There are three days for Qurbani
Question:
Respected Hafiz Sahib, my prayer to Allah is that He grants you long life with health and well-being, and may Allah bless your magazine “Al-Hadith” with rapid progress day by day and night by night. Every issue of the respected Al-Sheikh Al-Hadith is a masterpiece of knowledge and research and a cradle of scholarly articles. Respected Al-Sheikh, you have set the annual price of the magazine at 200 rupees. If I could get even one issue for 200 rupees, I am ready to subscribe to it. May Allah accept your efforts (Ameen). But unfortunately, such a research-based magazine does not reach our Ahl-e-Hadith brothers, and they remain unaware of this magazine based on the Quran and Hadith. Besides the Ahl-e-Hadith brothers, this magazine is not reaching all Ahl-e-Hadith scholars in Pakistan; only a few scholars receive it. I request you and all Ahl-e-Hadith brothers to frequently distribute this magazine to Ahl-e-Hadith scholars, and it should also reach Ahl-e-Hadith students studying in madrasas so that a wave of knowledge and research spreads among the younger generation, and by reading this magazine, they turn towards research, acquire the knowledge of Asma al-Rijal (the science of narrators), and serve the Ahl-e-Hadith school of thought well.
Respected Sheikh Sahib! Please publish this letter and my following question in the monthly Al-Hadith. After this necessary preamble, my question to you is: Is sacrificing on the fourth day after Eid established from the Quran and Hadith? I have heard from some scholars that the hadiths about sacrificing on the fourth day are weak, and it is authentically narrated with a sound chain from Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said the sacrifice is for three days. In this regard, in the weekly Ahl-e-Hadith, Fazilat Al-Sheikh Abdul Sattar Hamadullah has proven with evidence that the sacrifice period is four days. His evidences are as follows:
Fazilat Al-Sheikh wrote: “Sacrifice can be done for three days after Eid. Eid is on the tenth (10th) of Dhu al-Hijjah, and the following three days are called the Days of Tashreeq. The Days of Tashreeq have been designated as days of slaughtering. Thus, it is narrated from Hazrat Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: ‘All the Days of Tashreeq are days of slaughtering.’”
Although it is said about this narration that it is munqati‘ (disconnected), Imam Ibn Hibban and Imam Bayhaqi have described it as mursal (connected), and Allama Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) has declared it authentic.
Some jurists have allowed sacrifice only for two days after Eid, their evidence is as follows:
Sacrifice is allowed for two days after the Day of Sacrifice
but this is the opinion of Hazrat Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) or Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) himself, so it cannot be presented against the mursal hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and is therefore not conclusive. Allama Shawkani mentioned five schools of thought regarding this and then wrote his decision in these words: “All the Days of Tashreeq are days of slaughtering, and they are the three days after the Day of Sacrifice.”
It should be noted that sacrificing on the first day is more virtuous because the Prophet (peace be upon him) followed this practice, so sacrifice should not be delayed without reason. Although some believe that delaying is preferable to benefit the poor and needy, this is merely an opinion without any transmitted evidence. Also, if someone wants to sacrifice on the 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, they should do so before sunset because after sunset the next day begins.”
These are the evidences presented by Hafiz Abdul Sattar Hamadullah. Respected Sheikh Sahib, please present the above evidences and any other evidences regarding sacrificing on the fourth day, clarify their chain of narration, and provide the most accurate research on this issue of sacrifice. May Allah reward you with goodness. (Ameen) Please publish this question in Al-Hadith and send the answer in writing along with a reply envelope.
Answer (by Sheikh Zubair Ali Zai, may Allah have mercy on him):
The narration in Musnad Ahmad
is indeed munqati‘ (disconnected).
Sulaiman bin Musa did not meet Sayyidna Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Bayhaqi said about this narration: مرسل meaning it is disconnected.
In the book Al-‘Ilal attributed to Imam Tirmidhi, it is narrated from Imam Bukhari that he said:
سليمان لم يدرك أحدا من أصحاب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم
Sulaiman (bin Musa) did not meet any of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
This is further confirmed by the fact that there is no authentic evidence proving that Sulaiman bin Musa met Sayyidna Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him). The following narration (number 2) also proves that Sulaiman bin Musa did not hear this narration from Sayyidna Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him).
Narration Number 2:
Sahih Ibn Hibban
, Al-Kamil by Ibn Adi
, and Sunan al-Kubra by Al-Bayhaqi
, and Musnad al-Bazzar
, etc., narrate from Sulayman bin Musa from Abdur Rahman bin Abi Hussain from Jubayr bin Mut’im with the chain that وفي كل أيام التشريق ذبح and slaughtering is permitted on all the days of Tashreeq. This narration is weak for two reasons:
➊ Hafiz al-Bazzar said: ”وابن أبى حسين لم يلق جبير بن مطعم“ and (Abdur Rahman) Ibn Abi Hussain did not meet Jubayr bin Mut’im, may Allah be pleased with him.
➋ The authentication of Abdur Rahman bin Abi Hussain is not established except by Ibn Hibban
, therefore this narrator is unknown in status.
Narration Number 3:
Tabarani
, Bazzar
, Bayhaqi
, and Dar Qutni
and others narrated from Suwaid bin Abdul Aziz from Saeed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Tanukhi from Sulaiman bin Musa from Nafi’ bin Jubair bin Mut’im from his father with a marfu’ chain that أيام التشريق كلها ذبح slaughtering is during all the days of Tashreeq.
The primary narrator of this narration, Suwaid bin Abdul Aziz, is weak.
Hafiz Haithami said: “The majority of the Imams have declared him weak.”
Narration Number 4:
In one narration it is mentioned that عن سليمان بن موسيٰ أن عمرو بن دينار حدثه عن جبير بن مطعم أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: كل أيام التشريق ذبح
This narration is rejected for two reasons:
➊ Its narrator Ahmad bin Isa Al-Khashab is severely criticized.
The meeting of Amr bin Dinar with Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him) is not established.
Note: In one narration الوليد بن مسلم عن حفص بن غيلان عن سليمان بن موسيٰ عن محمد بن المنكدر عن جبير بن مطعم كي سند سے آيا هے كه عرفات موقف وادفعوا من عرفة والمزدلفة موقف وادفعوا عن محسر
The chain of this narration is weak due to the tadlees (concealment) of Waleed bin Muslim, and it does not mention slaughtering during the days of Tashreeq.
Summary of Research:
The narration regarding slaughtering during the days of Tashreeq is weak with all its chains of transmission; therefore, it is incorrect to classify it as authentic or good.
Effects on the Companions:
After the weakness of the Marfu’ narration, the research on the Athar of the Sahabah is as follows:
➊ Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar رضي الله عنهما said: “Al-Adha is two days after the day of Al-Adha.” There is sacrifice for two more days after the day of sacrifice.
➋ Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنهما said: ”النحر يومان بعد يوم النحر و أفضلها يوم النحر“ There is sacrifice for two days after the day of sacrifice, and the best sacrifice is on the day of Nahr (the first day).
➌ Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنه said: ”الأضحى يومان بعده“ There is sacrifice for two days after the day of sacrifice (the first day).
➍ Sayyiduna Ali رضي الله عنه said: ”النحر ثلاثة أيام“ There are three days of sacrifice.
Note: In Ahkam al-Quran it is ”حماد بن سلمة بن كهيل عن حجية عن علي“ while the correct is ”حماد عن سلمة بن كهيل عن حجية عن علي“ as is evident from the books of Asma al-Rijal, and Hammad refers to Hammad bin Salamah. Alhamdulillah.
In contrast, some other Athar are as follows:
➊ Hasan Basri رحمه الله عليه said: There is sacrifice for three days after the day of Eid al-Adha.
➋ Ata bin Abi Rabah رحمه الله عليه said: Sacrifice is until the end of the days of Tashreeq.
➌ Umar bin Abdul Aziz رحمه الله عليه said: ”الأضحى يوم النحر و ثلاثة أيام بعده“ Sacrifice is on the day of Eid and the three days after it.
Imam Shafi’i and the general scholars of Ahl al-Hadith have the same ruling that the sacrifice period is four days. Some scholars also argue from a narration attributed to Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut’im رضي الله عنه in this regard, but this narration is weak as has been detailed on previous pages.
There is a narration from Sayyiduna Abu Imamah bin Suhail bin Hunayf رضي الله عنه that Muslims buy their sacrifices, then fatten them openly, and then slaughter them on the last day of Dhu al-Hijjah after Eid al-Adha.
Among all these Athar, the statement of Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib رضي الله عنه and others is stronger that the sacrifice period is three days, i.e., Eid al-Adha and the two days following it.
Ibn Hazm narrated from Ibn Abi Shaybah that:
نا زيد بن الحباب عن معاويه بن صالح: حدثني أبو مريم: سمعت أبا هريره يقول: ”الأضحى ثلاثة أيام“
Meaning Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said that the sacrifice period is three days.
The chain of this narration is Hasan but the author Ibn Abi Shaybah (printed) does not contain this narration. And Allah knows best.
Benefit:
The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم initially forbade keeping the meat of sacrifice for more than three days, but later this ruling was abrogated. This prohibition is evidence that the view of three days for sacrifice is the stronger one.
The summary of all this research is that nothing is explicitly established from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم on this matter, and there is difference in the Athar, but the statement of Sayyiduna Ali رضي الله عنه and the majority of the Sahabah is that the sacrifice period is three days (Eid al-Adha and the two days after). This is the prevalent view in our research and Imam Malik and others also preferred this. And Allah knows best.
