This excerpt is taken from the book Ahkām wa Masā’il: Kitāb wa Sunnat kī Roshnī Mein by Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbānī.
❖ Question:
What is the best utilization of the hides (skins) of the sacrificial animals?
❖ Answer:
Sayyidunā ʿAlī bin Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه narrated:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded me to oversee his sacrificial animals and instructed me to distribute their meat, skins, and coverings in charity, and not to give anything to the butcher as payment.”
Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه said:
“We used to pay the butcher his wages from our own pockets.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Ḥajj, Bāb: Lā Yuʿṭā al-Jazzār min al-Hadī Shay’an – 1716, 1717]
In Musnad Aḥmad (15/4, Ḥadīth: 1631), Sayyidunā Qatādah bin Nuʿmān رضي الله عنه narrates that:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: I had previously forbidden you from eating the meat of sacrificial animals beyond three days, but now you may eat from them, give in charity, and benefit from their skins — but do not sell them.”
✅ Conclusion:
Hence, the hides of the sacrificial animals should be used for charitable causes, such as:
◈ ❖ Given in charity and donations
◈ ❖ Utilized for the benefit of students of knowledge
◈ ❖ Used to support Mujāhidīn (those striving in the path of Allah)
◈ ❖ Should not be sold or used as compensation (e.g., paying the butcher)
