Sunan Ibn Majah: Chapters on Sacrifices

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to sacrifice two horned, black-and-white rams and he would say the Name of Allah and pronounce His greatness. I saw him slaughtering them with his own hand, putting his foot on their sides.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sacrificed two rams on the Day of ‘Eid. When he turned them to face towards the prayer direction he said: ‘Verily, I have turned my face towards Him Who has created the heavens and the earth, as a monotheist, and I am not of the polytheists. Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of all that exists. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims. [6:79,162-163] O Allah, from You to You, on behalf of Muhammad and his nation.’”

It was narrated from ‘Aishah and Abu Hurairah that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wanted to offer a sacrifice, he brought two large, fat, horned, black-and-white, castrated rams. He slaughtered one on behalf of his nation, for whoever testified to Allah with monotheism and that he had conveyed (the Message), and he slaughtered the other on behalf of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (ﷺ).

“Whoever can afford it, but does not offer a sacrifice, let him not come near our prayer place.”

“I asked Ibn ‘Umar about sacrifices and whether they are obligatory. He said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the Muslims after him offered sacrifices, and this is the Sunnah.’”

Another chain reports exactly the same.

“We were standing with the Prophet (ﷺ) at ‘Arafat and he said: ‘O people, each family, each year, must offer Udhiyah and ‘Atirah.’

“The son of Adam does not do any deed on the Day of Sacrifice that is dearer to Allah than shedding blood. It will come on the Day of Resurrection with its horns and cloven hoofs and hair. Its blood is accepted by Allah before it reaches the ground. So be content when you do it.”

“The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what are these sacrifices?’ He said: ‘The Sunnah of your father Ibrahim.’ They said: ‘What is there for us in them, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘For every hair, one merit.’ They said: ‘What about wool, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘For every hair of wool, one merit.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sacrificed a horned, defectless ram with a black stomach, black feet and black around its eyes.”

“I went out with Abu Sa’eed Az- Zuraqi, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to buy animals or sacrifice.” Yunus said: “Abu Sa’eed pointed to a ram that had some blackness around its ears and jaw, and was neither too big nor too small, and said to me: ‘Buy this one for them, as it seems to resemble the ram of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’”

“The best of shrouds is a two piece Najrani garment and the best of sacrifices is a horned ram.”

“We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on a journey, and the (day of) Al-Adha came. We (sacrificed) one camel on behalf of ten (people) and one cow on behalf of seven.”

“We offered sacrifices at Al- Hudaibiyah with the Prophet (ﷺ), a camel on behalf of seven (people) and a cow on behalf of seven.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) slaughtered a cow on behalf of all his wives who had performed ‘Umrah, during the Farewell Pilgrimage.”

“Camels became scarce at the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), so he commanded them to sacrifice cows.”

It was narrated from ‘Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sacrificed one cow during the Farewell Pilgrimage on behalf of the family of Muhammad (ﷺ).

“I have to offer a sacrifice and I can afford it, but I cannot find (a camel) to buy.” The Prophet (ﷺ) told him to buy seven sheep and slaughter them.

“We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in Dhul-Hulaifah in (the land of) Tihamah. We acquired sheep and camels and the people hastened to put cooking pots on the fires before they had been distributed. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to us and ordered that they be overturned,* then he made one camel equivalent to ten sheep.”

“You sacrifice it yourself.”

“It is permissible to offer a Jadha’a* among sheep as a sacrifice.”

“We were with a man from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was called Mujashi’, from Banu Sulaim, and sheep became scarce. He ordered a caller to call out that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say: ‘A Jadha’a suffices for whatever a two-year-old sheep suffices.’”

‘Do not slaughter anything but a Musinnah,* unless there is none available, in which case you can slaughter a Jadha’a among sheep.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade sacrificing the Muqabalah, the Mudabarah, the Sharqa’, the Kharqa’ and the Jad’a’.”*

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to examine the eyes and ears.”*

“I heard ‘Ubaid bin Fairuz say: ‘I said to Bara’ bin ‘Azib: “Tell us of the sacrificial animals that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) disliked or forbade.” He said: “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said like this with his hand. And my hand is shorter than his hand:* ‘There are four that will not be accepted as sacrifices: The one-eyed animal that is obviously blind in one eye; the sick animal that is obviously sick; the lame animal with an obvious limp; and the animal that is so emaciated that it is as if there is no marrow in its bones.’” He said:** “And I dislike that the animal should have some fault in its ears.” He said: “What you dislike, forget about it and do not make it forbidden to anyone.”

It was narrated from Qatadah that he said that he heard Juray bin Kulaib narrate that he heard ‘Ali narrate that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade sacrificing animals with broken horns and ears.

“We bought a ram for sacrifice, then a wolf tore some flesh from its rump and ears. We asked the Prophet (ﷺ) and he told us to offer it as a sacrifice.”

“I asked Abu Ayyub Al- Ansari: ‘How were sacrifices offered among you at the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?’ He said: ‘At the time of the Prophet (ﷺ), a man would sacrifice a sheep on behalf of himself and the members of his household, and they would eat some of it and give some to others. Then people started to compete and it because as you see (nowadays).’”

“My family started to put pressure on me after I came to know the Sunnah. People used to sacrifice one or two sheep, but now our neighbors call us stingy.”

“When the ten days (of Dhul-Hijjah) begin, and one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, let him not remove anything from his hair or skin.”

“Whoever among you sees the new crescent of Dhul-Hijjah and wants to offer a sacrifice, let him not take anything from his hair or nails.”

It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that a man slaughtered on the Day of Sacrifice, (meaning) before the ‘Eid prayer, and the Prophet (ﷺ) ordered him to do it again.

“I was present on Adha day with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and some people slaughtered before the prayer. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever among you has slaughtered before the prayer, let him repeat his sacrifice, and whoever has not, let him offer his sacrifice in the Name of Allah.’”

“Repeat your sacrifice.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by one of the houses of the Ansar and noticed the smell of a cooking pot. He said: ‘Who is this who has slaughtered?’ A man from among us came out and said: ‘It is me, O Messenger of Allah, I slaughtered before the prayer so that I could feed my family and neighbors.’ He commanded him to repeat it. He said: ‘No, by the One besides Whom there is none worthy of worship, I do not have anything but a one-year-old sheep or a lamb.’ He (ﷺ) said: ‘Sacrifice it, but a one-year-old sheep will not do for anyone after you.’”

“I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) slaughter his sacrifice with his own hand, placing his foot on its side.”

“My father told me, from my grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) slaughtered his sacrifice at the side of an alley, on the road of Banu Zuraiq, with his own hand, using a blade.”

‘Ali bin Abu Talib narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded him to distribute the entire sacrificial camel – its meat, skin and covers – among the poor.

It was narrated from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordered that a piece from every camel that had been slaughtered be brought and placed in a pot, then they ate from its meat and drank some of the broth.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) only forbade storing the meat of the sacrifices because the people were facing hardship. Then later he permitted that.”

“I used to forbid you to store the meat of the sacrifices for more than three days, but (now) eat some and store some.”

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to slaughter at the prayer place (of the ‘Eid congregation).