A Word on the Sacrifice.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the twenty-eighth session after two hundred of the Open Door sessions, which take place every Thursday of every week. And this Thursday is the twenty-fifth of the month of Dhul-Qa'dah in the year one thousand four hundred and twenty.
We are speaking about what is appropriate for this time, which is the sacrifice. The sacrifice is drawing near to Allah the Exalted by slaughtering sacrificial animals on the days of slaughter. These are four days: the day of the festival and the three days following it. It is a confirmed recommended practice (sunnah muakkadah), to the extent that some scholars said it is obligatory, and that whoever leaves it off while being able to perform it is sinful. It is one of the symbols of the religion that Allah Mighty and Majestic prescribed for His servants in regions where there is no sacrificial animal for Hajj. This is because Muslims draw near to Allah the Exalted in these days with the sacrificial animal if they are pilgrims, and with the sacrifice if they are not pilgrims. So among the wisdom of Allah Mighty and Majestic is that the earth is populated for drawing near to Allah by slaughter, either as gifts, which is for the pilgrims, or as sacrifices, which is for those who are not pilgrims. So it is a confirmed recommended practice. However, since it is an act of devotion, it must have conditions. If the intention were merely meat, it would be permissible with anything, even chickens, rabbits, and small or large animals, if the intention were merely meat. But the intention is drawing near to Allah the Exalted by the slaughter which Allah linked to prayer in His saying: and His saying: And by that we know the shortcoming of those who thought that the intention of the sacrifice is benefiting from its meat, for this is a short-sighted thought arising from ignorance. The intention is what? Drawing near to Allah the Exalted by the slaughter. And remember the saying of Allah the Exalted: I only pointed this out because some of our compassionate, merciful brothers have started sending money to poor Islamic countries to be sacrificed there. This is due to their ignorance and their shortcoming and deficiency as well, because the sacrifice is intended for drawing near to Allah by slaughter. And when you slaughter it, give it to whom you wish in your country or outside your country. But before the slaughter, no, do not slaughter except in your country. And the best is in your home so that the family sees it and knows this great symbol. As for sending money to be sacrificed there, it entails losing benefits and exposing oneself to risks. As for the benefits that are lost, it is the manifestation of this great symbol, because perhaps over the years this is forgotten and it becomes money sent to Islamic countries, and that is enough, and the Islamic countries remain devoid of this great symbol. It also entails that the person is commanded to slaughter with his own hand and mention the name of Allah over it, and this is lost. The scholars said, and if one does not know how to slaughter, let him appoint someone and witness the slaughter, and the one who slaughters mentions the name. And it is also lost among the benefits that the person does not eat from it, while Allah commanded eating from it and placed it before feeding the poor, saying: And many scholars have said that eating from the sacrifice is obligatory because Allah commanded it and placed it before feeding the poor. So just as feeding the poor from the sacrifice is obligatory, eating from it is obligatory. And this is a view that has a share of consideration. As for what is feared from the risks, it is that this money may fall into the hands of people who do not know the conditions, so they sacrifice with the small and the large, the healthy and the defective. And perhaps the sacrifices increase in the region so that there are no livestock. For example, the money sent to be sacrificed might be five or six thousand, and the village does not have five or six thousand livestock, so it remains idle. And perhaps the executors of the slaughter are few and the sacrifices are many, so they are unable to sacrifice on the days of sacrifice, so the days pass and they have not sacrificed. So the risks are many. Therefore, we say to our Muslim brothers in general: beware of sending money to be sacrificed in any country. Sacrifice in your country, eat, and feed, and send if you wish. Then what does a piece of meat that they eat for a day or two benefit our brothers there? Would it not be better to send them money to buy wheat, clothes, bedding, and other things, or send them food or tents, or dig wells for them? This is what is appropriate. As for ruining this great ritual and taking it from our country to other countries, that is not from the Shari'ah nor from what is recommended. Rather, it is necessary to warn against it and be cautious of it.
I return and say that the sacrifice is a worship by which one draws near to Allah, and for this reason it must have conditions:
The first condition is that it be from the livestock of the herd, which are camels, cows, and sheep (both sheep and goats). If one sacrifices with anything else, even if it is more valuable, it is not accepted, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The second: that it reach the age considered in the Shari'ah. This is five years for camels, two years for cows, one year for goats, and six months for sheep. What is less than that is not sacrificed with, and if one sacrifices with it, it is not sufficient. What is less than this age is not sacrificed with, and if one sacrifices with it, it is not accepted. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Leave the beard alone, do not mess with it, or the hair will fall out." The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning the second molar and the jadhzah from sheep is what is six months old.
The third condition: that it be free from defects that prevent sufficiency. The basis for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): These are the basic defects that prevent sufficiency, and the hadith is explicit in them . As for other defects, if they are like these defects or worse, then the sacrifice with them is not sufficient. And if they are less than that, it is sufficient. But the more complete the sacrifice is, the better it is. So if one sacrifices with one whose horn is broken, meaning the whole horn or most of it is broken, the sacrifice is sufficient. Or with one whose ear is cut off, the sacrifice is sufficient. Or with one that is blind in one eye, but its blindness is not obvious, meaning whoever sees it does not think it is blind. Or with one that is lame, but its lameness is not obvious. Or with one that is lean with little meat and fat, but it has marrow, it is sufficient. All of these are sufficient because they are not among the defects mentioned in the text, nor are they in the meaning of the defects mentioned in the text.
The fourth condition: that it be in the time in which one sacrifices. If one sacrifices before the time enters, it is a sheep of meat. And if one sacrifices after the time, it is a sheep of meat, except for an excuse such as forgetting and the loss of the animal, so he did not find it except after the days of slaughter had passed. Then he sacrifices after the days have passed, and there is no harm.
So what are the days in which one sacrifices? The days in which one sacrifices are the day of the festival, the festival of sacrifice, after the prayer, and the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth days. So the days are
The student: Four.

The Shaykh : How much?
The student: Four.

The Shaykh : four, all of them days for slaughter, their night and day are the same. And if the day is better, it is because it is more complete for the sacrifice and distribution. So the conditions are four. And the fact that the Lawgiver makes specific, defined conditions for it indicates that the intention is what? Not the meat. The intention is a worship described with specific attributes and conditions. And that is the difference between it and the intention of meat. And listen to the hadith of Abu Burdah ibn Niyar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he slaughtered his sacrifice before the prayer. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the sermon and said: Abu Burdah said: O Messenger of Allah! I slaughtered my sacrifice before the prayer. He said to him: See the difference? meaning it is not a sacrificial sheep and a ritual meaning it does not suffice you, even though he was ignorant and exerting effort. And it is loved that the first thing eaten in the house is his sacrifice. And yet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not excuse him because he performed the worship before its time, just as if one prayed the midday prayer before the time thinking that the sun had passed its zenith, and it turned out that it had not passed. Then his prayer
The student: ...

The Shaykh : is not invalid, it does not suffice him, it does not suffice him for the midday prayer. Rather, it becomes a voluntary prayer, and he repeats it as the midday prayer after the time enters. Okay, if one sacrifices on the fourteenth day, is it sufficient or not?
The student: It is not sufficient.

The Shaykh : ... congregation, may Allah have mercy on you, it is not valid because it is outside the time, so it becomes a sheep for meat, unless there is an excuse, such as a person—leave the beard, man—such as a person who forgot to sacrifice and then remembered, meaning he had designated the sheep and made it a sacrifice, everything was done, but he forgot and then remembered after the days of Tashreeq had ended, so let him slaughter it and it will be a sacrifice. Or a person who was ignorant, a person in the desert who did not know about the entry of the month and thought the fourteenth day was the thirteenth, then he slaughtered, so there is no harm, it is valid for him because he was ignorant. Or a person designated the sheep as a sacrifice and it ran away and he did not find it until the fourteenth day, so let him slaughter it and there is no blame on him. Or it was stolen and he did not find it until the fourteenth day, so let him slaughter it and there is no blame on him. Why? Because he is excused. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said regarding prayer: But how is the eating of the sacrifice? We say as Allah Mighty and Majestic said: And Allah did not specify anything. You eat half and feed half to the poor, there is no harm. You eat a third and give a third as charity and the other third as a gift, there is no harm. The important thing is that you give to the poor from it in any case, and the rest is free for you to dispose of as you wish, except that you do not sell anything of it, because you offered it for Allah, and what is offered for Allah, a person cannot be compensated for it with anything from this world.
And know that when the ten days enter, meaning the ten days of Dhul Hijjah, and you intend to sacrifice, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) forbade you from taking anything from your hair, or your nails, or your skin. What is the skin?
The student: The skin.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: The skin of a human being.

The Shaykh : The skin.
The student: The skin, the skin of a human being.

The Shaykh : The skin, the skin of a human being. Does a human being take from his skin?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : No, he says: The answer, you do not know.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) speaks seriously, so how did he say "nor from his skin"? Who knows? Yahya.
The student: ... something from his skin.

The Shaykh : How does he cut something from his skin?
The student: If something happens to him, meaning ...

The Shaykh : No, what?
The student: If there is pain, there is no harm in cutting it.

The Shaykh : We have not reached when it is permissible, but how can one imagine cutting his skin?
The student: Meaning if something happens to him.

The Shaykh : Something happened to him, what?
The student: Something happened to his body and he needed to cut something from it.

The Shaykh : No, if he needs it, it is permissible. Okay, Musa.
The student: The layer on the surface of the skin.

The Shaykh : How? The excess layer on the surface of the skin.

The Shaykh : Fine, okay.
The student: Some people have excess skin on the edge of the foot that grows and they peel it off ...

The Shaykh : Yes, in any case, it is a conceivable matter sometimes, as the brother Musa said, a layer that was injured before and dried up and something solidified on it, do not take that. That is one thing. Second: Some people have cracks in their feet, especially in their heels, and they start peeling them, so do not do that. But if a piece of skin peels off and bothers you, there is no harm in cutting what bothers you, because this is for a need. And this ruling, meaning the prohibition of taking hair, nails, and skin, is specific to the one who sacrifices. As for the one for whom a sacrifice is made, there is no harm in him taking. And based on this, if a person wants to sacrifice for himself and his family, the ruling applies to him himself, but there is no harm for the family members in taking from these things. This is contrary to what some scholars said, that the one for whom a sacrifice is made is like the one who sacrifices, meaning he avoids taking from these things. This opinion is weak because the hadith is explicit: And it did not say "or for whom a sacrifice is made." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to sacrifice for himself and his family and did not forbid them from doing so.
My Muslim brother, you are approaching the first ten days of the month of Dhul Hijjah. In these ten days, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged righteous deeds, until he said: meaning the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. meaning that the disbelievers were killed and their wealth was plundered. This is better. So upon you, my Muslim brother, is to increase in righteous deeds in these ten days, from reading the Qur'an, dhikr, charity, and fasting. And I think you see what I see of people's negligence regarding the virtue of these days, until you see people passing through these days without doing anything, while people in the ten days of Ramadan increase in righteous deeds, and the mosques have the reciter and the caller, and they stand in night prayer. But these people are negligent of it. So upon you, students of knowledge, is to explain its virtue to the common people. The common people love good, but people may have been negligent in alerting them, so you find their deeds in these days are no different from their deeds before. Encourage them to righteous deeds, and especially the takbir in these days: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillah al-hamd. Or make it three times: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillah al-hamd. Men should recite it loudly in the mosques, markets, and homes, and women should recite it softly.
I ask Allah Blessed and Exalted is He to grant us all the ability to seize the times with righteous deeds, and to keep us and you away from the evil of morals, deeds, and words. Indeed, He is capable of all things. And to the questions, keep them with you, oral questions.