Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil Kitāb wa Sunnat kī Roshnī meṅ by Shaykh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbānī
How many people can share in the Qurbānī (sacrifice) of a camel?
It is permissible to have seven or even ten shares in the sacrifice of a camel.
Narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما:
“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey when the time for sacrifice came. We shared one camel among ten people and one cow among seven.”
Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Kitāb al-Aḍāḥī, Bāb Mā Yuḥrā ʿanhu al-Baqarah fī al-Aḍāḥī: 1387
Ibn Mājah, Kitāb al-Aḍāḥī, Bāb ʿAn Kam Tuḥrā al-Badnah wal-Baqarah: 3131
ʿAllāmah ʿUbaydullāh al-Mubārakpūrī رحمه الله writes:
“This ḥadīth is a proof that ten people may share in the sacrifice of one camel. This is also the view of Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh and Imām Ibn Khuzaymah — and this is the correct position.”
Mirʿāt al-Mafātīḥ, 5/102
Imām Ibn Khuzaymah رحمه الله stated:
“The ḥadīth of Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj رضي الله عنه regarding the division of war booty — wherein the Prophet ﷺ equated ten sheep with one camel — serves as supporting evidence for the validity of ten shares in camel sacrifice.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah, 3/391, Ḥadīth 2909
The same narration referred to by Imām Ibn Khuzaymah is recorded by:
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ
✦ Question:
How many people can share in the Qurbānī (sacrifice) of a camel?
✦ Answer:
It is permissible to have seven or even ten shares in the sacrifice of a camel.
❖ Evidence from the Ḥadīth:
Narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما:
“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey when the time for sacrifice came. We shared one camel among ten people and one cow among seven.”
Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Kitāb al-Aḍāḥī, Bāb Mā Yuḥrā ʿanhu al-Baqarah fī al-Aḍāḥī: 1387 Ibn Mājah, Kitāb al-Aḍāḥī, Bāb ʿAn Kam Tuḥrā al-Badnah wal-Baqarah: 3131❖ Scholarly Commentary:
ʿAllāmah ʿUbaydullāh al-Mubārakpūrī رحمه الله writes:
“This ḥadīth is a proof that ten people may share in the sacrifice of one camel. This is also the view of Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh and Imām Ibn Khuzaymah — and this is the correct position.”
Mirʿāt al-Mafātīḥ, 5/102Imām Ibn Khuzaymah رحمه الله stated:
“The ḥadīth of Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj رضي الله عنه regarding the division of war booty — wherein the Prophet ﷺ equated ten sheep with one camel — serves as supporting evidence for the validity of ten shares in camel sacrifice.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah, 3/391, Ḥadīth 2909The same narration referred to by Imām Ibn Khuzaymah is recorded by:
- Imām al-Bukhārī in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Sharikah, Bāb: When Ten Sheep Are Considered Equal to One Camel — Ḥadīth 2507
- Imām Muslim in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Aḍāḥī — Ḥadīth 1968
Conclusion:
- It is completely valid in Sharīʿah for ten individuals to jointly offer a camel in Qurbānī.
- It is also acceptable to have seven shares, as per other authentic narrations.
- There is no Sharʿī objection or flaw in ten people sharing a camel for sacrifice.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ
