What is your opinion on appointing relief organizations to perform the sacrifice in poor countries, and do you advise doing so?
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The questioner : May Allah benefit you, O honorable Shaykh: Regarding the sacrificial animals, some entities... collect donations, such as the Relief Organization and others. They say, "We have, for example, shares. You pay a sum of money, and we perform the sacrifice in any part of the poor countries of the world." Do you advise doing this or not?
The Shaykh : No, I advise against it, and I say that this is an error for a person to appoint someone to sacrifice on his behalf, because this involves several precautions. The first precaution: the ritual of the sacrifice in this country is not completed if we give money to be sacrificed elsewhere.
Second: the purpose of the sacrifice is to worship Allah by slaughtering it, and this is also missed if it is slaughtered in another place, for he does not perform the slaughter himself nor is he present for it.
Third: it involves abandoning what Allah has commanded, which is eating from it. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Hajj 22:28] And He the Exalted said: [Al-Hajj 22:36] It is known that if it is slaughtered in another place, he cannot eat from it.
Fourth: we do not know who will undertake the slaughter? It may be undertaken by one who does not know how to slaughter, or one who is not among those qualified to slaughter, or one who is negligent in the slaughter by leaving off the mention of Allah's name, for example, or the like of that.
And the fifth aspect: we also do not know whether it is slaughtered at its proper time, or before the time, or if they are negligent in delaying the slaughter, so these precautions occur, and perhaps others occur as well.
So what I advise my Muslim brothers is not to do that, meaning not to give the Relief Organization or any other entity anything to buy sacrifices in other places and slaughter them. If someone says, "Did not the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) send the sacrificial animals from Madinah to Makkah?" The answer is: Yes, but the sacrificial animals are specific to Makkah; they cannot be slaughtered in Madinah. They are sacrificial animals dedicated to the Ka'bah, so they are not like sending one's money to Bosnia or Herzegovina or other places to be sacrificed on his behalf. So I advise our Muslim brothers not to do that, and I advise the students of knowledge as well to clarify this to the general public, because many people think that the purpose of the sacrificial animals is only the meat, and this is an error. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Hajj 22:37].
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ...the relatives.
The Shaykh : How does he give charity?
The questioner : ...meaning he gives charity...
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this, there is nothing wrong with it, meaning if he wants to benefit this entity, he gives them money and keeps the sacrifice for himself in his country. Yes.
The Shaykh : No, I advise against it, and I say that this is an error for a person to appoint someone to sacrifice on his behalf, because this involves several precautions. The first precaution: the ritual of the sacrifice in this country is not completed if we give money to be sacrificed elsewhere.
Second: the purpose of the sacrifice is to worship Allah by slaughtering it, and this is also missed if it is slaughtered in another place, for he does not perform the slaughter himself nor is he present for it.
Third: it involves abandoning what Allah has commanded, which is eating from it. Allah the Exalted said:
So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.
كلوا منها وأطعموا البائس الفقيرand when they are [lifeless] on their sides, then eat from them and feed the needy and the beggar
فإذا وجبت جنوبها فكلوا منها وأطعموا القانع والمعترFourth: we do not know who will undertake the slaughter? It may be undertaken by one who does not know how to slaughter, or one who is not among those qualified to slaughter, or one who is negligent in the slaughter by leaving off the mention of Allah's name, for example, or the like of that.
And the fifth aspect: we also do not know whether it is slaughtered at its proper time, or before the time, or if they are negligent in delaying the slaughter, so these precautions occur, and perhaps others occur as well.
So what I advise my Muslim brothers is not to do that, meaning not to give the Relief Organization or any other entity anything to buy sacrifices in other places and slaughter them. If someone says, "Did not the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) send the sacrificial animals from Madinah to Makkah?" The answer is: Yes, but the sacrificial animals are specific to Makkah; they cannot be slaughtered in Madinah. They are sacrificial animals dedicated to the Ka'bah, so they are not like sending one's money to Bosnia or Herzegovina or other places to be sacrificed on his behalf. So I advise our Muslim brothers not to do that, and I advise the students of knowledge as well to clarify this to the general public, because many people think that the purpose of the sacrificial animals is only the meat, and this is an error. Allah the Exalted said:
Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you
لن ينال الله لحومها ولا دماؤها ولكن يناله التقوى منكمThe questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ...the relatives.
The Shaykh : How does he give charity?
The questioner : ...meaning he gives charity...
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this, there is nothing wrong with it, meaning if he wants to benefit this entity, he gives them money and keeps the sacrifice for himself in his country. Yes.