It is not compulsory to eat from the qurban sacrifice that is made. It can be donated in its entirety to the poor and needy. However, a person who desires to eat from his/her sacrifice, may eat a portion, preserve a portion and feed the poor with another portion.

Every household should make at least one Qurban sacrifice. However, A person may sacrifice as many animals as he/she wishes- one is the minimum number. Only the person making the Qurban sacrifice from that household is required to uphold the conditions of Qurban (see question on conditions of Qurban).

If the start of Dhu’l-Hijjah has been proven and a person wants to offer a sacrifice, it is forbidden for that person to remove anything from the hair on his/her body or to cut his/her nails or any part of his/her skin, until he/she has offered the sacrifice. This ruling only applies to the one offering the sacrifice (whether he/she is performing the Hajj rituals or not). It does not apply to the rest of his/her family nor does it apply to the one he/she appoints to slaughter the sacrifice on his/her behalf (should this be the case).

Qurban is the sacrifice of livestock animals. The animals must fall under the ‘an’aam class, which is either sheep, goat, cow or camel. Each animal must also be over a particular age to be eligible for sacrifice. That age is:

Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allahﷺ did not go out on the day of (Eid) al-Fitr until he had eaten, and he did not eat on the day of (Eid) al-Adha until he came back, then he would eat from his sacrifice.” Therefore, the time to sacrifice animals for Eid al-Adha is after the prayer and Khutbah of Eid (not during), and ends when the sun sets on the thirteenth of Dhu’l-Hijjah. This means there are four days for the sacrifice to be offered: the day of Eid al-Adha and the three days after it.

Prophet Muhammed ﷺ said: “There are four that will not do for sacrifice: a one-eyed animal whose defect is obvious, a sick animal whose sickness is obvious, a lame animal whose limp is obvious and an emaciated animal that has no marrow in its bones.” The conditions mentioned in the hadith render the animal unsuitable for sacrifice. However, animals with similar or more severe faults are also unsuitable for sacrifice. Such as the following animals: – If an animal is blind in both eyes. – One that has eaten more than it can stand (until the danger has passed). – One that has encountered difficulty in giving birth (until all danger has passed). – One that has suffered something that could cause its death, such as a fall from a high place (until all danger has passed). – One that is unable to walk because of a defect. – One that has had one of its forelegs or hind legs cut off. When these defects are added to the four defects mentioned in the hadith, the number of those that are rendered unsuitable for sacrifice are ten- the six mentioned above and the four mentioned in the hadith.