otherwise any animal that lacks these specific traits will still be acceptable.

3 – Among the preferred color patterns for the uḍḥiyah is that its legs, belly, and the area around its eyes be black while the remainder is white. The white intended is the amlaḥ shade, whose hue resembles that of salt.

4 – It should also be of notable size and command a high price, for this attests to its worth and quality; and it ought to be fat, for that yields greater material and spiritual benefit.

5 – His words, “then he said, ‘In the name of Allah,’” do not mean that the basmalah was uttered after the slaughter. The phrase only indicates a delay in narration; in practice, the basmalah is pronounced before the slaughter, at the very moment one moves the hand.

6 – Choosing a noble and wholesome animal for sacrifice is part of venerating the symbols of Allah. The Exalted says, “That, and whoever magnifies the symbols of Allah—it surely stems from the piety of hearts” (22:32). The uḍḥiyah is one of the manifestations of Islam. Ibn ʿAbbās said that venerating it consists of selecting a fat and attractive animal.

7 – The uḍḥiyah ranks among the finest righteous deeds. Al-Tirmidhī (1493), Ibn Mājah (3126), and al-Ḥākim (4/246) narrate with a sound chain from ʿĀʾishah that the Prophet ﷺ said, “No deed performed by the son of Adam on the Day of Sacrifice is dearer to Allah than the shedding of blood; therefore offer it with a cheerful heart.” Many jurists—including the Ḥanbalīs—have held that slaughtering the uḍḥiyah is better than giving its price in charity, a view adopted by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.

8 – It is prescribed, when slaughtering, to pronounce the basmalah, saying “In the name of Allah,” in light of His words: “So mention the name of Allah over them while they are standing in ranks” (22:36). The sunnah is to limit oneself to “In the name of Allah,” for invoking Allah’s attribute of mercy does not befit an act that involves severity and the spilling of blood.

9 – According to the three Imams—Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Aḥmad—saying “In the name of Allah” at the moment of slaughter is obligatory, by virtue of the verse: “Do not eat of that over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned; it is certainly an act of sin” (6:121).