Praise
be to Allah
It is
permissible for the Muslim to appoint another Muslim to slaughter the
udhiyah on his behalf.
It says in
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah (5/105-106):
The fuqaha’ are
agreed that it is valid to appoint someone else to slaughter the udhiyah on
one’s behalf, if the person appointed is a Muslim.
But it is best
for him to slaughter it himself, except in cases of necessity.
The majority are
of the view that the udhiyah is valid, even though it is makrooh (disliked),
if the one who is appointed to slaughter it is a kitaabi (one of the People
of the Book, i.e., a Jew or Christian), because they are people whose meat
it is permissible to eat. End quote.
For more information, see the
answer to question no.
175475.
It is proven
that there is a specific time for slaughtering the udhiyah, and it cannot be
offered at any other time. That time begins after the Eid prayer, so whoever
slaughters his udhiyah before that, it is not valid as an udhiyah.
It was narrated
that al-Baraa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: The first thing with which we begin on
this day of ours is the prayer; we pray then we go back and offer the
udhiyah. Whoever does that has acted in accordance with our Sunnah, and
whoever has already slaughtered (the sacrificial animal), that is just meat
that he has given to his family, and there is nothing of the udhiyah in it.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5545) and Muslim (1961).
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The scholars are
unanimously agreed that the udhiyah is to be done at a specific time…
They are
unanimously agreed that the slaughtering of the udhiyah, for those who are
not travelling, is not valid if done before the prayer, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever slaughters (the
sacrificial animal) before the prayer, that is just a sheep for meat.” End
quote from al-Istidhkaar (15/148).
If there is a
difference in time between the countries of the one who was appointed to
slaughter the udhiyah and the one who appointed him, then what counts is the
country where the one who was appointed is.
The Permanent
Committee for Scholarly Research was asked:
Someone has come
to us with a question in which he says: a relative of his is staying in the
USA for medical treatment, and he has appointed him to buy and slaughter his
udhiyah here in Saudi Arabia. He is asking: is it permissible for him to
slaughter this udhiyah with his own udhiyah after offering the Eid prayer,
and before the time for the Eid prayer begins for his relative in the United
States, based on the hadith in which the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said, “The fast is the day when you [Muslims] fast, the
breaking of the fast is the day when you break the fast, and the sacrifice
the day when you offer the sacrifice”? If he did that, what must he do now?
They replied: It
is permissible for the one who was appointed to offer the udhiyah to
slaughter the udhiyah of the one who appointed him after the (time of) Eid
prayer for the one who was appointed to do that, not of the one who
appointed him, because the one who was appointed is acting in the stead of
the one who appointed him.
It does not
matter if the udhiyah is slaughtered before the time of udhiyah begins in
the country where the one who appointed him is staying.
And Allah is the
source of strength. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet
Muhammad and his family and companions.
Permanent
Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta.
Saalih ibn
Fawzaan al-Fawzaan, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Ghadyaan, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez
ibn ‘Abdillah ibn Muhammad Aal ash-Shaykh, ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Mutlaq,
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ali ar-Rukbaan, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali Siyar al-Mubaaraki. End quote.
http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/Fatwaprint.aspx?languagename=arid=15112BookID=3sectionid
If he delays it
until the time of Eid prayer begins in the country where the one who
appointed him is staying, that is fine, because the time for offering the
udhiyah lasts until the end of the days of at-tashreeq (11th, 12th
and 13th of Dhu’l-Hijjah).
And Allah knows
best.