adult nor sane. If a minor or a child owns assets as specified above, then the sacrifice will be compulsory for him. His father or guardian will offer the sacrifice on his behalf. According to another report from Imam Abu Hanifah (May Allahs Mercy be upon him), sacrifice is desirable, not compulsory, for such a person (minor or insane). Most of the jurisprudents have preferred the latter report. Nevertheless, Sadaqatul Fitr2 is compulsory for such minors.

According to indiagoldrate.com

Sadaqatul Fitr is the compulsory alms that a Muslim owning the prescribed wealth gives to the needy on the day of Idul Fitr to purify his soul and to recompense for the defects that may have occurred in his Ramazan fasts on account of useless or indecent conversations, etc. The quantity of alms to be given on

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

The Animal

Sacrificial

The sacrificial animals are: (i) camels (at least five years old) (ii) oxen, buffaloes and cows (two years old and above) (iii) sheep, goats and rams (at least one year old).

If a sheep or a ram is above six months old but sizeable and hefty enough to appear one year old to a layman, then it can be offered in sacrifice. The sacrificial animal should be defect-free, healthy and plump (fat). The Holy Prophet said: Feed the sacrificial animals well and make them stout and strong for they are going to be your conveyance on the Sirat Bridge (a bridge over the Hell which is thinner than hair and sharper than sword). If the animal is so weak, lean and thin that his bones have no attached flesh, then its sacrifice is not permissible. An eyeless, one-eyed or lame animal which cannot walk to the slaughter-house on its feet or an animal deprived of over one-third of any of its (useful) organs like ear, tail, etc. can not be sacrificed. If an animal is hornless by birth or it grew horns but a portion of it broke off later, then the animal may be sacrificed. However, if the horns broke apart from the base itself, then its sacrifice is not permissible. If an animal has no ears by birth its sacrifice is not allowed. But if it has very small ears by birth, then its sacrifice is allowed. 3 A toothless animal cannot be offered for sacrifice. If a few of its teeth have fallen off but the majority remains intact, then its sacrifice is permissible. A pregnant cow, goat, etc. can also be offered as a sacrifice. If the baby comes out alive during the sacrifice, then it should also be slaughtered. However, if the animal is known to be heavy with child beforehand, then it is preferable to substitute her with another similar animal.

behalf of each person is 1.632 kg of wheat or 3.264 kg of barley, dried dates or raisins or the equivalent sum of money.
3

Ad-Durrul Mukhtr 6/324

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

A ram, ewe, goat or sheep can serve as a sacrifice for one person only. More than one person cannot be partners in its sacrifice. Seven persons not more can be shareholders in the sacrifice of a cow, ox, buffalo or camel, subject to two conditions. First, every partner should have the intention of sacrifice or Aqeeqah4 only, not merely of obtaining flesh. Second, every partners share should be one-seventh (or a whole number multiple of it) and not less. If any of these two conditions are not fulfilled with regard to any of the partners, the sacrifice will be void for each and every participant. Less than seven persons can also share a cow, buffalo or camel (e.g. out of seven shares, a person can have two, three, four, etc. shares in the animal). In this case also, it is necessary that no shareholder owns less than one-seventh or else everyones sacrifice will be invalid. Assigning a share to a person in a sacrificial animal should be done on his explicit request or order only. If a sacrificer just names a person as share-holder in the sacrificial animal at the time of sacrifice and later obtains the partners approval, then the sacrifice will be invalid. There is no difference in the sacrifice of a male or a female animal. Both are equally eligible for sacrifice. It is prohibited or strictly avoidable to eat the following parts of a slaughtered animal (whether sacrificial or not): 1. male genitals 2. female genitals 3. testicles 4. fluid blood 5. urinary bladder 6. gall bladder 7. tumor 5/gland

Some important rulings:

If a sacrifice is not compulsory for a person as per the Sharia rules and he buys an animal with the intention of sacrifice on any of the sacrifice days (10th, 11th or 12th of Zul Hijjah), then the sacrifice of that particular animal becomes compulsory for him. If sacrifice was compulsory for a person but the three days of sacrifice passed and he could not offer it on account of some valid excuse (e.g. the animal went missing during the period), then: If he had bought the animal, then he should give away the animal alive in charity.

Aqeeqah is the sacrifice of a goat, etc. (two goats or their equivalent for a male baby and one goat or its equivalent for a female baby) on behalf of a newborn on the seventh day of his birth along with the shaving of his head. This is a Sunnat (established by the Holy Prophets practice).
5

Al Fiqh-ul Islami wa Adillatuh 4/311. According to the Indian transcript of Kanz-ud Daqiq (p. 496), spinal cord is also strictly avoidable.

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

If he did not buy one or he bought one but the animal went missing, then he should give away the cost of a small sacrificial animal or one-seventh of the cost of a large animal in charity. If a poor person for whom an offering was not compulsory buys an animal on a sacrifice day (10th, 111th or 12th of Zul Hijjah) with the intention of sacrifice, then the animal gets determined as a sacrificial one. Now the owner can neither sell it, nor exchange it with some other animal. But if he bought the animal before the commencement of the sacrifice days or he had decided (in his heart) that he would sacrifice a certain animal (already in his possession), he whether rich or poor has the right to sell it or exchange it. A poor mans intention of sacrifice before the sacrifice days commence has no significance or validity. Sacrificing on behalf of a deceased relation, the Holy Prophet ,pious saints, etc. is also permissible. If sacrifice is compulsory for a person, then he should first offer it on his own behalf, then if he has the means, he can go for sacrifices on behalf of others.

Days and times for Sacrifice

The dates for sacrifice are 10th, 11th and 12th of Zul Hijjah, but sacrificing on the first day (10th Zul Hijjah) is more reward-worthy than on the second day or third day (up to sunset). Sacrifice is permissible on the intervening nights (the night between 10 th and 11th, and that between 11th and 12th) as well but not preferable. In cities, towns and large villages where Id namaz is held, sacrifice is not permissible before the Id namaz is offered. If someone sacrifices before the Id namaz in such a place, the offering would not be valid. He will have to sacrifice again. However if the Id namaz could not be said on 10th, then he can offer the sacrifice on 10th Zul Hijjah after the time for Id namaz is over, i.e. mid-day onwards. In small villages and hamlets where Id namaz is not held, the sacrifice can be offered from the time of daybreak itself. It is not allowed to milk a sacrificial animal, shear its wool or cut its hairs. If someone does this, it becomes compulsory for him to give away the cost of milk, wool or hair in charity. After sacrifice, one can use these items (hair, etc.) for personal needs. It is preferable to slaughter the sacrificial animals with ones own hands because the sacrifice is like a gift and it is courteous to present the gift with ones own hands as it symbolizes the high esteem of the gift-receiver. If he is unable to sacrifice the animal himself, then standing in front of the animal to watch it being sacrificed is also preferable.

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

The Method and Dua for Sacrifice

The animal should be laid on the ground with its face turned towards the Holy Kabah and the sacrificer should recite this Dua (invocation): . 6 . . . . I have, indeed, turned my face straight towards the One who created the heavens and the earth, and I am not one of those who associate partners with Allah. My prayer, my offering, my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. For Him there is no partner. And thus I have been commanded, and I am the first one to submit. O Allh! (The sacrificial animal is) from You and for You. In Allahs name and Allah is the greatest. Then the animal is slaughtered and the sacrificer says: . O Allah! Accept this (sacrifice) from me as You accepted it from Muhammad, your loved one and from Your close friend Ibrahim (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them).7 If the sacrifice is being offered on behalf of some other person, then the slaughterer, instead of saying , says: followed by the name of the person (e.g. etc.)8.

uran : , uran :

, Ibn Majah

, A mad

Inn

wajjahtu

wajhiya

li -

-il lamn. L sharka lahu wa bizlika umirtu wa ana awwal-ul Muslimn. Allhumma minka wa laka. Bismillhi wallhu akbar.
7

Allhumma

taqabbalhu

minn -

-Salm.

Instead of m i n n in the above u , say m i n l , or persons is l , izw n, etc.

8

, etc., if the other

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

The Sacrificial Meat

It is preferable to distribute one-third of the meat among the poor and needy, gift away one-third to relations and friends and keep the remaining one-third for oneself and ones family. A person whose family is large or needs the meat because of some other necessity, can keep the entire meat for himself. But selling the sacrificial meat or giving it to the butcher as wage is not allowed. If many persons are shareholders in a sacrificial animal, then the meat should be distributed equally among the partners by weight, not by mere guesstimate. It is permissible to gift the sacrificial meat to a non-Muslim.

Sacrificial Hide
After selling the sacrificial hide, the price-money should be compulsorily spent for the purposes where Zakat9 is spent. The sacrificer can neither spend the money on himself nor gift it to a rich person. It is not permissible to give the sacrificial hide or its price as remuneration to, say, an Imam, a Muazzin or a madrasa teacher. Similarly using the hide-money in the repair or construction of a mosque, or in running a hospital or dispensary where rich and poor both avail of the services is not allowed. However, a sacrificial skin or its price can be given to a poor or a needy for treatment or purchase of medicines, provided he is made the owner of the amount. Spending the hide-money on somebodys funeral by oneself, without making a poor man the owner of the same as a via media, or giving it to an organization or trust which undertakes such expenses is not permissible. If the trust or organization first makes a poor man owner of the hide-money and then the poor man gives the money, of his own free will, to be spent on the funeral of the needy, it is allowed.

There are seven causes in which Zakat money can be spent: 1. the poor who owns less than the prescribed quantity of gold (20 dinar = 87.5 gram) or silver (200 dirham = 612.5 gram) or the corresponding sum of money ( , ; as on 25 Oct 2011) or equivalent in assets, 2. the destitute who owns nothing, 3. Zakat-collector, 4. for freeing slaves, 5. the debtor whose worth becomes less than the prescribed quantity after deducting his loans, 6. the poor Mujahids and Hajis (pilgrims), 7. the traveler who has little or no money with him during the journey.

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

It is preferable to give the hide or its price to a religious seminary (madrasah) where indigent and deprived children are provided meals, education, etc. It makes the spender eligible for double rewards from the Almighty: first, for charity and second, for help in the spread of Islamic knowledge and faith.

The End

Holy Sacrifice Rules and Regulations

Arabic Words not Translated: 1. Aqeeqa 2. Dua 3. Id 4. Imam 5. madrasa 6. Muazzin 7. namaz 8. Sadaqatul Fitr 9. Sharia the body of Islamic Law wealth-refinement,

10. Zakat almsgiving, wealth-purging

Some Translations:
obligatory compulsory sunnat trdition farz wajib holy custom, practice,

desirable, preferable
reward-worthy permissible, allowed undesirable, unpreferable strictly avoidable

mustahab, nafl
afzal jaaiz makrooh tanzeehi makrooh tahreemi