I intend to perform Hajj (major pilgrimage) on behalf of my late father. Is it permissible to authorize someone to slaughter the Hady (sacrificial animal) and distribute its meat outside Saudi Arabia, because I know very poor people to be there? May Allaah reward you [for your response]!

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

The majority of scholars have held that the obligatory Hady must be slaughtered and distributed within the Sacred Precincts. Some scholars are of the opinion that it is permissible to slaughter it outside, as long as it will be distributed among the poor of Makkah, but this is not the preponderant opinion.

The more authentic view is that the Hady must be sacrificed in the Sacred Precincts, as it was narrated in the [book] Sunan, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "All passes of Makkah are routes [for entrance] and places of slaying sacrificial animals." This Hadeeth evidently indicates that slaughtering outside Makkah is not permissible.

The eminent scholar Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

Scholars stated that it is obligatory to slaughter the Hady for Hajj Tamattu’ (combination of ‘Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and Hajj, with a break in between) within the borders of the Sacred Precincts, [as] Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Then their place of sacrifice is at the ancient House.} [Quran 22:33] Also, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sacrificed his own Hady in Mina and instructed: "Take your rituals from me." Since the Hady is slaughtered because it is one of the [Hajj] rituals, so it must be done in its designated site, i.e., the Sacred Precincts. Therefore, as regards sacrificing the Hady by a pilgrim outside Makkah, it is null and void, and he is required to offer it again in the Sacred Precincts. If he was ignorant [of this ruling], there will be no sin on him; otherwise, he would be sinful.

We do not know of any scholar who opined that Hady can be slaughtered and distributed outside the Sacred Precincts. So, you must fulfill this obligation in Makkah or authorize someone to do it on your behalf. People's need in other places is not a justification to transfer the right that Allaah The Almighty ordained for the poor of the Sacred Precincts to others.

Additionally, Muslims are required by the Sharee‘ah (Islamic jurisprudence) to help the deprived and needy outside the Sacred Precincts, and this can be achieved through voluntary charities and donations, as well as Zakah (alms tax) money, according to scholars who permit this transfer. It is not necessary to help such people from the obligatory Hady.

Therefore, a Muslim must adhere to the Sharee‘ah of Allaah The Almighty and follow it without interfering with his own intellect, particularly in matters which are not subject to reasoning.

Allaah Knows best.