Source: Aḥkām wa Masā’il: In Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah by Shaykh Mubashshir Ahmad Rabbānī
❖ Question:
Is there any authentic ḥadīth that proves facing the Qiblah and reciting the supplication “Inni wajjahtu wajhiya…” when sacrificing an animal?
✿ Answer:
Yes, there is an authentic ḥadīth that proves it is Sunnah to:
- Lay the animal facing the Qiblah, and
- Recite the following supplication before sacrificing:
◈ Hadith Evidence
❖ Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh رضي الله عنهما narrated:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sacrificed two rams on the day of ʿEid. As he directed them toward the Qiblah, he said:
إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَبِذَٰلِكَ أُمِرْتُ، وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللَّهُمَّ مِنْكَ وَلَكَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ وَأُمَّتِهِ.”
“Indeed, I have turned my face toward the One who created the heavens and the earth, being ever-inclined and in submission, and I am not of the polytheists. Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. With this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims. In the Name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. O Allah! This is from You and for You, on behalf of Muhammad ﷺ and his Ummah.”
📚 Abū Dāwūd – Kitāb al-Ḍaḥāyā, ḥadīth: 2795
📚 Musnad Aḥmad: 3/370, ḥadīth: 10086
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 4/287, ḥadīth: 2899
📚 Mustadrak al-Ḥākim: 1/468, ḥadīth: 1716
📚 Sunan Ibn Mājah: ḥadīth: 3121
◈ Hadith Grading & Authenticity
✦ Though Shaykh al-Albānī initially graded this ḥadīth as ḍaʿīf (weak), he later declared it ḥasan (sound) in Hidāyat al-Ruwāt: 2/128.
✦ Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, one of the narrators, explicitly mentioned hearing this narration from his teacher, confirming its connected chain (ṣarīḥ al-samāʿ) — as seen in Musnad Aḥmad and other sources.
✦ The narrator Abū ʿAyyāsh al-Muʿāfirī al-Miṣrī is reported by a group of trustworthy scholars, such as Khālid ibn Abī ʿImrān and Bakr ibn Sawādah, among others.
✦ Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Ḥākim, and al-Dhahabī graded this ḥadīth as authentic (ṣaḥīḥ).
✦ Khālid ibn Abī ʿImrān is among the narrators of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (see Muslim: 1591/90), and is regarded as thiqah (trustworthy), ṣadūq (truthful), and a faqīh (jurist).
✦ The researchers of Musnad Aḥmad have also classified this narration as ḥasan.
✅ Conclusion
✔ It is Sunnah to lay the sacrificial animal facing the Qiblah and to recite the supplication:
“Inni wajjahtu wajhiya…”
(i.e., the verses from Surah al-Anʿām: 79–82)
✔ This practice is proven through an authentic hadith narrated by Jābir رضي الله عنه, and approved by major ḥadīth scholars.
✔ Therefore, this supplication and direction should be observed during Qurbānī for its spiritual and prophetic significance.
