Question:
There was always a debate on the age of animal. If you have a healthy grown sheep that’s balig (which can happen at 8 or 9 months) then??
Answer: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not slaughter but a musinnah, unless it is difficult for you, in which case you can slaughter a jadhaʿ lamb.”[1]
The scholars agree that a musinnah are the following ages of the following animals:
| A goat, she-goat: | One Year |
| A sheep, ram: | One Year |
| A cow, buffalo, bull: | Two Years |
| A camel: | Five Years[2] |
As for the jadhaʿ lamb, then Ḥazrat Muftī Ahmed Ṣāḥib Khanpūrī حفظه الله ونفعنا به says in his ‘fatāwā’:
“In the books of Fiqh, the sacrifice (qurbānī) of the jadhaʿ of the sheep has been permitted on the condition that it is so big that if let loose amongst one-year-olds, one would not be able to differentiate between them from afar.[3]
This is restricted to sheep. Therefore, the sacrifice of a jadhaʿ of a goat, whether male or female, will not be valid. Thus, in all the books it is explicitly mentioned that the sacrifice of a goat or she-goat will only be valid if it is one full year old [or older], otherwise not.
Many of the ḥanafī fuqahā (jurist) explain jadhaʿ to mean a sheep which has lived the major part of a year. However, there is a difference in pinpointing what is meant by “the major part of a year.”
- The author of ‘Muḥīṭ’ said: The sheep which has entered the eighth month.
- Zaʿfaranī writes that the sheep is of seven months. (The opinion of eight or nine months has also been transmitted from him.)
- In ‘Khazānah’ the following is mentioned: The sheep which has lived more than six months.[4]
Since [the great ḥanafī jurist] Qādhī-Khān has only mentioned the opinion of ‘Khazānah’, it is the one given preference.
The summary is that if a sheep is older than six months and it is so big that when it is let loose amongst other one-year-old sheep, one cannot tell the difference between it and the other one year old sheep, then in such a case there is a consensus [of later scholars] that its qurbāni will be valid.”[5]
Note: If a jadhaʿ lamb is small in size, then its sacrifice (qurbānī) is not valid. [6]
Note: If a one-year-old sheep is small in size, its sacrifice (qurbānī) is still valid.[7]
Note: From this ḥadīth above, it may seem that the only situation one is allowed to sacrifice a jadhaʿ lamb is if they are unable to afford or acquire a musinnah one. However, due to many other aḥadīth which give general permission, all the fuqahā agree that one is allowed to use a jadhaʿ lamb even if they can afford or acquire a musinnah one. Yes, Imām Nawawī رحمه الله states that the ḥadīth do indicate to it being best (mustḥab) to use a musinnah sheep instead of a jadhaʿ lamb.[8]
And Allāh Taʿālā knows best
Ibn Suleman
Dārul Iftā wal Irshād
Sirājul ʿUlūm Institute
Reviewed and concurred by:
Muftī Waheeb Saiyid
Muftī Muhammad Mahdi (Guiding Stars Academy)
Muftī Reza Deonarine
Muftī Mujahid Dan Lubrin
[1] Abū Dāwūd #2797
[2] Kitābul Masāʾil Vol.2 Pg.312
[3] Imām Sarakhsī explains it as: “This is when the jadhaʿ is so large that when it is mixed with the one-year-olds one will not be able to differentiate between them at first glance.” [Al-Mabsūṭ 2/183] The author of ‘Hidāyah’ expressed it in the following manner: “This is when it (the jadhaʿ) is so large that if it is mixed with the one-year-olds, it would be unclear to the onlooker from afar [ whether it is a jadhaʿ or a one year old]” [Al-Bināyah 12/47]
[4] While many scholars have listed the differing opinions, the following great ḥanafī jurists sufficed on or chose the opinion of six months: Imām Abū Bakr Jaṣṣāṣ (d. 370 AH) in ‘Sharḥ Mukhtaṣar Ṭaḥāwī’ 7/324, Imām Qudūrī (d. 428 AH) in ‘Sharḥ Mukhtaṣar Karakhī’ 6/372, ʿAllāmah Ḥaskafī (d.1088) in ‘Al-Durr’ and ʿAllāmah Shāmī (d. 1256) in ‘Raddul Muḥtār’ 9/465, ʿAllāmah Al-Maidānī (d.1298) in ‘Al-Lubāb’ 4/592
[5] Maḥmūdul Fatāwā Vol.7 Pg.448 bi taqdīm wa taʾkhīr
[6] This is already understood by their restriction of ‘big’. However, the following scholars explicitly mentioned it as well: Imām Ṭāhir Al-Bukhārī (d. after 600 AH) in ‘Khulāsatul Fatāwā’ 4/314, Al-ʿAynī in ‘Al-Bināyah’ 12/47, Ṭaḥṭāwī ʿala Durr 11/20, ʿAllāmah Shāmī in ‘Raddul Muḥtār’ 9/466
[7] ibid
[8] See: Badhlul Majhūd Vol.9 Pg.543