Muslims enjoined on Eid-el-Adha

The Chief Imam of Nagazi Juma’at Mosque, Okene Kogi State, Ustaz Murtada Muhammad Gusau who stated this, explained that according to the Qur’an 22:37: “It is not the meat or the blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him.”Eid-el-Adha sacrifice is a Sunnah (recommended act) for Muslims who can afford it. Most […]

The Chief Imam of Nagazi Juma’at Mosque, Okene Kogi State, Ustaz Murtada Muhammad Gusau who stated this, explained that according to the Qur’an 22:37: “It is not the meat or the blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him.”
Eid-el-Adha sacrifice is a Sunnah (recommended act) for Muslims who can afford it. Most scholars believe that the Eid sacrifice is better than because of its value in charity.
According to him, livestock animals are to be used for the sacrifice (cows, camels, sheep, and goats). Sheep and goats are the best animals for the sacrifice, followed by camels and cows.
The animal should be in good health and fat enough so that its meat could be eaten and shared to neighbours and others in.
Ustaz Murtada Muhammad said the Eid sacrifice should be more than six months old if it is a sheep as narrated by Ibn Majah in a hadith traceable in ascending order to the Prophet (SAW) as saying: ‘Only a sheep can suffice as Eid sacrifice and it has to be at least six months old and with goat, it should be at least one year old while cow, if chosen should be two years old. The camel should not be less than five years old.’
A sacrificial sheep or animal whose fat tail was completely cut off does not suffice.
The time for the sacrifice is after the Eid prayer and slaughtering it before the prayer does not suffice as the Prophet SAW said: ‘The first (act) with which we start our day (the day of Eid-el-Adha ) is that we offer prayer. We then return and sacrifice the animals and he who does that in fact has adhered to our practice. And he who slaughters the (animal on that day before the Eid prayer), has for him meat for his family, and there is nothing of the sort of sacrifice in it.’
The imam, who enjoined Muslims to offer the sacrifice, lamented that many of them have very expensive GSM handsets but would claim they are not rich enough to buy animal for the sacrifice.