1.  Its definition: The sacrifices are the sheep (camels and cows) that are slaughtered on the day of Al- Adha Eid and the days of Al-Tashreeq, approaching Allah, the Exalted.  

2.  Its legality: The sacrifice is an obligatory tradition on the family of every Muslim house whose people are able to do it.  And that is to His saying, the Exalted: “ Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and sacrifice” (108:2).  And the saying of the Prophet (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him): “That who was to slaughter before the prayer let him repeat”. And the saying of Abu Aiyyub Al-Ansari: “ The man used to sacrifice one sheep on his behalf and on behalf of the family of his house, during the days of the Messenger of Allah”.(According to many scholars the sacrifice is optional ).  

3.   Its excellence: It is witnessed to the tradition of the sacrifice to be of  great excellence, because of  the saying of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him):  “The son of Adam had never done a deed on the Day of Immolation more beloved to Allah than shedding the blood( of a sacrifice).  Sacrifice will come on the Day of Judgement with its horns , nails and  hair .Its  blood will fall in a place by Allah (The Exalted and Mighty) before it falls on the ground, so make the soul agreeable with it”.  And his saying (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him)-when they had said to him: “what are the sacrifices?”- “It is the tradition of your father Ibrahim.”  They said: “Then the wool?” He said: “In every hair of the wool there is a virtue.”  

 4.     Its wisdom:  

One-  The intimacy of Allah, the Exalted, with it. That He, Glory be to Him, said: “Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and sacrifice.”(108:2)  And He said (The Exalted and Mighty): “Say:Truly my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds: No partner hath He.”  (6: 162-163).  And the sacrifice is the slaughtering in intimacy to Him, Glory be to Him.  

Two-      The reviving of the tradition of one of the monotheists, Ibrahim, the Comrade, peace be on him.  That Allah had revealed to him to slaughter his son Ismail.  Then Allah ransomed him with a ram, so he slaughtered it instead of him.  He, the Exalted said:  “And we ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice”. (37:107)

Three-   Feeding one’s family and relatives  on the day of Eid, and spreading mercy among the poor and the wretched.  

Four-   The thankfulness to Allah, the Exalted, for subjecting the livestock to us.  He, the Exalted said: “Eat thereof, and feed the beggar who does not ask (men) , and the beggar who asks (men) . Thus We made them subject to you that you may be grateful. It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah , but it is piety from you that reaches Him . Thus have We made them subject to you that you may magnify Allah for His Guidance to you . And give glad tidings to the doers of good.” (22: 36-37).  

Five-      Its rulings:  

1- Its age: The sacrifice of the sheep should not be other than a ewe, which has completed a year, or about it. A goat should have completed one year and entered in the second year. The camels should have completed four years and entered in the fifth. The cows should have  completed  two years and entered in the third year.  As to the Prophet’s saying:  “ Do not slaughter but an old (sacrifice), If it is difficult to find it, then you may slaughter a six month old ewe.” (narrated by Muslim)  

2-    Its safety: It is not sufficient to sacrifice but the healthy ( the devoid of defects ). The one-eyed , the limped or that the horn of which is broken in its origin is not sufficient.  Neither  the sick nor the slim that has no flesh are sufficient, either. That is for his saying (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him): “The sacrifice of these four is not permissible: the one-eyed whose defect is obvious,  the sick whose sickness is clear, the limped whose limping is apparent and the weak that has no flesh”.

3-   The best of it: The best of the sacrifices is that which is a white male, horned ram which  has blackness mixing around its eyes and legs.  That is the description which the Messenger of Allah (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) liked most, and he sacrificed with.  Aa`isha (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Noble Prophet (may blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) had scarificed a horned ram, trampling in blackness, walking in blackness, and looking in blackness”.

4-  The time of its slaughtering: The time of slaughtering the sacrifices is in the morning of the Eid day after the  Eid prayer.  It is not legal to do it before Eid prayer.  As to his saying (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him):  “ That who slaughters before the prayer, then he is slaughtering for himself, and that who slaughters after the prayer then his sacrifice is complete, and has attained the tradition of the Muslims”.  But after the Eid day,  it is  permissible to delay it to the second day or the third day. That is for what was narrated: “All the days of At-Tashriq are days of slaughtering.”  

5-   What is desirable at the slaughtering: It is preferable to turn the sacrifice towards the Qibla and to say: “ I turn my face towards Him Who originated the heavens and the earth, as a truthful Muslim, and I am not of the atheists. My prayer and sacrifice , my living and my death are to Allah the Lord of the worlds.  He has no partner.  With this I have been commanded and I am the first of the Muslims”. When one commences slaughtering he has to say:  “ In the Name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest, Our Lord, it is from You and to You”.

6-   The validity of the entrustment in it: It is desirable for the Muslim to  slaughter his sacrifice himself, and if he emtrusts any one on his behalf, it is permissible.  There is no dispute in this among scholars.

7-    The desirable distribution: It is desirable that the sacrifice be divided into there: His family eat one third, and they give in charity one third, and they give the remaining one third to their friends.  That is for his saying (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him):  “ Eat and save, and give in charity”.  And it is permissible to give it all in charity, as it is permissible to save a part of it. 

The wage for its butcher from other than it:

The butcher should not be given the wage for his doing from the sacrifice.  As to the saying of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him):  “The Messenger of Allah (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) had ordered me to stand at his camels: And to give in charity its meat and skin and saddles, and not to give the butcher anything of it.  And he said: “We give him from what we have”.

9-   Is the sheep sufficient for the household? The one sheep is sufficient for the household as a whole, even though they are many.  According to Abu Aiyyub (May Allah be pleased with him): “ The man used during the days of the Messenger of Allah to sacrifice the sheep on his behalf and on behalf of his household”.  

10-    What one should avoid  until he fulfils his sacrifice: It is enormously detested for that who wanted to sacrifice to cut  hair or any of his nails  if the crescent of Thul-Hijja begins, until he sacrifices.  According to the Noble Prophet (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him):  “ If you see the crescent of Thul-Hijja and any one of you wants to sacrifice, let him hold from cutting his hair and his nails until he sacrifices”.  

11-    The sacrifice of the Messenger (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) on behalf of all the Muslim nation: A Muslim who is incapable of offering the sacrifice, gets the reward of those who sacrifice.  That is because the Noble Prophet (may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) ,when he slaughtered one of his two rams, said: “ Our Lord, this is on my behalf and on behalf of that who did not offer a sacrifice of my nation”.

From:The Methodology of the Muslim
By     : Abu Bakr Al-Jazairi