❖ Duration of Udhiyyah: Qurbani is Permissible from 10th to 13th Dhul-Hijjah
Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 617
❖ Question:
For how many days is Qurbani (Udhiyyah) allowed?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
◈ The Days of Sacrifice (Ayyām al-Nahr):
The days of Qurbani are four:
① 10th, ② 11th, ③ 12th, and ④ 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.
This is established based on Qur'anic verses and Prophetic traditions, in which the terms “Ayyām Maʿlūmāt” and “Ayyām Maʿdūdāt” are mentioned.
❖ Tafsir of Ayyām Maʿdūdāt
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه said:
قال ابن عباس:
الأيام المعدودات أيام التشريق أربعة أيام: يوم النحر وثلاثة بعده
وروي عن ابن عمر، وابن الزبير، وأبي موسى مثل ذلك
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, Vol. 1, p. 245; New Edition p. 263)
Translation:
“The Ayyām Maʿdūdāt (numbered days) are the Days of Tashrīq – the Day of Sacrifice (10th Dhul-Hijjah) and the three days that follow (11th, 12th, and 13th).” This is also narrated from Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn al-Zubayr, and Abū Mūsā رضي الله عنهم.
❖ Qur'anic Evidence
﴿وَيَذكُرُوا اسمَ اللَّهِ فى أَيّامٍ مَعلُومَاتٍ عَلىٰ ما رَزَقَهُم مِن بَهيمَةِ الأَنعامِ فَكُلوا مِنها وَأَطعِمُوا البائِسَ الفَقيرَ﴾
(Surah al-Ḥajj: 28)
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه interpreted this verse:
عن ابن عباس:
الأيام المعلومات يوم النحر وثلاثة أيام بعده
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, Vol. 3, p. 217; New Edition p. 240)
Translation:
“The known days (Ayyām Maʿlūmāt) refer to the Day of Sacrifice and the three days after it.”
This interpretation is also supported by Ibn ʿUmar, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, and one opinion from Imām Aḥmad رحمه الله.
❖ Scholarly Consensus
شرح المهذب:
اتفق العلماء أن الأيام المعدودات هي أيام التشريق، وهي ثلاثة بعد يوم النحر
(Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab, Vol. 9, p. 381; Hidāyah Akhirīn, p. 446)
Translation:
“There is consensus among scholars that the ‘Ayyām Maʿdūdāt’ refers to the Days of Tashrīq, which are the three days following the Day of Sacrifice.”
❖ Evidences from Hadith
Multiple Marfūʿ and Mawqūf narrations prove that Qurbani is allowed on all four days of Tashrīq.
➊ Narration of Jubayr bin Muṭʿim رضي الله عنه:
قال رسول الله ﷺ:
كل فجاج منى منحر، وكل أيام التشريق ذبح
(Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ; Mawārid al-Ẓamān, p. 249)
Translation:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Every pathway of Mina is a place of slaughter, and all Days of Tashrīq are days of sacrifice.”
➋ Another narration from Jubayr رضي الله عنه:
عن سليمان بن موسى عن نافع بن جبير عن أبيه:
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: أيام التشريق كلها ذبح
(Al-Taʿlīq al-Mughni ʿala al-Dāraqutnī, Vol. 4, p. 284)
Translation:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: All the Days of Tashrīq are days of sacrifice.”
❖ Response to an Objection
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله stated that this narration is Munqaṭiʿ (disconnected), but:
✿ Imām al-Bayhaqī did not mention any disconnection in Maʿrifat al-Sunan
✿ Imām al-Dāraqutnī narrated it with a connected chain, and the narrators are trustworthy (Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 10, p. 6)
✿ Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله wrote that Ibn Ḥibbān’s inclusion of it in his Ṣaḥīḥ removes the objection of disconnection (Nayl al-Awṭār, Vol. 5, p. 142)
✿ Ibn al-Qayyim himself mentioned various chains and authenticated some of them
❖ Summary of Aḥādīth
✿ The narration in Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān is Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic)
✿ Though some other narrations are weak, their multiple chains strengthen the collective report
✿ This view is supported by Imām Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī and Imām al-Shawkānī
الحاصل أن للحديث طرقاً يقوي بعضها بعضاً، فهو حسن يحتج به
(Mirʿāt al-Mafātīḥ, Vol. 3, p. 264; Nayl al-Awṭār, Vol. 5, p. 142)
❖ Sayings of the Salaf and Imams
The following supported the view that all four days are days of sacrifice:
✔ Companions: ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, Jubayr bin Muṭʿim رضي الله عنهم
✔ Tābiʿīn: ʿAṭā’, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Sulaymān bin Mūsā, ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Makḥūl, Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī
✔ Imams: al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (in one narration), Ibn Taymiyyah
❖ Verdict of Imām Ibn Taymiyyah
آخر وقت ذبح الأضحية آخر أيام التشريق، وهو مذهب الشافعي، وأحد قولي أحمد
(Ikhtiyārāt Ibn Taymiyyah; cited in Al-Iʿtiṣām, 28 Feb 1969)
Translation:
“The final time for slaughtering the sacrifice is the last Day of Tashrīq (13th Dhul-Hijjah). This is the view of Imām al-Shāfiʿī and one narration from Imām Aḥmad.”
❖ Opinion of Imām Ibn Kathīr
الراجح في ذلك مذهب الشافعي، وهو أن وقت الأضحية من يوم النحر إلى آخر أيام التشريق
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, Vol. 1, p. 245; Vol. 3, p. 223)
Translation:
“The stronger opinion is that of Imām al-Shāfiʿī: the time for Udhiyyah is from the 10th until the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.”
❖ Refutation of the Claim of Consensus (Ijmāʿ)
Some have claimed that Qurbani is only valid until the 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, and that there is consensus on this. However, this claim is incorrect.
Numerous senior scholars, including:
✔ ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, Jubayr bin Muṭʿim رضي الله عنهم
✔ Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad (in one opinion), Imām al-Awzāʿī, and others
…affirm that Qurbani extends to the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah. Thus, the claim of consensus is unfounded.
Final Summary
❖ The days for Udhiyyah are four:
10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.
❖ Sacrificing on any of these days is valid and permissible.
❖ After the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah, Qurbani is no longer allowed.
❖ No authentic marfūʿ ḥadīth restricts the sacrifice to only up to the 12th.
هذا ما عندي، والله تعالى أعلم بالصواب
