was asked, “Which deeds (1) are best?” He replied, “Raising the voice and shedding blood.” Raising the voice means reciting the talbiyah (pilgrimage invocation) aloud, and shedding blood means slaughtering the sacrificial animals.

If it is said, “Someone performing Hajj alone can attain this merit,” the reply is: This sacrifice has been prescribed specifically for those who combine Hajj and ‘umrah or perform ‘umrah followed by Hajj. Even assuming that it is recommended for someone performing Hajj alone, how could its reward compare with that of the sacrifice offered by those performing either of these two rites?

Second: If it were a compensatory sacrifice, eating from it would not have been permissible. Yet it is established that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) ate from his sacrificial animals. He ordered that a piece of meat from each camel be placed in a pot, then ate some of the meat and drank some of the broth (2). Even if his obligation was only one-seventh of a camel, he ate from each of the hundred camels, and the obligatory share remained undivided among them; it had not been set apart by division.

Furthermore, it is established in the Sahīh collection (3) that he fed his wives from the sacrificial animals he slaughtered on their behalf, while they were performing ‘umrah followed by Hajj. Imam Ahmad cited this as evidence. It is recorded in the two Sahīh collections (4), on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah, that he offered sacrificial animals on behalf of his wives, then sent them some of the meat from the animals he had slaughtered for them.

Moreover, concerning the sacrificial animals slaughtered at Minā (5), Allah, glorified be He, said:

“So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.” [al-Hajj: 28]

This includes the sacrifice offered when performing ‘umrah followed by Hajj