“Emirates Fatwa” determines the legal conditions and age for sacrificial animals

The Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa issued an explanatory guide in which it clarified the legal terms and conditions that must be met in sacrifices in conjunction with the blessed Eid Al-Adha. The Council specified three basic conditions that the animal designated for sacrifice must meet, the first of which is that the sacrifice be from livestock and include “sheep, goats, cows, and camels,” with the requirement that they be free of visible defects such as lameness, disease, one-eyedness, or emaciation.

The Council also detailed the legal age considered for each type, and stipulated for sheep that it be “the torso,” which is what has reached one year or six months according to some scholars, and for goats that which has completed a year and entered the second year by about a month or more, while for cows it is stipulated that which has completed three years and entered the fourth or more, and for camels that which has completed five years and entered the sixth or more.

He pointed out that the sacrifice is a great ritual and is a confirmed Sunnah for the one who is able to do it. Through it, the Muslim draws closer to God Almighty, shows joy on the day of Eid, and through it the meanings of community integration and cohesion are achieved.

These legal clarifications come to educate the sacrificers and direct them towards choosing livestock that meet all the stipulated conditions and pillars in order to achieve the purposes of worship and maintain public safety.