Introduction

Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn (1925-2001 CE) occupied a singular place in twentieth-century Islamic jurisprudence as a scholar who combined mastery of the Ḥanbalī tradition with an extraordinary gift for clarity and a deep concern for how rulings translate into the lives of ordinary believers. Trained under ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, he taught for decades at the Grand Mosque of ʿUnayzah and at the Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd Islamic University, producing a body of recorded lessons and written rulings that spans virtually every domain of fiqh. His works on the major seasonal acts of worship, including zakāh, ḥajj, and the sacrificial rites of Eid al-Aḍḥā, are among the most widely consulted references in the Arabic-speaking Muslim world and have been extensively translated. This treatment of the uḍḥiyah, the sacrificial animal offered during the days of Eid al-Aḍḥā, is characteristic of his method: thorough, evidence-based, comparative across the madhhabs, and oriented toward practical application.

The uḍḥiyah is an act of worship instituted in the Qurʾān and established in great detail by the Prophetic Sunnah. This work examines its legal status, addressing the well-known difference of opinion between those scholars who regard it as a confirmed Sunnah (sunnah muʾakkadah) and those who regard it as obligatory (wājib) upon every capable Muslim, with evidence cited for each view. Subsequent chapters address the types of animals that qualify for sacrifice and the physical conditions they must satisfy, the number of shares a single animal can fulfill, the correct time for slaughter relative to the Eid prayer, the recommended manner of performing the slaughter, the distribution of the meat among the one offering the sacrifice, family, neighbors, and the poor, and the conduct that the one intending to sacrifice should observe during the first ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah. The text also treats the ʿaqīqah and its relationship to the uḍḥiyah, clarifying common points of confusion.

The significance of this work in the broader literature on Islamic worship lies in its integration of scriptural evidence with the comparative positions of the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī schools. Rather than simply asserting one school's conclusions, al-ʿUthaymīn places the relevant aḥādīth at the center of the discussion and evaluates the positions of the schools against them. This approach makes the text valuable not only for those following the Ḥanbalī madhab but for any reader who wishes to understand why the diversity of opinions on these questions exists and what the underlying evidential basis of each position is. The work has been reprinted and excerpted widely, appearing in collections of rulings for Eid, in fatāwā compilations, and in educational curricula for students of fiqh across the Muslim world.

Readers using this work to guide their own observance of the uḍḥiyah will find it a reliable and detailed reference. Those who adhere to a specific madhab on questions where the schools differ should note the author's conclusions while being aware that their own school may hold a different well-supported position, and they may wish to consult a scholar of that tradition. The deeper value of engaging this material, however, is not merely procedural. The uḍḥiyah is an act of devotion that commemorates the willingness of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) to submit entirely to God's command, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) described it as among the most beloved acts a believer can perform on the day of Eid. Approaching the rulings with awareness of that spiritual dimension transforms a legal inquiry into an act of preparation for worship.