What is the Islamic ruling on a person who wishes to carry out his Qurbānī in India or Pakistan where Eid al-Aḍḥā will commence on Monday the 1 January? What if the Qurbānī is carried out after Monday, which will be after the 12 of Dhū al-Ḥijjah according to the UK Islamic calendar?
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
According to the Islamic Law, consideration is given to the location of the Qurbānī and not the location of the person on behalf of whom the Qurbānī is sacrificed. Therefore, if a Qurbānī is sacrificed in Pakistan or India on behalf of a Muslim in the UK, the Islamic calendar of Pakistan or India will be considered. Thus, if Eid in Pakistan and India occurs on Monday 1 January, Qurbānī can be carried out there until the sunset of Wed 3 Jan; which corresponds to 12 Dhū al-Ḥijjah according to their Islamic calendar. Likewise, Qurbānī cannot be sacrificed in Pakistan or India on Saturday or Sunday although Eid would have already occurred in the UK. This is because the location of the Qurbānī is considered and therefore Qurbānī can only be carried out when 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah occurs in Pakistan and India.
قال الإمام الحصكفي في الدر المختار (٦: ۳۱۸): والمعتبر مكان الأضحیة لا مكان من علیه ، فحیلة مصري أراد التعجیل أن یخرجها خارج المصر فیضحي بها إذا طلع الفجر ، وراجع الاختیار لتعلیل المختار (٥: ۲۰) وتبیین الحقائق (٦: ٤) والهدایة وشرحه العنایة (۹: ٥۱۲) ، وقال الإمام ابن مازة في المحیط البرهاني (٦: ۹۱): قال محمد رحمه الله: أنظر في هذا إلی موضع الذبح دون المذبوح عنه
Imam Ḥaṣkafī [d. 1088/1677] said in al-Durr al-Mukhtār (6: 318), “And the place of the sacrifice is considered not the place of he whose sacrifice it is. Thus, the ḥīlah (a way to circumvent) for a resident in the town who wants to rush [his sacrifice] is to take it out of the town and sacrifice it there when dawn appears.” Imam Ibn Māzah [d. 616/1219] said in al-Muḥīṭ al-Burhānī (6: 91), “[Imam] Muḥammad [ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, d. 189/805] said, in this matter I look at the location of the slaughter not of the person on behalf of whom it is slaughtered.”
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1427 / 29 December 2006
Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmed Sahib, Darul Ifta, Darul Uloom al-Arabia al-Islamia, Bury
Addendum
This issue has been subject to scholarly discussion over the past few years particularly in the Indian subcontinent. Several articles and books have been authored in this regard. There are three principal views in relation to this:
- Firstly, the location of the slaughter is what matters, even if 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has not occurred in the location of the person on behalf of whom the Qurbānī is sacrificed.
- Secondly, the location of the slaughter is what matters, on the condition that 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has occurred in the location of the person on behalf of whom the Qurbānī is sacrificed. This is because Qurbānī only becomes obligatory for him on 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah, and therefore his obligation cannot be fulfilled before this. This is based on the premise that Qurbānī cannot be offered in advance similar to Ṣalāḥ unlike Zakāh.
- Thirdly, what matters is the location of the person on behalf of whom the Qurbānī is sacrificed (refer to Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyyā, 6: 334 and Fatāwā Raḥimiyyah, 5: 418).
The preferred view appears to be, as stated in the Fatwā dated 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1427, that the location of the Qurbānī is what matters, not least because in previous times, it would not have been possible for someone in another country to know when Eid has occurred in another country except after the days of Qurbānī have passed. However, the cautious approach is that one’s Qurbānī is only carried out after 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has begun in his location. Thus, this must be communicated to the relevant people and NGOs are obliged to make arrangements accordingly. However, if for some reason the Qurbānī is sacrificed before 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has occurred in his location, for example, if someone from the UK sends a sacrifice to Syria, where communication can become difficult, or to another country, and 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has occurred in that location, the Qurbānī will be valid even if 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah has not occurred in the UK, not least because of the difference of opinion that exists and the possibility of using the Zakāh analogy.
It is also worth noting that sometimes there is a gap of two days in the moon sighting between India and the UK. If the location of the person on whose behalf Qurbānī is sacrificed is considered, this would mean that all the Qurbānī animals have to be sacrificed within one day. This is not possible for practical and political reasons not least because of the volume of Qurbānīs that are sent to India. As this would result in hardship, this is another consideration for taking into account the scholarly differences on this issue and considering the location of the slaughter which is also aligned with the spirit of Qurbānī and the day of Eid al-Aḍḥā.
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
10 Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1438 / 9 December 2016