Al- Udhiyyah ((The Sacrifice))

Al- Udhiyyah ((The Sacrifice))

The Sacrifice or Al-Udhiyyah -as referred to in Islam- is an animal sacrifice in Eid Al-Udhaa or the Festival of the Sacrifice, which is the biggest Eid or feast for the Muslims.

In this article we are going to talk about Al-Udhiyyah, and all about it.

**All the verses and Hadiths are translated by their meanings.

What is the Sacrifice?

As we mentioned, the Sacrifice or Al-Udhiyyah is an Islamic ritual, in which Muslim slaughter an animal which could be a camel, a cattle or a lamb, and distribute its meat to his family and the poor people, to get closer to Allah Almighty and to ask for His forgiveness.

The ruling of Al-Udhiyyah:

The Sacrifice is a confirmed Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad -peace and blessings be upon him- for those who can afford it.

 as Anas Ibn Malek said ( The Prophet of Allah –peace and blessings be upon him- sacrificed  two fatty  rams that he slaughtered with his own hands, and he said: in the name of Allah, and magnified Him, and put his foot on the right side of their necks).      

How can we choose the animal for Al-Udhiyyah?

The Sacrificed animal has some specific conditions that the Sacrifice does not seem right without, as following;

*The first condition is that Al- Udhiyyah be either a camel, a cattle, or a lamb, not any other animal, as Allah Almighty said: {And for each nation, we made a ritual to mention the name of God on what He had given them from the livestock, your God is one, so, be surrender to Him, and rejoice the humbled people}, and the livestock means the camels, the cattle, and the lambs.      

*The second condition is about the age of the Sacrificed animal, it should be at the age of five if it is from camels, and at the age of two if it is from caws, but the lambs should be six months old, and the goats a year old.

*Al- Udhiyyah also must be healthy, impeccable and not to be flawed.

And the defects divided into three classes, there is a defect that makes the animal not suitable for sacrificing, and they are four defects, limp, sightless, sickness, and emaciation that wastes the brain.

*And the Third condition for the Muslim to Sacrifice, is that the sacrificed animal  be his  property and not stolen , raped, or mortgaged.

Sunnah for the Sacrifice or Al-Udhiyyah:

The etiquette of Sacrifice reflects the mercy of Islam with animals, as firstly, is to sharpen the blade or the knife, as the Prophet –peace blessings be upon him- said: (If you slaughter, so improve your slaughtering, and sharpen your blade, and relief your animal).

and then, the animal must be lied down on its left side, and start with Basmala (saying in the name of Allah) for three times.

Also from the Sunnah of Al-Udhiyyah, is that the owner of the animal slaughters by his own hands, and not to slaughter an animal in front of another.

The time for Sacrifice or Al-Udiyyah:

The time for slaughtering starts after the Eid prayer on the first day of Eid Al-Udhaa, and it ends with the sunset of the third day of Al-Tashreeq, which is the fourth day of Eid

But the best time to Sacrifice is on the first day before the midday.