Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (15/94)

that has been slaughtered, flee, and they are unable to catch them. So if you bring the knife—and especially if you sharpen it in front of it—you have frightened it. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw a man lay down a sheep while sharpening the blade, and he said to him: “Do you want to make it die several deaths?!” (1) That is, this distresses and terrifies it greatly, to the point that it is like death.

If the space is too confined for me to conceal the knife from it, while I need to sharpen it, then I should cover its face.

If it is said, “It may hear,” we may reply that his saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “and that it be concealed from livestock,” includes both visual and auditory concealment, since it may sense such things. What matters is that, whenever possible, one should avoid frightening the animal; that is preferable.

His statement, “and that he direct it away from the qiblah,” means that he directs the animal toward a direction other than the qiblah. However, if he does so, there is no harm, and the slaughtered animal remains lawful to eat. The jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, did not mention any evidence for this. The most that has been related concerning it is that when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, turned his sacrificial animal toward the qiblah, he said: “In the name of Allah, and Allah is Most Great.” (2) Thus, the phrase, “when he turned his sacrificial animal,” means that he turned it toward the qiblah. This indicates that directing it toward the qiblah is a sunnah, but abandoning a sunnah does not entail

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari in The Book of Sacrificial Animals, chapter: “Whoever Slaughters His Sacrificial Animal with His Own Hand” (5558), and by Muslim in The Book of Sacrificial Animals, chapter: “The Recommendation to Offer a Sacrifice and to Slaughter It Personally Without Appointing an Agent” (1966), on the authority of Anas. The wording is that of Muslim. (2) Its authentication has preceded on p. 73, footnote 2.

مذبوحاً هربت، ولا يستطيعون أن يمسكوها، فإذا أَتَيْتَ بالسكين ولا سيما إن حددتها أمامها، معناه أنك روَّعتها، وقد رأى النبي ﷺ رجلاً أضجع شاة وهو يحد الشفرة، فقال له النبي ﵊: «أتريد أن تميتها موتات؟!» (١)، يعني أن هذا يزعجها، ويروعها ترويعاً عظيماً، حتى يكون كالموت. فإذا كان المكان ضيقاً، ولا أتمكن من أن أواريها عنها، وأنا محتاج إلى سَنِّها فأغطي وجهها. فإن قيل: إنها قد تسمع،، فقد نقول: إن قوله ﷺ: «وأن توارى عن البهائم» يشمل المواراة البصرية، والسمعية؛ لأنها قد تحس بهذا الشيء، فالمهم أنه ما أمكنك البعد عن ترويع البهيمة فهو الأولى. قوله: «وأن يوجهه إلى غير القبلة» يعني يوجه الحيوان إلى غير القبلة، ولكن لو فعل فلا بأس، والذبيحة حلال، ولم يذكر الفقهاء ﵏ دليلاً على ذلك، وغاية ما فيه ما ذكر عن النبي ﵊ أنه حين وجَّه أضحيته، قال: «بسم الله والله أكبر» (٢)، فقوله: «حين وجه أضحيته» يعني وجَّهها إلى القبلة، وهذا يدل على أن التوجيه سنة، ولا يلزم من ترك السنة

(١) أخرجه البخاري في الأضاحي/ باب من ذبح الأضاحي بيده (٥٥٥٨)، ومسلم في الأضاحي/ باب استحباب الضحية وذبحها مباشرة بلا توكيل … (١٩٦٦) عن أنس ﵁، واللفظ لمسلم. (٢) سبق تخريجه ص (٧٣)، حاشية (٢).