Ruling on Eating from the Sacrificial Animal of Tamattu` Hajj

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions. Muslim jurists have differentiated between the sacrificial animal offered as expiation and the sacrificial animal of the pilgrim as well as the voluntary sacrificial animal. In their view, a pilgrim isn`t allowed to eat from the first type, but he is allowed to eat from the second and third types. However, they have disagreed on whether to regard the sacrificial animal of Tamattu` Hajj as expiation or as that of the pilgrim(part of a pilgrim`s Hajj rituals). The Shafite jurists considered it as expiation, so the pilgrim who offers it isn`t allowed to eat from it. On the other hand, the majority of the Muslim scholars considered it as a sacrificial animal of the pilgrim`s, so they allowed him to eat from it. The Shafite jurists defended their view by stating that since it is a sacrificial animal that a pilgrim is obligated to offer as part of his Hajj rituals, then he isn`t allowed to eat from it, unlike the sacrificial animal that he offers as expiation for indulging in the act of hunting, which is one of the restrictions of Ihram, and from whose meat he is allowed to eat. An-Nawawi said, "Undisputedly, a pilgrim isn`t allowed to eat from any obligatory sacrificial animal, such as the one offered for Tamattu` and Qiraan Hajj and that which is offered as expiation for violating one of the Hajj restrictions."{Al-Majmou`}. This is a controversial issue between Muslim jurists and scholars; therefore, each questioner should follow the opinion of the Mufti whom he asks in this regard. To be on the safe side, we opt for the opinion of the Shafite jurists who forbid eating from the sacrificial animal offered in Tamattu` Hajj. And Allah knows best.