17/05/2026
Rulings Regarding the Uḍḥiyah 🐑 🐄 🐪
1. What is Uḍḥiyah?
It is the sacrifice performed on the day of Eid al-Aḍḥā by slaughtering a camel, cow, or sheep.
2. What is its ruling?
It is a highly recommended Sunnah. If one is capable of performing it but chooses not to, then this is disliked.
3. Can something other than a camel, cow, or sheep be sacrificed?
No.
4. Is slaughtering the Uḍḥiyah better than giving its equivalent value in money?
Yes. Slaughtering the Uḍḥiyah is preferred.
5. Can someone perform the Uḍḥiyah if they are in debt?
It is allowed, as long as the lender is not asking for the money at that same time. If the lender is asking for repayment, then paying the debt is preferred.
6. When does the sacrifice begin?
It begins after the Eid prayer and continues until the third day of Eid, which is the 13th day of Dhul-Ḥijjah.
7. Is the person who wishes to sacrifice required to do anything beforehand?
If a person wishes to sacrifice, or have a sacrifice done on their behalf, then it is forbidden for them to remove any hair or clip any nails from the beginning of Dhul-Ḥijjah — meaning from Maghrib on the last day of Dhul-Qaʿdah — until the Uḍḥiyah has been sacrificed on Eid.
8. If someone intended to perform the Uḍḥiyah and then removed some hair or nails, does this affect their Uḍḥiyah?
If it was done out of ignorance or forgetfulness, then there is no problem.
Also, if it was done out of necessity, there is no problem.
If someone does it while knowing that it is forbidden during the first ten days of Dhul-Ḥijjah, then they should repent to Allah, and there is no problem with the validity of the Uḍḥiyah.
9. Can the animal be purchased by more than one person, or does each person have to purchase their own sacrifice?
If people wish to put their money together to purchase a sacrifice, it is allowed with conditions:
1. This can only be done with a cow or camel.
2. The maximum number of people who may share in purchasing one of these animals for Uḍḥiyah is seven people.
As for a sheep, it can only be purchased by one person.
10. Is the reward only for the purchaser of the Uḍḥiyah, or can it be intended for others?
A person can intend the reward for themselves and their family, as the Prophet ﷺ used to say before slaughtering:
بِسْمِ اللهِ، اللَّهُمَّ هَذَا عَنِّي وَعَنْ أُمَّتِي
Bismillāh, Allāhumma hādhā ʿannī wa ʿan ummatī.
“In the name of Allah. O Allah, this is on behalf of me and my nation.”
11. Can the Uḍḥiyah be done on behalf of the deceased?
It is better for it to be done on behalf of the living.
12. What should be done with the sacrifice?
The Sunnah is to consume one third of it, gift one third of it, and give the remaining third as charity.
Or, one may give all of it in charity
Allah knows best.
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