The Conditions of Udhiyyah : Sheikh Saleh Al Uthaimeen

There are six conditions that a sacrificial offering (udhiyyah) must meet:

The First Condition: The sacrificial offering must be an animal from among cattle, which include camels and cows, or smaller livestock such as sheep and goats. This is based on Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى’s statement:

وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنسَكًا لِيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ عَلَى مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّن بَهِيمَةِ الْأَنْعَامِ فَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَلَهُ أَسْلِمُوا وَبَشِّرِ الْمُخْبِتِينَ
“And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies that they may mention the Name of Allaah over the beasts of cattle that He has given them for food.”
[Surah Al-Hajj 22:34]

The term “beasts of cattle” refers to camels, cows, sheep and goats. This definition is well known amongst the Arabs as stated by Al-Hasan, Qataadah, and others.

The Second Condition: It must have reached the required age that is in accordance with the religious standards such as six-months for sheep and one-year and up for everything else. The Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said:

“Do not slaughter any animal except for one that is mature in age unless that is difficult for you, in which case you may slaughter a premature one from among sheep.”
[Reported by Muslim] [1]

Shaikh Fawzan (hafidahullah) on frauds who pretend to have Islamic knowledge

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The great scholar, Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan (may Allaah preserve him), was asked:

What is “ta’aalum”? And what is your advice to the youth who face trials due to people engaged in ta’aalum?

He replied:

Ta’aalum is to feign knowledge. Feigning knowledge. It is when a person claims knowledge, while he is not knowledgeable in reality. He has not taken any knowledge directly from the scholars. Rather, he merely learned some things from books, solely from reading. He lacks sound fundamentals to build upon; he just reads things in books and proceeds according to his own understanding, likely erring more than being correct. This is a person of ta’aalum. He is a danger to himself (firstly) and to everyone (at large), since he plays games with the religion of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

Significance & Virtues of the Day of Arafah

Fasting on the day of Arafah is an expiation for TWO years:

The ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah is the day of ’Arafah, since it is on this day that the pilgrims gather at the mountain plain of ’Arafah, praying and supplicating to their Lord. It is mustahabb (highly recommended) for those who are not pilgrims to fast on this day, since the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم was asked about fasting on the day of ’Arafah, so he said,

“It expiates the sins (Minor) of the past year and the coming year.”
[Muslim (no. 1162)]

Imaam at-Tirmidhee رحمه الله said,
“The People of Knowledge consider it recommended to fast on the day of ’Arafah, except for those at ’Arafah.”
[Muslim (no. 1348)]

Ten Points for the First Ten days of Dhul-Hijjah

 1. The first ten days are actually nine days with the addition of the day of Eid. It is called the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, but only nine of it is for fasting as the tenth day is the beginning of Eid. It is impermissible to fast on the day of Eid, this is a consensus amongst the people of knowledge.

2. It is permissible to fast the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah with the last day being the day of Arafah for those not doing Hajj. The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said in a hadith narrated by ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما (in at-Tirimidhi):

“There are not any days that good deeds are more beloved to Allaah than those done in these ten days.”

3. In these days, it is recommended that there is a lot of remembrance of Allaah سبحان و تعالى – this is for all of the ten days.

4. In these days, it is recommended that one makes takbir of Allaah (saying Allaahu akbar) – this is for all of the ten days.

Shaikh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen and the Russian Pilgrims

“This incident was mentioned by one of the members of the Da‘wah and Guidance Office in Jeddah. During Hajj in the year 1417AH/1996CE he was with Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen at King ‘Abdul-‘Aziz Airport in Jeddah. The Shaykh would stand amongst the pilgrims arriving for Hajj carrying out his obligation of da‘wah and teaching. He was then surprised by the arrival of some pilgrims who had come from one of the Soviet Republics, so the Shaykh wanted to speak to them and asked whether they had a translator. The group guide who was a Russian came forward but he did not know that the Shaykh [standing before him] was Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen.

Once he had finished translating, the guide asked, ‘Who is this Shaykh?’ ‘That is Ibn ‘Uthaymeen,’ he was told. [Upon hearing that] he hugged the Shaykh, kissing him and crying. And then he took the microphone and told the entire group of pilgrims that this is Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen, and so tears started flowing from them all, and the guide kept calling out with the mic at the top of his voice, repeating the name of Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen. And the individuals in the group started to give salaam to the Shaykh and kiss him [on his forehead].

The guide [then] said to the Shaykh,

‘These are your students. They used to read your books in the cellars underground during Communist rule.’

From: Al-Jaami’ li-Hayaatil-‘Allaamah Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, p. 38.

Plunging into disputes between the Scholars – Shaykh Al-Fawzaan

Shaykh Al-Fawzaan (hafidahullah) said, “I advice all my brothers, especially the youth upon the sunnah and the students of knowledge upon the sunnah to busy themselves in seeking the correct knowledge, whether it be in mosques, islamic schools, islamic institutions or islamic universities.

Plus busy themselves in islamic lectures and I advice them to stay away from plunging into disputes between the scholars because, this matter brings no good and there is no wisdom in entering it.

Also it is wasting time and confusing the thoughts of the students of knowledge from Ahlus Sunnah and the laymen who adhere to the way of the salaf us saalih (righteous predecessors), it is a barrier in good deeds and it is falling into abandonment of others upon the sunnah and instigating a war amongst the Muslims upon the Sunnah.

Be careful who you take your deen from!

قال الإمام محمد بن سيرين

إِنَّ هَذَا العِلْمَ دِيْنٌ؛ فَانْظُرُواْ عَمَّنْ تَأخُذُوْنَ دِيْنَكُمْ

(أخرجه مسلم في مقدمة صحيحه)

The Imaam Muhammad bin Sireen said:
“Indeed this knowledge is the religion, so be careful with regards to the one whom you take your religion from”

[Imaam Muslim collected it in the introduction to his Saheeh]

An excellent explanation of this statement by Shaykh Ahmad Ibn ‘Umar Bazmool:

‘…This is how important this is, this knowledge is deen, something that he will be raised with on the day of judgment…the Muslim must look and take his deen from Ahlus-Sunnah, as-Salafiyyoon, known for knowledge, being upright and having taqwaa’

‘Imaam Maalik said it is not enough for someone to be a worshipper, and to be known for Zuhd, outward expression of worship, that you take from them…but they did not take from them because that was not their affair (knowledge), they were worshippers that’s all. In this time we see someone who has a lihyah (beard), his thobe above his ankles and he is then the muftee of his area, this is a mistake!’

No Soul shall bear the sin of another

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَى حِمْلِهَا لَا يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَ

“And no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden, and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.“

(Fatir 35:18)

— Meaning: And no soul shall bear the burden of sin of another, and if a soul heavily laden with sin calls someone else to bear its sins, nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.

Sheikh `Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir as-Sa‟dee said in his Tafseer of the Aayah:

And the last meaning is indicated by what He mentioned after it, in His Saying:

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى

“And no soul shall bear the burden of sin of another.”
— meaning: on the Day of Resurrection everyone shall be recompensed for his own deeds, and no one shall carry the sins of anyone else..

“And if a soul heavily laden with sin calls someone else to bear its sins..”
— i.e. a soul  weighed down with sins and evil deeds: if it calls on someone to take on some of its sins.
“Then nothing from it will be carried, even if the one asked were a close relative..”
— for sins cannot be carried (even) for a close relative. So the Hereafter is not the same as this world, where relatives can help each other, and close friends. Rather on the Day of Resurrection a person will wish that he had some right due to him from anyone, even if it be his parents or his close relatives.

Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank رحمه الله