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Fatwa CenterA vow must be fulfilled in the same way as specified
Question
I vowed to fast five days and slaughter two sheep for the sake of Allaah Almighty once a certain thing would happen. Given that that thing already happened, praise be to Allaah for this, I observed the vowed fast. Taking into consideration that I did not intend to slaughter the two sheep with my own hand and that I live in a Western country, is it permissible to send the price of the sheep to my brother who lives in my home country in order to slaughter the sheep and distribute the meat on my behalf? How should they distribute the meat? Is it permissible that my family members eat from the meat? Should I pay the price of the two sheep to the Islamic Relief Organization in the country where I live in order to slaughter the sheep and distribute them on my behalf? Should I spend the price of the sheep on my family, given that my father is dead and my brother told me that that they have not paid the rent in five months? Thanks to Allaah, I have enough money to slaughter and pay the rent of my family house. What is the best means to fulfill my vow?
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.
Praise be to Allaah for giving you what you wanted; and we ask Him to permanently shower His favor on you and make you grateful to Him. Now you are required to fast five days and slaughter two sheep. As for the fast, its ruling is clear to you. As for slaughtering, you are required to fulfill the vow according to the way that you specified. Paying the price of the sheep, instead of slaughtering them, does not absolve you of your liability. You can either slaughter them by yourself or authorize someone to do so on your behalf, whether that is your brother or a relief organization or anyone else. It is permissible to do this both in your home country or in the country where you live. It is also permissible that your brothers eat from the meat because they are poor, as you mentioned, and because they are not among those whom you are responsible for in the Sharee'ah. If your mother is alive and they gave her a part of the meat, then this is also permissible. However, you are not permitted to do this, because according to the Sharee'ah you are required to provide for her.
Allaah Knows best.
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