Chapter: The Sunnah of the Udhiyah. And Ibn 'Umar said: It is a Sunnah and a good custom.

The Reciter: Chapter: The Sunnah of the Udhiyah. And Ibn 'Umar said: It is a Sunnah and a good custom.

The Shaykh : The Udahi is the plural of Udhiyah, which is what is slaughtered on the days of the Festival of Sacrifice—O 'Abd Allah al-Sisi—it is slaughtered on the days of the Festival of Sacrifice as an act of drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), whether in Makkah or in other countries. Some scholars said that what is slaughtered in Makkah is Hady and what is slaughtered elsewhere is Udhiyah, but the majority of scholars hold that there is no difference and that Udahi are prescribed in Makkah and elsewhere. The Udahi are a Sunnah by the consensus of the Muslims, and slaughtering them is better than giving their price in charity, even if people are in dire necessity and in straitened circumstances; slaughtering them is still better than giving their price in charity. He errs who says that if people are in dire necessity, the first option is not to slaughter the animals but to give their price in charity, because this contradicts what occurred in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when famine struck the people, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them not to store meat for more than three days and to give it in charity as meat. Those who say that giving the price in charity is better focused on the purely material aspect and did not know what reward there is in drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by slaughtering these Udahi: The act of slaughtering itself is a great act of devotion, paired with prayer in the Noble Qur'an, regardless of the meat. He also errs who says, "Send the value of your Udahi to jihad in Afghanistan," because jihad has its own matters and its own doors, and the Udahi have their own doors. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that the gates of Paradise are eight: this is the gate of charity, this is the gate of fasting, this is the gate of jihad, and so on. So the Udahi are prescribed in the country where you are, and you do not send them elsewhere, because, as I said, jihad has its gate and these have their gate. The scholars differed on whether the Udhiyah is obligatory, such that one who is able and leaves it commits a sin, or whether it is a confirmed Sunnah. The school of Abu Hanifah and a group of scholars, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, hold that it is an obligatory duty (fard) upon one who is able, based on His saying (the Exalted): and His saying: This implies slaughtering, and it is a command. The view that it is obligatory is a very strong view, and that one who is able and leaves it commits a sin. Then, is the Udhiyah for the living or for the dead? The Udhiyah is for the living. It is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he ever slaughtered an Udhiyah on behalf of any of the dead. His uncle Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, his wife Khadijah died, his wife Zaynab bint Khuzaymah died, his children died, and two of his daughters died during his lifetime, and he never slaughtered an Udhiyah on behalf of any of them. I do not know that any of the Companions ever slaughtered an Udhiyah on behalf of any of their deceased. The statement of some scholars that the Udhiyah for the dead is better than for the living because the dead is in need of charity is a weak consideration, because the course of the Udhiyah is not like the course of charity. For this reason, some of the Salaf and some scholars forbade the Udhiyah for the dead absolutely, saying, "One does not slaughter an Udhiyah for the dead at all." No one forbade giving charity on behalf of the dead, because the Sunnah came with that. So we say that the Udhiyah is a Sunnah for the living, on behalf of himself and his family. But if a layperson comes to us—laypeople are like animals, and may be so in meaning—and says, "I must slaughter an Udhiyah for the dead; if I do not slaughter for the dead, I will feel distress in my heart," do we grant him a dispensation or not? We grant him a dispensation, but we direct him to what is better. We say, "If you insist on this, make the Udhiyah on behalf of yourself and your family, the living and the dead, and it will include the dead." Just as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sitting in the roads, they said, "O Messenger of Allah, these are our sitting places, we have no choice but them." He said: So this layperson who comes to us says, "The Udhiyah is among the most important things for me; how can I leave my dead one unremembered on this noble day?" Yes, I say, if you insist on that, make the Udhiyah for yourself and your family, and it will include the living and the dead. The grace of Allah is vast. But if you want to slaughter for the dead only and not for yourself and your family, this is definitely contrary to the Sunnah; there is no doubt that it is contrary to the Sunnah. Good. The Udahi have many rulings, and the author mentioned some of them, which will become clear, if Allah wills.