and should be prohibited. Yet declaring it an innovation is a difficult position to maintain, for the least that can be said is that it is akin to charity, and it is established that charity may be given on behalf of the deceased. In reality, however, the udhiyah is not intended merely for giving away or benefiting from its meat, as Allah says: “Neither their meat nor their blood reaches Allah.” [al-Hajj 22:37] Rather, its foremost purpose is to draw near to Allah through sacrifice.

Conditions of the udhiyah: The udhiyah has a number of conditions:

First: It must be from the livestock animals: camels, cattle, and sheep or goats. This is due to the saying of Allah: “over the livestock He has provided for them.” [al-Hajj 22:28] Thus, if a person were to sacrifice another animal that was more expensive than these, it would not suffice. For example, if he sacrificed a horse worth ten thousand riyals instead of a sheep worth three hundred riyals, it would not suffice.

Which, then, is superior: camels, cattle, or sheep and goats?

As for the hady, camels are undoubtedly superior, because the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—offered one hundred camels as sacrificial animals and included Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—in his hady (1).

As for the udhiyah, the author said:

“The best of them is camel, then cattle, then sheep and goats.”

What he means is that if one offers a whole camel, it is superior to a single sheep. But if one offers a camel in place of seven sheep, then seven sheep are superior to the camel. They explained this by saying that they provide greater benefit. The exception is the aqiqah, in which a sheep is superior to a whole camel, because this is what is established in the sunnah; thus, it is superior to camels.