• Points gleaned from the ḥadith:
  1 – The udḥiyah (ritual sacrifice), the hady, and the ʿaqīqah should, as far as possible, be of the finest stock and most pleasing appearance, free of any defect that would invalidate them. One seeks beauty and excellence in these offerings because they are acts of worship by which one draws near to Allah. The Exalted says, “O you who believe! Spend of the good things you have earned and of that which We have brought forth for you from the earth; and do not aim at the defective thereof for spending” (al-Baqarah 2:267), and He says, “You will never attain righteousness until you spend of that which you love” (Āl ʿImrān 3:92).

2 – Part of an udḥiyah’s completeness and attractiveness is that its ears, eyes, and horns be sound: the ears are neither severed, pierced, nor split; the horns are unbroken; and the eyes are free of spots or films.

• Scholarly disagreement:
  The jurists differed concerning an animal whose horn is broken or whose ear is mostly cut off.

• The majority hold that such an animal is not valid. Imām Aḥmad said, “A sacrificial animal whose horn or ear is lopped does not suffice,” citing the ḥadith of ʿAlī that al-Tirmidhī graded sound; its apparent sense is prohibition and invalidity.

• Imām al-Shāfiʿī maintained that it is acceptable, arguing that the authenticity of the ḥadith is disputable and that neither the ear nor the horn is intended for consumption. Ibn Mufliḥ in al-Furūʿ likewise judged it valid without qualification, a view endorsed in al-Inṣāf.

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī said: “The correct view is that of those scholars who deem an animal with a damaged ear or horn acceptable, for even if the prohibition of offering such an animal is established, it indicates only dislike, just as we were instructed to inspect the ear and horn.”

As for one whose tail fat has been cut off, in whole or in part, or whose hump has been removed, it is not acceptable, because this