The Animals of Sacrifice: Which Animals are Permissible to be Sacrificed & Which are Not? By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani

The Animals of Qurbani

The following animals can be slaughtered to offer a Qurbani:

1) Goat, either male or female, of at least one year of age.

2) Sheep, either male or female, of at least six months of age.

3) Cow, ox buffalo of at least two years of age.

4) Camel, male or female, of at least five years of age.

One head of goat or sheep is enough only for one person’s Qurbani. But as for all other animals like cow, buffalo or camel, one head of each is equal to seven offerings thus allowing seven persons to offer Qurbani jointly in one such animal.

If the seller of an animal claims that the animal is of the recognized age and there is no apparent evidence to the contrary, one can trust his statement and the sacrifice of such an animal is lawful.

Which Animals are Permissible to be Sacrificed & Which are Not?

The following defective animals are not acceptable in Qurbani:

1) Blind, one eyed or lame animal.

2) An animal so emaciated that it cannot walk to its slaughtering place.

3) An animal with one-third part of the ear or the nose or the tail missing.

4) An animal that has no teeth at all, or the major number of its teeth are missing.

5) An animal born without ears.

The following Animals are acceptable in Qurbani:

1) A castrated he – goat. (Rather, its Qurbani is more preferale).

2) An animal that has no horns, or its horns are broken. However, if the horns of an animal are uprooted totally so as to create a defect in the brain, its Qurbani is not lawful.

3) An animal the missing part of whose ear, nose or tail is less than one third.

4) A sick or injured animal, unless it has some above mentioned defects rendering its Qurbani unlawful.

Source: Islamic Months, By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani