The Book of Sacrifices

كتاب الأضاحى

Chapter 1: The time for sacrifice

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of al-Aswad b. Qais with the same chain of transmitters.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba through another chain of transmitters.

Al-Bara' reported

My maternal uncle Abu Burda sacrificed his animal before ('Id) prayer. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: That is a goat (slaughtered for the sake of) flesh (and not as a sacrifice on the day of Adha). He said: I have a lamb of six months. Thereupon he said: Offer it as a sacrifice, but it will not justify for anyone except you, and then said: He who sacrificed (the animal) before ('Id) prayer, he in fact slaughtered it for his own self, and he who slaughtered after prayer, his ritual of sacrifice became complete and he in fact observed the religious practice of the Muslims.

Jundab b. Sufyan reported

I was with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) on the day of 'Id al-Adha. While he had not returned after having offered (the Id prayer) and finished it, he saw the flesh of the sacrificial animals which had been slaughtered before he had completed the prayer. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: One who slaughtered his sacrificial animal before his prayer or our prayer ('Id), he should slaughter another one in its stead, and he who did not slaughter, he should slaughter by reciting the name of Allah.

Jundab b. Sufyan reported

I was with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (on the occasion) of 'Id al-Adha. After he had completed the prayer with people, he found that the goats had been slaughtered, whereupon he said: He who slaughtered sacrificial animal before the prayer should slaughter a goat (again) in its stead and he who has not slaughtered he should slaughter it by reciting the name of Allah.

Chapter 0

Chapter 1: The time for sacrifice

Jundab al-Bajali reported

I saw Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) observing ('Id) prayer on the Day of Sacrifice (10th of Dhu'l-Hijja) and then delivering a sermon and he said: He who sacrificed the (animal) before offering ('Id) prayer, he should offer again in its stead, and he who did not sacrifice the animal should slaughter it by reciting the name of Allah.

Al-Bara' b. 'Azib reported that his maternal'uncle Abu Burda b. Niyar sacrificed his animal earlier than the Prophet (ﷺ) had sacrificed. Thereupon he said

Apostle of Allah, it is the day of meat and it is not desirable (to have longing for it and not to make use of it immediately), so I hastened in offering my animal as a sacrifice, so that I might feed my family and neighbours and my kith and kin. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Offer again your sacrifice. He said: Messenger of Allah, I have a small milch goat of less than one year, and that is better than two dry goats (from which only) meat (can be acquired). Thereupon he said: That is better than the two animals of sacrifice on your behalf, and the sacrifice of a goat, of less than six months shall not be accepted as a sacrifice on behalf of anyone after your (sacrifice).

Al-Bara' b. 'Azib reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said

The first (act) with which we started our day (the day of 'Id-ul Adha) was that we offered prayer. We then returned and sacrificed the animals and he who did that in fact adhered to our Sunnah (practice). And he who slaughtered the (animal on that day before the 'Id prayer), for him (the slaughtering of animal was directed to the acquiring of) meat for his family, and there is nothing of the sort of sacrifice in it. It was Abu Burda b. Niyar who had slaughtered (the animal before the 'Id prayer). He said: I have a small lamb, of less than one year, but better than that of more than a year. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) qaid: Sacrifice it, but it will not suffice (as a sacrifice) for anyone after you.

A hadith like this has been narrated on the authority of al-Bara' b. 'Azib through another chain of transmitters.

Chapter 2: The age of sacrificial animals

Amir al-Juhani reported

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) distributed sacrificial animals (amongst us for sacrificing them on 'Id al-Adha). So we sacrificed them. There fell to my lot a lamb of less than one year I said: Allah's Messenger, there has fallen to my lot a lamb (Jadha'a), whereupon he said: Sacrifice that.

Chapter 3: It is recommended to select a good animal for the sacrifice and to slaughter it oneself, not delegating it to anyone else, and to say the name of Allah, and to say the Takbir

Anas reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sacrificed with his own hands two horned rams which were white with black markings reciting the name of Allah and glorifying Him (saying Allah-o-Akbar). He placed his foot on their sides (while sacrificing).

Chapter 4: The permissibility of slaughtering with anything that makes the blood flow, except teeth and other bones

Rafi' b. Khadij is reported to have said

Allah's Messenger, we are going to encounter the enemy tomorrow, but we have no knives with us. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Make haste or be careful (in making arrangements for procuring knives) which would let the blood flow (and along with it) the name of Allah is also to be recited. Then eat, but not the tooth or nail. And I am going to tell you why it is not permissible to slaughter the animal with the help of tooth and bone; and as for the nail. it is a bone, and the bone is the knife of Abyssinians. He (the narrator) said: There fell to our lot as spoils of war camels and goats, and one of the camels among them became wild. A person (amongst usl struck It with an arrow which brought it under control. whereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: This camel became wild like wild animals, so if you find any animal getting wild, you do the same with that

Rafi' b. Khadij reported

While we were with Allah's Messenger (may peace he upon him) in Dhu'I-Hulaifa in Tihama, we got hold of goats and camels. Some persons (amongst us) made haste and boiled (the flesh of goats and camels) in their earthen pots. He then commanded and these were turned over; then he equalised ten goats for a camel. The rest of the hadith is the same.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Sa'id b. Masruq with the same chain of transmitters with a slight variation of words.

Chapter 5: The prohibition of eating sacrificial meat for more than three days, which applied at the beginning of Islam but was then abrogated, and now it is permissible to eat it as long as one wants.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Mu'awiya b. Salih with the same chain of transmitters.

Thauban, the freed slave of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), reported

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to me on the occasion of Hajjat-al-Wada' (the Farewell Pilgrimage): Make the flesh usable. So I made it usable (for him) and he ate it constantly until he reached Medina. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Yabya b. Hamza with the same chain of transmitters, but he did not say: On the occasion of Hajjat-al-Wada'.

Chapter 7: When the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah begin, it is forbidden for the one who wants to offer a sacrifice to remove anything from his hair, nails or skin

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of 'Amr b. Muslim with the same chain of transmitters.

Chapter 8: The prohibition of slaughtering a sacrifice for anything other than Allah, and the one who does that is cursed

Abu Tufail 'Amir b. Withila reported

I was in the company of 'Ali b. Abi Talib, when a person came to him, and said: What was it that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) told you in secret? Thereupon he (liadrat 'All) was enraged and said: Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) did not tell me anything in secret that he hid from people, except that he told me four things. He said: Com- mader of Faithful, what are these? He said: Allah cursed him who cursed his father; Allah cursed him who sacrificed for anyone besides Allah; and Allah cursed him who accommodates an innovator (in religion) ; and Allah cursed him who changed the minarets (the boundary lines) of the land.