الجواب :

Answer

 

All praise is due to Allah.

 

First thing to point out is that Udhiyah (sacrificing an animal on Eid al-Adha) is an act of worship done sincerely for Allah and is from the most important acts of worship someone can engage in. It is from the symbols of the religion and the objective behind it is to get closer to Allah through it. It is like the salāh in that it is an act of worship done sincerely for Allah. It has been paired with the salāh in the Qur'an in a few places such as:

 

Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice (to Him only). [108:2]

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). [6:162]

 

Sacrificing an animal to get closer to Allah is one of the ways to demonstrate servitude to Him. That is why sacrificing for [the purpose of getting closer to] other than Allah is major shirk. This is important to mention and is contrary to what many of the Muslims think is the objective behind the Udhiyah. They do mention that it is an act of worship and that it is a symbol of the religion and is done sincerely for Allah. However, they think that the main reason behind its legislation during the days of Eid is to benefit the poor, feed the needy, and to cause happiness on the day of Eid. This is wrong and those aforementioned things are merely the fruits or benefits of establishing servitude to Allah through this action. We sacrifice out of worship and establish it because establishing it is a symbol of servitude to Allah.

 

It may be the case that the needy and those around us may benefit from the meat and it may be the case that they don't benefit from the meat at all. This is due to the fact that there may not be any people who are in need of the meat. What do we do in that instance? Do we leave off the Udhiyah [due to there being no needy people]? 

 

Imagine if a doctor prohibited a Muslim from eating meat and then at the time of Eid, this individual sacrificed an animal while being unable to eat it and also there not being any needy people around to distribute the meat to. Do we say that he should leave off the Udhiyah or do we say go ahead and still perform it? We would say perform the Udhiyah. Some may say that nobody is going to eat the meat. However, what is important here is sacrificing the animal for the sake of Allah because this is the core objective behind this act of worship. After this, the needy may benefit and this is something good and from the benefits of the action. And it may also be the case that those in need do not benefit. This is an important matter to clarify before answering the question that was posed.

 

The second matter to clarify is that the default for the Udhiyah is that a person performs the sacrifice in the place he resides either by himself or by placing someone as an agent to sacrifice on his behalf and that it is done in his locality so that he can eat from the meat because the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is that a person eats from the meat he has sacrificed. 

 

 

However, if the question is regarding a scenario where you don't appoint someone to act as an agent on your behalf but rather you send money abroad to Gaza then this is allowed in the sense that you are supporting them with your money but this isn't classed as a Udhiyah for you. As such, you will be deprived of the reward of the Udhiyah on the day of Eid and the money you have sent will be a sadaqah that we hope is accepted and you are rewarded for. It is classed as a normal sadaqah you have given but not Udhiyah. 

 

As for Udhiyah, we mentioned earlier that it is not a sadaqah but rather a symbol of servitude to Allah and has a particular way of being performed. 

 

Lastly, the scholars differed on the ruling of Udhiyah. Is it obligatory or recommended? The majority of scholars are of the opinion that it's recommended whilst the Hanafis scholars and also Ibn Taymiyyah hold the view that it is obligatory for the resident who has the ability to do so. This is because the Prophet ﷺ used to regularly perform the Udhiyah during Eid al-Adha. So a person shouldn't deprive himself of such a reward. 

 

It may be difficult for us in these lands to perform it ourselves so there is no problem with appointing someone else to sacrifice on your behalf elsewhere. Then after that, those who are present there from family and friends and also those who are in need can benefit from the Udhiyah and this is a good action. 

 

We ask Allah to accept from us all. 

And Allah knows best.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the 'Ālamīn.

 

Transcript of Sheikh Abd al-Haqq Turkmāni's answer

29 Dhul-Qa'dah 1445 | 6 June 2024