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Fatwa CenterIt is recommended to eat and give as a present and as charity from the sacrificial animal
Question
Should a pilgrim who performs the Tamattu‘ Hajj distribute the whole sacrificial animal to the poor? Or should it be distributed as the Udh-hiyah (the ‘Eed sacrifice), a third for the poor, a third as presents and a third for the one who sacrifices as well as his family? Is it valid if the pilgrim did not attend the slaughtering and authorized another person to carry out the whole process of buying, slaughtering and distribution on his behalf?
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.
A sacrificial animal of the pilgrim who performs the Tamattu‘ or the Qiraan does not have to be wholly distributed to the poor. Rather, it is permissible for the pilgrim to eat from it because it is intended for thanking Allaah, not as expiation. According to some scholars of Fiqh, it is recommended to eat one third, give a third as presents and a third as charity, as one does with the Udh-hiyah. The Hanbali scholar, Al-Buhooti 
said: "The voluntary sacrificial animal as well as that for Tamattu‘ and Qiraan Hajj is like the Udh-hiyah."
It is mentioned in Ash-Sharh Al-Kabeer, a Hanbali book: "Ibn ‘Umar said: “the Udhhiyyah and the sacrificial animals (for Hajj) are distributed into three thirds: one for you, one for your family and one for the poor.” This is also the view of Is-haaq as well as one of the two views of Ash-Shaafi‘i."
The sound view, however, is that it is recommended to include the three categories without committing to the division into thirds. It is recommended to eat and give presents and charity. For example, one could give one half as charity, eat one fourth and give one fourth as presents, or vice versa.
It is also permissible for one to authorize someone to slaughter and distribute the sacrificial animal on his behalf. He does not have to attend the slaughtering or the distribution.
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