Mukhtasar Ahkam al-Udhiya wa al-Dhakah
- Author died
- 1421 AH
- Editions
- Mukhtasar Ahkam al-Udhiya wa al-Dhakah
Mukhtasar Ahkam al-Udhiya wa al-Dhakah (Abridgment of the Rulings of Sacrificial and Ritual Slaughter) is a concise legal treatise by the Saudi jurist Ibn Uthaymin (d. 1421 AH / 2001 CE) expounding the Islamic jurisprudential regulations governing the Eid sacrifice (al-udhiya) and animal slaughter (al-dhakah) .
Background and Composition
The author originally composed an extensive treatise titled Ahkam al-Udhiya wa al-Dhakah, spanning ninety-three pages and covering detailed scholarly disagreements and debates . Seeking to make the material more accessible to readers, he prepared this abridgment by eliminating non-essential discussions while incorporating practical additions . Ibn Uthaymin concluded the composition of the abridgment on the afternoon of Wednesday, 13 Dhu al-Hijjah 1400 AH (October 1980 CE) .
Contents and Structure
The book opens with a brief introduction and is structured into ten chapters covering the jurisprudence of sacrificial and ritual slaughter :
- Definition and legal status of the sacrifice: Clarifying the nature of the udhiya and its legal ruling according to Islamic evidence .
- Conditions of the sacrificial animal: Specifying age limits and required soundness from disqualifying physical defects .
- Preferable and disliked sacrificial animals: Evaluating sacrificial beasts based on their species, sex, and physical attributes .
- Beneficiaries of the sacrifice: Detailing offering the sacrifice on behalf of oneself, living family members, or deceased relatives .
- Designation of the sacrifice: Rulings triggered by assigning a specific animal for sacrifice and subsequent developments such as acquiring defects .
- Utilization and distribution of meat: Rules on eating, gifting, and charity from the sacrificed animal .
- Restrictions on the one offering sacrifice: Prohibitions related to removing hair or clipping nails during the opening ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah .
- Ritual slaughter and its prerequisites: Legal definitions, permissible tools, qualifications of the slaughterer, and invoking the name of God .
- Etiquette of slaughter: Recommended manners aimed at minimizing suffering and treating animals humanely .
- Disliked practices in slaughter: Prohibited and discouraged actions, such as dulling the blade, sharpening tools in front of the beast, or inflicting harm prior to the departure of life .
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