ʿAlī said: “The Prophet has ordered me to see that there be no blemish in the animal to be sacrificed; and not to sacrifice one with the ears cut, either at the top or the bottom, or split lengthways, or with holes made in them. The Prophet prohibited sacrificing a ram with broken horns, or slit ears.”
ʿĀyishah relates that the Prophet said: “Man hath not done anything, on the day of sacrifice, more pleasing to God than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will come on the Day of Resurrection, with its horns, its hair, its hoofs, and will make the scales of his actions heavy; and verily its blood reacheth the acceptance of God before it falleth upon the ground; therefore be joyful in it.”
Zaid Ibn Arqam relates: “The Companions said, ‘O messenger of God! what are these sacrifices, and whence is their origin?’ He said, ‘These sacrifices are conformable to the laws of your father Abraham.’ They said, ‘O Prophet! what are our rewards therefrom?’ He said, ‘There is a reward annexed to every hair.’ The Companions then said, ‘O Prophet! what are the rewards from the sacrifices of camels and sheep, that have wool?’ He said, ‘There is a good reward also for every hair of their wool.’ ”
(4) The following is the teaching of the Hidāyah regarding the nature and conditions of the sacrifice:—
It is the duty of every free Muslim arrived at the age of maturity to offer a sacrifice, on the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, or “Festival of the Sacrifice,” provided he be then possessed of a Niṣāb (i.e. sufficient property), and be not a traveller. This is the opinion of Abū Ḥanīfah, Muḥammad, Zufar, and Ḥasan, and likewise of Abū Yūsuf, according to one tradition. According to another tradition, and also according to ash-Shāfiʿī, sacrifice is not an indispensable duty, but only laudable. At-Tahāwī reports that, in the opinion of Abū Ḥanīfah, it is indispensable, whilst the disciples hold it to be in a strong degree laudable. The offering of a sacrifice is incumbent on a man on account of himself, and on account of his infant child. This is the opinion of Abū Ḥanīfah in one tradition. In another he has said that it is not incumbent on a man to offer a sacrifice for his child. In fact, according to Abū Ḥanīfah and Abū Yūsuf, a father or guardian is to offer a sacrifice at the expense of the child (when he is possessed of property), eating what parts of it are eatable, and selling the remaining parts that are valuable in their substance, such as the skin, &c. Muḥammad, Zufar, and ash-Shāfiʿī have said that a father is to sacrifice on account of his child at his own expense, and not at that of the child. The sacrifice established for one person is a goat; and that for seven, a cow or a camel. If a cow be sacrificed for any number of people fewer than seven, it is lawful; but it is otherwise if sacrificed on account of eight. If for a party of seven people the contribution of any one of them should be less than a seventh share, the sacrifice is not valid on the part of any one of them. If a camel that is jointly and in an equal degree the property of two men should be sacrificed by them on their own account, it is lawful; and in this case they must divide the flesh by weight, as flesh is an article of weight. If, on the contrary, they distribute it from conjectural estimation, it is not lawful, unless they add to each share of the flesh part of the head, neck, and joints. If a person purchase a cow, with an intent to sacrifice it on his own account, and he afterwards admit six others to join with him in the sacrifice, it is lawful. It is, however, most advisable that he associate with the others at the time of purchase, in order that the sacrifice may be valid in the opinion of all our doctors, as otherwise there is a difference of opinion. It is related from Abū Ḥanīfah that it is abominable to admit others to share in a sacrifice after purchasing the animal, for, as the purchase was made with a view to devotion, the sale of it is therefore an abomination.
The time of offering the sacrifice is on the morning of the day of the festival, but it is not lawful for the inhabitants of a city to begin the sacrifice until their Imām shall have finished the stated prayers for the day. Villagers, however, may begin after break of day. The place, in fact, must regulate the time. Thus, where the place of celebration is in the country, and the performers of it reside in the city, it is lawful to begin in the morning; but if otherwise, it must be deferred until the stated prayers be ended. If the victim be slain after the prayers of the Mosque, and prior to those offered at the place of sacrifice [[IDGAH]], it is lawful, as is likewise the reverse of this. Sacrifice is lawful during three days—that is, on the day of the festival, and on the two ensuing days. Ash-Shāfiʿī is of opinion that it is lawful on the three ensuing days. The sacrifice of the day of the festival is far superior to any of the others. It is also lawful to sacrifice on the nights of those days, although it be considered as undesirable. Moreover, the offering of sacrifices on these days is more laudable than the custom of omitting them, and afterwards bestowing an adequate sum of money upon the poor. If a person neglect the performance of a sacrifice during the stated days, and have previously determined upon the offering of any particular goat, for instance; or, being poor, have purchased a goat for that purpose,—in either of these cases it is incumbent on him to bestow it alive in charity. But if he be rich, it is in that case incumbent on him to bestow in charity a sum adequate to the price, whether he have purchased a goat with an intent to sacrifice it or not. It is not lawful to sacrifice animals that are blemished, such as those that are blind, or lame, or so lean as to have no marrow in their bones, or having a great part of their ears or tail cut off. Such, however, as have a great part of their ears or tail remaining may lawfully be sacrificed. Concerning the determination of a great part of any member, there are, indeed, various opinions reported from Abū Ḥanīfah. In some animals he has determined it to be the third; in others more than the third; and in others, again, only the fourth. In the opinion of the two disciples, if more than the half should remain, the sacrifice is valid, and this opinion has been adopted by the learned Abū ʾl-Lais̤. If an animal have lost the third of its tail, or the third of its ears or eye-sight, it may be lawfully sacrificed; but if, in either of these cases, it should have lost more than a third, the offering of it is not lawful. The rule which our doctors have laid down to discover in what degree the eye-sight is impaired is as follows. The animal must first be deprived of its food for a day or two that it may be rendered hungry, and having then covered the eye that is impaired, food must be gradually brought towards it from a distance, until it indicate by some emotion that it has discovered it. Having marked the particular spot at which it observed the food, and uncovered the weak eye, the perfect eye must then be bound, and the same process carried on, until it indicate that it has observed it with the defective eye. If, then, the particular distance from those parts to where the animal stood be measured, it may be known, from the proportion they bear to each other, in what degree the sight is impaired.
It is not lawful to offer a sacrifice of any animal except a camel, a cow, or a goat; for it is not recorded that the Prophet, or any of his companions, ever sacrificed others. Buffaloes, however, are lawful as being of the species of a cow. Every animal of a mixed breed, moreover, is considered as of the same species with the mother.
If a Christian or any person whose object is the flesh, and not the sacrifice, be a sharer with six others, the sacrifice is not lawful on the part of any. It is lawful for a person who offers a sacrifice either to eat the flesh or to bestow it on whomsoever he pleases, whether rich or poor, and he may also lay it up in store. It is most advisable that the third part of the flesh of a sacrifice be bestowed in charity. It is not lawful to give a part of the sacrifice in payment to the butcher. It is abominable to take the wool of the victim and sell it before the sacrifice be performed, but not after the sacrifice. In the same manner, it is abominable to milk the victim and sell the milk. It is most advisable that the person who offers the sacrifice should himself perform it, provided he be well acquainted with the method, but if he should not be expert at it, it is then advisable that he take the assistance of another, and be present at the operation. It is abominable to commit the slaying of the victim to a Kitābī (a Jew or Christian). If, however, a person order a Kitābī to slay his victim, it is lawful. It is otherwise where a person orders a Magian, or worshipper of fire, to slay his victim, for this is inadmissible. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iv. 76.)
(5) From the foregoing references to the Qurʾān, the Traditions, ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq, al-Baiẓāwī, it will appear that whilst the Muḥammadan sacrifice is (1) Commemorative, having been instituted in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to offer his son; (2) Self Dedicatory, as expressed in the Traditional sayings of Muḥammad; and (3) Eucharistic, according to the verse in the Qurʾān already quoted, “Haply ye may give thanks”; that the expiatory character of the sacrifice is not clearly established, for there is no offering for, or acknowledgment of, sin, connected with the institution. Muḥammadanism, true to its anti-Christian character, ignores the doctrine that “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” ([Lev. xvii. 11]; [Heb. ix. 22].)
(6) At the birth of a child it is incumbent upon the Muslim father to sacrifice a goat (one for a girl and two for a boy) at the ceremony called ʿAqīqah, which is celebrated on either the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, or thirty-fifth day after birth, when the hair is first shaved and its weight in silver given to the poor. ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says ʿAqīqah comes from ʿaqq, “to cut,” and refers to cutting the throat of the animal. Others refer it to cutting the hair. The idea of the sacrifice on this occasion is dedicatory and eucharistic. Buraidah says, “We used, in the time of ignorance, when children were born to us, to slay sheep and rub the child’s head with the blood; but when Islām came we sacrificed a sheep on the seventh day, and shaved the child’s head and rubbed saffron on it.”