Slaughtering an animal to save a life

QUESTION:

What is the ruling with regards to sacrificing a life, in order to save your life? Is there any significance in sacrificing a live chicken/sheep, or even an egg, if a person is going in for an operation, or they suffered a major injury? Is it mentioned in any Hadith?

ANSWER:

The Hadith Sharif states, ‘Treat your ill through Sadaqah.’ This refers to feeding a poor person or purchasing some food items and giving it to him, or giving him some money as Sadaqah. Sadaqah refers to fulfilling the needs of the poor or feeding them. However, the practice of slaughtering an animal to remove a calamity, or saving a life, is not proven from the life of Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam, nor from the Sahaabah, nor from the pious predecessors of former and latter times. Hence, slaughtering an animal and regarding it as a means of protection from calamities or illnesses is incorrect. In fact, Maulana Thanvi Rahimahullah has written that it is not permissible to feed the meat of such an animal to the poor. [Fataawa Qaasmiyyah Pg.385 Vol.11]   

عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «حَصِّنُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بِالزَّكَاةِ، وَدَاوُوا مَرْضَاكُمْ بِالصَّدَقَةَ، وَاسْتَقْبِلُوا أَمْوَاجَ الْبَلَاءِ بِالدُّعَاءِ وَالتَّضَرُّعِ (أبو داود ص127 ج1)

ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!

ANSWERED BY:

Mufti Mohammed Desai

Date:- 10 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1445 / 26 September 2023