ICICE AL-NOOR MASJID KHUTBAH FOR FRIDAY 2/8/2019

RULINGS REGARDING SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS

All praise is due to Allah, we seek His help and forgiveness, we seek refuge with Him from the evils of ourselves and our evil deeds. Whoever Allah guides cannot be misguided by anyone and whoever Allah sets astray cannot be guided by anyone. I bear witness that none deserves the right to be worshiped except Allah alone who has no partner and I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” [03:102]

“O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed, Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.” [04:01]

“O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.” [33:70-71]

We should know O servants of Allah that indeed Allah has honored us for sparing us to witness these blessed days. Let’s then ponder on what the prophet (peace be upon him) said, he said:

“There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than those ten days.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah! Not even Jihad in Allah’s Cause?” The Messenger of Allah said: “Not even Jihad in Allah’s Cause, unless a man were to go out with his self and his wealth and not return from that with anything.”

One of the outstanding good deeds in these blessed days, i.e. first ten days of Dhul Hijja, is seeking of Allah’s countenance through sacrificing animals. The latter is part of the guidance of the messenger (peace be upon him) and his companions, Allah says: “So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone].” [108:02] Sacrifice is one of the rites and acts of worship that are tilted exclusively towards Allah the most high, Allah says: “Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [06:162]

The messenger (peace be upon him) had strongly enjoined this great act of worship (sacrifice), Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that: “Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) sacrificed with his own hands two horned rams which were white with black markings reciting the name of Allah and glorifying Him (saying Allahu Akbar). He placed his foot on their sides (while sacrificing).”

The messenger (peace be upon him) also mentioned that sacrifice during the month of Dhul hijja is a tradition (Sunnah) of the Muslims. It is a strongly recommended sunnah, some scholars are even of the opinion that it is compulsory.

Brothers in faith, whoever is willing to sacrifice an animal in this blessed month should not cut any proportion of their hair or nails from the first night of Dhul hijja (i.e. the evening of the last day of Dhul Qa’dah). Alternatively, whoever doesn’t intend to sacrifice an animal until the middle of the ten days, should not cut his hair or nails any further until after sacrificing their animals on the 10^th day. Whoever cuts his hair or nails deliberately should repent to Allah intensively because he had committed what has been forbidden, but as for his act of sacrifice, it is considered valid.

The first condition for a valid sacrifice is that; the sacrificial animal should be legitimately owned by the person sacrificing it, someone should therefore not sacrifice a stolen animal or one bought with an ill-gotten money (Haram).

Secondly, the animal should meet the descriptions outlined by the messenger (peace be upon him) for such purpose. The animal should be from the sheep, cows or camels. The best categories are those of camels and cows when sacrificed as a whole by one person, followed by the sheep, and the sheep is better than being part of a group (of people) to sacrifice a cow or camel.

Thirdly, the animal should be of age as enumerated by the shariah, as for sheep, they should reach at least six months, goats should reach at least one year, cows should reach at least two years, camels must have completed five years and in the sixth year.

Fourthly, the animal should be free from five defects outlined by the prophet (peace be upon him) in two different hadith, in the first one, Baraa’ (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated, the messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Four (types of animals) should be avoided in sacrifice: A One-eyed animal which has obviously lost the sight of one eye, a sick animal which is obviously sick, a lame animal which obviously limps and an animal with a broken leg with no marrow.”

The second hadith says: “the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade sacrificing animals with broken horns and ears.” Meaning that; an animal that more than a half of its horn or ear is gone is not fit for sacrificial purpose.

You should try to look out for a normal and healthy animal while buying your sacrificial animal, it should be fat and expensive, because that’s part of gratifying the rites ordained by Allah the exalted, Allah says: “That [is so]. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.” [22:32]

Muslims are enjoined to pay a special attention to their sacrificial animals by feeding them especially when they purchase them days before Eid, they should protect them from harm or anything that causes depreciation in their value, because they are potential sacrificial animals that Allah’s countenance is sought through them and they are part of a deed that every Muslim would earn the reward of it on the day of judgement.

The fifth condition is that, a Muslim should slaughter it at the stipulated time identified in the Shariah, i.e. from after Eid prayer until the end of the third day of “Ayyamut tashreeq” (i.e. 13^th Dhul Hijja).

A sheep is sufficient for a man and members of his family. It was narrated that ‘Ata’ bin Yasar said:

“I asked Abu Ayyub Al- Ansari: ‘How were sacrifices offered among you at the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?’ He said: ‘At the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), a man would sacrifice a sheep on behalf of himself and the members of his household, and they would eat some of it and give some to others. Then people started to compete and it became as you see (nowadays).’”

It is also narrated that the messenger (peace be upon him) sacrificed on behalf of himself and the members of his household, it wasn’t recorded that he  sacrificed various animals for his wives differently.

As for cows and camels, each (cow or camel) can be sacrificed for up to seven people.

The assertion that an animal is sufficient for a person and his household members means that a sheep can cover for the members of his family whose responsibilities are upon him, i.e. a father sacrifices an animal on behalf of himself, his wife, his children, his mother that stays with him and so on. This is in in terms of sufficiency, but in terms of reward, it is up to a person to include whomever he/she wishes to incorporate, for instance, parents, relatives, the living among them or the dead and so on. The messenger (peace be upon him) sacrificed on behalf of himself and his Ummah (nation).

Servants of Allah, after purchasing your sacrificial animal, then you intend that this is a sacrificial animal, from that point, the ownership of the animal is no more yours, the ownership of the animal shifts to Allah the exalted, therefore, you cannot sell it or change it with another except with one that is better than it.

If anything happens to it due to negligence from your own part, for instance death, or it gets stolen or lost, or it gets broken legs or harmed to an extent of being not fit for sacrificial purpose, it is mandatory upon you to replace it, but if these conditions happened without negligence from your own part, it is not mandatory upon you to replace it, but if you replace it with another one, that’s better.

Finally, It is permissible to delegate someone to slaughter your sacrificial animal in your presence or otherwise and it is permissible to give them from the meat. Importantly, if you delegate, you still don’t cut your hair or nails until they slaughter the animal.

It is also permissible to slaughter on behalf of a deceased person (parents and relatives) because that’s one of the deeds whose rewards reach the dead after their demise.

O Allah count us among the successful ones as we approach these blessed days of Dhul hijja and accept from us our acts of worship.