Is udhiyah (qurbani) obligatory?

What the majority hold

The majority of scholars — the jumhur — hold that the udhiyah is a confirmed sunnah, not a duty. Shaykh Ibn Baz states it plainly: "الأضحية سنة وليست بواجبة" — the udhiyah is a sunnah and not obligatory. He grounds it in the Prophet's ﷺ own practice: he sacrificed every year, and one sheep sufficed for him and the members of his household.

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen gives the same ruling and adds the reasoning the majority rely on: the Prophet ﷺ said "إذا دخلت العشر وأراد أحدكم أن يضحي" — "when the ten days begin and one of you wants to sacrifice." The word "wants" (arada) shows it is a sunnah and not a duty, because an obligation is not left to a person's wish.

The majority also point to the practice of the Companions. IslamWeb (fatwa 124376) reports that Abu Bakr and Umar رضي الله عنهما would sometimes not sacrifice, out of concern that people would take it as obligatory, and that several Companions left it. That would not be conceivable if it were a duty.

The view that it is obligatory

A group of scholars held the udhiyah to be wajib (obligatory) upon the one who is able. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen names them: Abu Hanifah and his companions, and it is one narration from Imam Ahmad, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah chose it.

Their evidence, as Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen and Shaykh al-Shanqiti set it out:

• The command in the Qur'an. Allah says: "So pray to your Lord and sacrifice" (Qur'an 108:2), and "Say: indeed my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds" (Qur'an 6:162). They read the command as carrying obligation.
• The order to repeat a sacrifice made before the prayer. The Prophet ﷺ told the one who slaughtered before the Eid prayer to slaughter another in its place — which, they argue, shows it was due.
• The narration "من وجد سعة فلم يضح فلا يقربن مصلانا" — "whoever has the means and does not sacrifice, let him not come near our place of prayer." Shaykh al-Shanqiti notes this hadith is disputed in its chain, and a number of hadith scholars judged it weak.
• The Prophet ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs never left it, and no report shows any of them abandoning it.

The majority answered the first two points by saying the command and the order to repeat can be read as urging and as applying specifically to a sacrifice already made binding by vow or designation. On the "let him not come near our place of prayer" narration, they held that a report open to more than one meaning cannot establish obligation.

Who it is due from

The udhiyah is legislated for the one who is able — man or woman alike. IslamWeb (fatwa 143053) defines the able person as the one for whom the cost "does not harm him" — that is, he does not need that money for his necessities during the year. If buying it would strain him, the sunnah drops from him, and he commits no sin by leaving it.

• One sheep suffices for a household. Shaykh Ibn Baz and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen both state that a single sheep covers a man and the members of his household, living and dead, when he intends them.
• A separate household needs its own. Shaykh Ibn Baz notes that if you live in an independent household, your father's sacrifice does not cover you, because you are not part of his household.
• Debt. Shaykh Ibn Baz permits a Muslim to borrow in order to sacrifice if he is able to repay. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen is more cautious: one who has no money should not borrow, because he would burden himself with a debt he may not be able to settle.

If you have vowed or designated it

The udhiyah becomes obligatory if you vow it or designate a specific animal as a sacrifice. The Shafi'i manual Fiqh al-'Ibadat states that if you say "this is an udhiyah," it becomes binding on the Day of Sacrifice; if the designated animal dies before the time, the obligation drops. The Hanafi al-Muhit al-Burhani details the same principle at length — the obligation arises from your own vow or designation, not from the Shari'ah's original command.

In practice

If you are able, do not leave it. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says the cautious course is that the one whom Allah has enriched should not abandon it, and Shaykh al-Shanqiti warns against letting the house be empty of this rite on the Day of Sacrifice. If you are not able, there is no sin on you for leaving it.

Key takeaways

• The majority position, and the one Shaykh Ibn Baz and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen both taught, is that the udhiyah is a confirmed sunnah, not obligatory.
• The Hanafis and some others held it obligatory; their evidence includes the command in Surah al-Kawthar and the order to repeat a pre-prayer sacrifice, which the majority read as urging rather than obligation.
• It is legislated only for the one who can afford it without harm to his necessities; if it would strain you, it drops from you.
• One sheep suffices for a man and his household; a person in an independent household is not covered by his father's sacrifice.
• It becomes obligatory if you vow it or designate a specific animal for it.

Further reading

• Shaykh Ibn Baz, Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat
• Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, Kitab al-Manasik — sections on al-hady and al-udhiyah
• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni — Book of Sacrifices

And Allah knows best.