1178 – On the authority of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do not slaughter except a musinnah, unless that proves difficult for you; in that case, slaughter a jadhaʿah from the sheep.” Related by Muslim (1).

Lexical notes:
– al-musinnah: the thaniyyah among sacrificial livestock—camels, cattle, and small stock—and anything older.
– al-jadhaʿ: in the dentition of animals it denotes one that is young and vigorous. For sheep, it is the animal that has completed six months (some say a full year, but the first view is stronger); for camels, the one that has entered its fifth year; for cattle, the one that has entered its third. The present hadith concerns the jadhaʿah of sheep, whose ruling will be explained, Allah willing.

Points derived from the hadith:
1 – Al-Azhari stated that the “ages” (asnān) of cattle and sheep do not signify advanced age as with human beings; rather, they refer to the eruption of the thaniyyah tooth. Therefore, the Prophet’s words “Do not slaughter except a musinnah” do not mean an animal that is very old, but—as the linguists say—one that has reached the thaniyyah stage, a relative maturity.
2 – The thaniyy of camels is the animal that has completed five years; of cattle and buffalo, the one that has completed two years; of goats, the one that has completed a year.
3 – Taken at face value, the hadith indicates that a jadhaʿah of sheep—i.e. one that has completed six months—is acceptable only when a musinnah is hard to obtain. However, several scholars have transmitted consensus that a jadhaʿah of sheep suffices even when a musinnah is readily available, and they construed the hadith as recommending the musinnah in light of what