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The Animals of Qurbani...
The following animals can be slaughtered to
offer a Qurbani:
Goat, either male or female, of at least
one year of age.
Sheep, either male or female, of at least six months of
age.
Cow, Ox or buffalo of at least two years of age.
Camel, male or female, of at least five years of age.
One head of goat or sheep is enough only for one person's
Qurbani. But as for all other animals like cow, buffalo or
camel, one head of each is equal to seven offerings thus
allowing seven persons to offer Qurbani jointly in one such
animal.
If the seller of an animal claims that the
animal is of the recognized age and there is no apparent
evidence to the contrary, one can trust his statement and
the sacrifice of such an animal is lawful.
Rules about Defective Animals...
The following defective animals are not
acceptable in Qurbani:
Blind, one eyed or lame animal.
An animal so emaciated that it cannot walk to its slaughtering
place.
An animal with one-third part of the ear or the nose or the
tail missing.
An animal that has no teeth at all, or the major number of its
teeth are missing.
An animal born without ears.
The following animals are acceptable in Qurbani:
A castrated he goat. (Rather, its Qurbani
is more preferable).
An animal that has no horns, or its horns are broken. However,
if the horns of an animal are uprooted totally so as to create
a defect in the brain, its Qurbani is not lawful.
An animal the missing part of whose ear, nose or tail is less
than one third.
A sick or injured animal, unless it has some above mentioned
defects rendering its Qurbani unlawful.
The Sunnah Method of Qurbani...
It is more preferable for a Muslim to
slaughter the animal of his Qurbani with his own hands.
However, if he is unable to slaughter the animal himself,
or does not want to do so for some reason, he can request
another person to slaughter it on his behalf. In this
case also, it is more preferable that he, at least, be
present at the time of slaughter. However, his absence at
the time of slaughter does not render the Qurbani
invalid, if he has authorised the person who slaughtered
the animal on his behalf.
It is a Sunnah to lay the animal with its
face towards the Qiblah, and to recite the following
verse of the Holy Quran: "I being upright, turn my face
towards the One who has created the heavens and the
earth, and I am not among those who associate partners
with Allah." - (6:79)
But the most essential recitation when
slaughtering an animal is:"BISMILLAHI ALLAHU AKBAR". ("In
the name of Allah, Allah is great"). If somebody
intentionally avoids to recite it when sla ghtering an
animal, it does not only make his Qurbani unlawful, but
also renders the animal haram, and it is not permissible
to eat the meat of that animal. However, if a person did
not avoid this recitation intentionally, but he forgot to
recite it when slaughtering the animal, this mistake is
forgiven and both the Qurbani and the slaughter are
lawful,
If Somebody is unable to recite "BISMILLAHI
ALLAHU AKBAR" in the Arabic language, he can recite the
name of Allah in his own language by saying, "In the name
of Allah Allah is great".
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