Will the husband be held sinful if he does not forbid his wife from slaughtering sacrifices to other than Allaah? Will he, in such a case, be a polytheist like her?

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.

Slaughtering a sacrifice to other than Allaah is an act of Shirk since it is an act of worship which is done humbly to endear oneself to Allaah. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

·        {Say, 'Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allaah, Lord of the worlds* No partner Has He. And this I have been commanded and I am the first [among you] of the Muslims.'} [Quran 6:162-163]

·        {So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him Alone].} [Quran 108:2]

‘Ali narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Allaah Curses those who slaughter for the sake of other than Allaah.” [Muslim]

An-Nawawi said, “If the person intends to glorify and worship other than Allaah to whom sacrifices are offered, then, this is an act of disbelief. Hence, if the one who sacrifices is a Muslim, he becomes an apostate by doing so.”

So, what your wife does is an act of Shirk and disbelief. You should forbid her from doing so, prevent her, enjoin her to do good, forbid her from doing evil and urge her to abandon this act. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {O you, who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Hell whose fuel is people and stones.} [Quran 66:6]

The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:

“All of you are guardians and responsible for your subjects… and the man is the guardian of his family and is responsible for his subjects.” [Al-Bukhari]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said:

“Allaah Will Ask every caretaker about everything entrusted to him whether he took care of it or not and He Will Ask the man about his family.” [Ibn Hibbaan]

You should – before forbidding her from doing so – clarify why such a matter is unlawful and is considered an act of Shirk for Allaah May Guide her to the right path. You should also supplicate Allaah for her to abandon this act and to return to the truth.

Finally, we supplicate Allaah to Guide all people to adhere to Tawheed and to avoid all acts of Shirk.

Allaah Knows best.