Sacrifice at the Musalla

With Eid soon approaching insha'Allah, I am re-posting more notes from Lesson 124 which are relevant to Dhul Hijjah. The following notes are related to the practice of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) of slaughtering animals at the musalla (place of Eid salah).

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Chapter 9: Chapter of Slaughtering of camels and other animals


Narrated Ibn Umar (رضى الله عنه)): The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to Nahr or Dhabh at the Musalla (on 'Id-ul-Adha) [Hadeeth 536, al Tajrid al Sarih]


Traditionally camels and other animals were slaughtered in the musalla (musalla simply means a place of prayer. It is a large open area reserved for Eid salah and other similar functions) and not at home or other locations.

An-Nahr refers to the slaughter of all animals other than camels for which the term Adh-Dhabh is used.

A person may ask why animals were slaughtered at the musalla and not at home. The reason for this is because the slaughter of animals is one of the traditions of Islam. The day of Eid is the day of sacrifice. We as Muslims should not have any reservations about the slaughter and nor be embarrassed or ashamed of this practice. It is narrated that Abdullah ibn Umar (رضى الله عنه) would purchase animals to slaughter and would openly ask his attendant to tell people that it was the animal of Abdullah ibn Umar (رضى الله عنه) which would be slaughtered. Once Abdullah ibn Umar (رضى الله عنه) was ill and he could not go for Eid salah. However, he still asked someone to slaughter his animal in the musalla (not at home). This incident shows how much importance the sahabah attached to the slaughter being conducted in public.

The important lesson drawn from this hadeeth is that the ulema all agree that the alternative is still permissible despite the clear hadeeth and actions of the sahabah i.e. the sahabah would diligently slaughter in the musalla but this is not the current practice. This is similar to the hadeeth covered in Lesson 123 with regard to the use of a minbar for the Eid khutbah (despite the hadeeth clearly stating that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would not use a minbar). In both cases, the ulema have ruled unanimously that we should accept the alternatives as being acceptable.