Yawm al-nahr (the day of sacrifice, fiqh)

Yawm al-nahr is the tenth of Dhu al-Hijja, so named for the abundance of sacrifices and offerings slaughtered in it; nahr in the lexicon is a blow to the nahr, the top of the chest, and slaughtering, and in the technical usage cutting the jugulars at the end of the throat. On the majority view the day runs from the rise of dawn to sunset, and daylight from sunrise to sunset. ¹

The jurists dispute the days of sacrifice: the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and al-Thawri hold they are three — the eid day and the two after — the view of Umar, Ali, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) and Anas; the Shafi'is hold they are the tenth of Dhu al-Hijja and the three tashriq days after it, on the hadith "all of Arafat is a standing place and all the days of tashriq are slaughter days," a narration also of Ali, and the view of Ata and al-Hasan. ^{1 2}

The jurists hold the day has great merit for the rites and worship prescribed in it, and a number of them call it the day of the greater hajj, taking it as the referent in surah al-Tawba, ayah 28: Ibn Umar's hadith in Abu Dawud that the Prophet ﷺ stood on the day of sacrifice between the pillars and asked what day it was, and on hearing "the day of sacrifice" said "this is the day of the greater hajj"; the established report that Abu Bakr and Ali proclaimed the dissociation from the polytheists on the day; and Ali's hadith in al-Tirmidhi "the day of the greater hajj is the day of sacrifice," though its chain has a weak narrator; they argue it holds the completion of the hajj and most of its acts — standing, moving on, stoning, slaughter, shaving, the tawaf of ifada and the night at Mina. They dispute what the greater hajj is: the hajj the Prophet performed on the well-known view al-Nuh recorded, or the day of Arafa whether a Friday or not on the view of Ali, Ibn Abi Awfa and al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, or all the days of Mina on the view of Mujahid and Sufyan al-Thawri — Mujahid holding the greater hajj is qiran and the lesser ifrad — while al-Zuhri, al-Sha'bi and Ata hold the greater is the hajj and the lesser the umra. ^{2 5}

On which day is best: the Shafi'is, the Malikis on their sounder view and some Hanbalis including Abu Hakim Ibrahim al-Nahrawani hold the day of Arafa is the best of days — Ibn Muflih calls it the clearest view — on Jabir's hadith in Ibn Hibban on the day of Arafa's emancipations, and the Shafi'is rank the days: Arafa, then Friday, then the day of sacrifice, then the day of fitr. The Malikis in another view and some Hanbalis hold Friday is the best of days since its night is the best of nights following it, on Abu Hurayra's two hadiths "the best day the sun has risen on is Friday" and "the master of days is Friday"; al-Zurqani reconciles the reports: Arafa is the best day of the year and Friday the best of the week, and al-Bajirmi records the like. Some Hanbalis, Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya and his grandfather Abu al-Barakat among them, hold Friday is the best day of the week but the day of sacrifice the best day of the year, on Abd Allah ibn Qurt (may God be pleased with him)'s hadith "the greatest of days with God is the day of sacrifice, then the day of al-qarr which follows it," a preference Ibn al-Qayyim declared correct. ^{5 6}

On whether the day falls within the hajj months: the Hanafis except Abu Yusuf and the Hanbalis of the school hold it does; the Shafi'is and Abu Yusuf hold it does not. The night of sacrifice counts within them for the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and the sounder Shafi'i view; a second Shafi'i view excludes it since nights follow days and ihram is not valid on the day itself; al-Ajurri of the Hanbalis chooses that the last of the hajj months is the night of sacrifice; the Malikis and Ibn Hubayra state the hajj months run from Shawwal to the end of Dhu al-Hijja in the sense that part is the time for entering ihram, until near the dawn of the day of sacrifice, and part the time for leaving it, from that dawn to the end of Dhu al-Hijja. ^{6 7}

On eating: the jurists agree that one who has a sacrifice is recommended to delay breaking fast and hold back from food until he breaks it on his sacrifice's liver, on Burayda's hadith that the Prophet did not go out on the day of fitr until he had eaten and did not eat on the day of adha until he had prayed — a narration in al-Bayhaqi adds until he had slaughtered — and because people are God's guests that day so their food should be of God's hospitality, the liver first on al-Bayhaqi's hadith that he ate of his sacrifice's liver — al-Dhahabi notes a weakened narrator — and because the liver is quickest to take. For one who does not sacrifice, the majority of jurists also recommend delaying food, while the Hanbalis state he may eat before the prayer or after. ⁷

On fasting the day: the majority — Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis, and what is transmitted from Burhan in the Hanafi books — hold it forbidden, on Abu Ubayd's hadith that Umar preached on the day of adha that the Prophet had forbidden fasting the two days, one being the day of breaking fast and the other the day of eating of the sacrifices, and on Nubaysha al-Hudhali's hadith that the tashriq days are days of eating, drinking and remembrance of God; the Hanafis hold it disliked to the degree of prohibition for turning away from God's hospitality and opposing the command. On whether such a fast is valid: the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis on the sound view, and the narrations of Abu Yusuf and Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak from Abu Hanifa, hold it counts neither as obligatory nor voluntary, on Ibn Abbas's hadith "do not fast these days, they are days of eating, drinking and conjugal relations," since prohibition entails invalidity; the Hanafi school and Ahmad in a report hold it valid if fasted as an obligation. One who began the day fasting then broke it owes no make-up on the majority view, since make-up presupposes an obligation free of the taint of prohibition; a non-canonical narration from Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf requires it. Whether a vow to fast the day binds is disputed, detailed under the headwords sawm and nadhr. ^{7 3 8}

Keeping the night of eid al-adha alive in worship is recommended on the jurists' view, its detail under ihya al-layl and id. ⁸

On the sermon of the day: it is sunna for the one charged with the hajj to preach sermons teaching the people its rites; the Hanafis, Malikis and some Hanbalis hold there is no sermon on the day of sacrifice since the sermon is sunna on the day before, the Hanafis and Malikis specifying three hajj sermons — the day before tarwiya, at Arafat on its day, and at Mina on the eleventh; the Shafi'is and the Hanbali school hold he preaches at Mina on the day of sacrifice teaching the remaining rites of slaughter, tawaf and stoning, on Ibn Abbas's hadith in al-Bukhari that the Prophet preached at Mina on the day, and because the day's works multiply and people need to be taught; al-Nawawi records his colleagues' recommendation that all pilgrims attend and that the imam and they wash and wear scent for it if fully or partly released from ihram; its time is the duha of the day on the relied Shafi'i view and the Hanbali school, on Rafi' ibn Amr al-Muzani's hadith that the Prophet preached at Mina when the duha had risen, mounted on a grey mule with Ali relaying his words, while some Shafi'is and a group of Hanbalis place it after the noon prayer. ^{8 9}

The day of sacrifice is the busiest of the hajj days for the pilgrim: the standing at al-Mash'ar al-Haram after the dawn prayer is recommended on the majority view, sunna in a Maliki statement, obligatory on the Hanafi view and a pillar on Ibn al-Majishun's; then it is sunna to move to Mina before sunrise on Umar's report that the polytheists would not leave Jam' until the sun shone. ⁹

In it also: the stoning of the Aqaba pillar, obligatory on the majority view and a pillar on Abd al-Malik ibn al-Majishun's; the slaughter of the hady, obligatory or voluntary; shaving or shortening, counted a hajj rite on the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i-school and Hanbali-school views and a release from an ihram prohibition on a Shafi'i view and a narration from Ahmad — among those who count it a rite it is an obligation on the majority and a pillar on the Shafi'i school view; and the tawaf of the visit, a pillar by the jurists' consensus, best performed on the day of sacrifice after the stoning and the shaving. ^{4 10}

The jurists dispute the ordering between the day's works: some hold the order obligatory in following the Prophet's practice; others call it sunna on Abd Allah ibn Amr's hadith that the Prophet was asked that day about nothing done early or late without answering "do it, there is no harm." ¹⁰

Since the day of sacrifice is eid al-adha, works are prescribed for the non-pilgrim: the unqualified takbir outside the prayer, as on the way to the eid prayer and in the mosque until the imam enters the prayer; the eid al-adha prayer, a communal obligation on the Hanbali view, obligatory on the Hanafi, a confirmed sunna on the Maliki and Shafi'i; the udhiya, an animal of the flock slaughtered in nearness to God on the days of sacrifice under set conditions, prescribed by consensus, a confirmed sunna on the majority view and obligatory on the Hanafi school view, a narration from Ahmad, one of Malik's two statements, and the view of al-Layth ibn Sa'd, al-Awza'i, al-Thawri and Rabi'a; mutual visiting on the eid; the imam's admonishing the women after the eid prayer, recommended when temptation is safe and held obligatory by Ata alone; eid congratulation, prescribed on the majority view; and washing, scent and lawful adornment, and play and singing free of the unlawful. ^{10 11}

On ihram for umra on the day: the Malikis, Shafi'is and the Hanbali school hold it not disliked; the Hanafis and Ahmad in a narration hold it disliked. ¹¹

On slaughtering the hady: the jurists agree it is allowed on the days of sacrifice for the hady of tamattu', qiran, voluntary offering, vow, ihsar and offences, and dispute the rest. ¹¹