This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Farooq Rafi Sahib's book Qurbani, Aqiqah, and Ashra Zil-Hijjah.
The sacrifice of a pregnant animal is permissible, and the fetus in its womb is halal. The evidence for this is the following hadith.
Sayyiduna Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we asked: O Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him!
تنحر الناقة ونذبح البقرة والشاة فنجد فى بطنها الجنين، أنلقيه أم نأكله؟ قال: كلوه إن شئتم فإن ذكاته ذكاة أمه
“We slaughter a she-camel and slaughter cows and goats, and sometimes we find a fetus in its womb. Should we throw it away or eat it?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “If you wish, then eat it, because slaughtering it is the same as slaughtering its mother.”
Reference: Hasan Lishawahidah: Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Sacrifices, Chapter on the Zakat of the Fetus: 2827 This narration is weak because Mujalid bin Saeed is a weak narrator. However, it is narrated with a Hasan chain in Musnad Ahmad, 39/3, and Sahih Ibn Hibban: 5889. Therefore, this hadith is evidence that slaughtering a pregnant animal and sacrificing it is permissible, and eating the fetus in its womb is halal.
Fatwa of Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh:
Question: Is the sacrifice of a pregnant goat valid?
Answer: The sacrifice of a pregnant goat is permissible, just as the sacrifice of a non-pregnant one is valid. Provided it is free from defects, which are required for the purity of sacrificial animals.
Reference: Fatawa wa Rasa'il Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh: 127/6
Benefits:
① If the fetus in the womb of a pregnant animal is found dead after the animal is slaughtered, it is unanimously halal. But if the fetus is alive after the slaughter of the pregnant animal, it must be slaughtered because it is a separate independent soul that must be slaughtered to be eaten.
Shams al-Haq Azimabadi, may Allah have mercy on him, states:
فإن ذكاته ذكاة أمه
"Slaughtering the fetus in the womb of a pregnant animal is the slaughtering of its mother."
This means that slaughtering the pregnant animal is sufficient for slaughtering its fetus. If after slaughtering the pregnant animal, the fetus in the womb is found dead, it is unanimously halal. But if it comes out alive from the womb, it will not be halal by the slaughtering of the pregnant animal alone. This is also the view of Nawawi, Shafi'i, Hasan bin Ziyad, and the followers of Abu Hanifa (Abu Yusuf and Muhammad). Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, also holds this position provided that hair has grown on the fetus's body. However, Imam Abu Hanifa's view is that a fetus coming out dead from the womb of a pregnant animal is haram, and slaughtering its mother is insufficient for it to become halal.
Khitabi says: "This hadith is evidence that it is permissible to eat the fetus of a slaughtered animal provided its mother has been slaughtered, even if the fetus itself is not slaughtered again."
Reference: ‘Awn al-Ma‘bud: 34/8 to 35
② Ibn Qudamah Hanbali, may Allah have mercy on him, says: "Slaughtering the pregnant animal is sufficient for the fetus to become halal whether it has hair or not, meaning if the fetus of the slaughtered animal comes out dead from the mother’s womb, or is found dead in the womb of the slaughtered animal, or after coming out moves like the slaughtered animal, then that fetus is halal."
Reference: Al-Mughni with Al-Sharh Al-Kabir: 54/11
③ If the fetus in the womb of the slaughtered animal comes out alive and it is possible to slaughter it but it is not slaughtered and dies without slaughter, then it is not halal. Ahmad bin Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, says:
إن خرج حيا فلا بد من ذكاته لأنه نفس أخرى
"If the fetus in the womb of the slaughtered animal comes out alive, it must be slaughtered because it is another life."
Reference: Al-Mughni with Al-Sharh Al-Kabir: 54/11
