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Ruling on paying wage to butcher for slaughtering the Udh-hiyah

Question

Is it permissible for me to take my sacrificial animal to a slaughterhouse and pay for slaughtering and skinning it?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

According to the directives of the Sunnah, a person should slaughter his own sacrificial animal with his own hands, following the example of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Nonetheless, it is permissible for him to authorize someone else to slaughter it on his behalf. It was reported in a Hadeeth narrated by Jabir  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, slaughtered 63 animals with his own hands and commanded ‘Ali  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him to slaughter the remaining animals.[Muslim] The Hadeeth points out the permissibility of authorizing someone else to slaughter sacrificial animals, whether they are hadi or otherwise, on one's own behalf.

Accordingly, it is not a problem if a person takes his sacrificial animal to a slaughterhouse and pays the price of slaughtering and skinning it. It is not permissible, however, for him to give its skin or any part of its meat as a price for the slaughtering or skinning process for this constitutes a form of selling it, which is prohibited according to the majority of scholars.

Allaah Knows best.

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