Either one may say that the hadiths specifying seven are more numerous and more authentic.

Or one may say that reckoning a camel as equivalent to ten sheep concerns the valuation of spoils of war, to ensure an equitable division. Its serving on behalf of seven people as a sacrificial offering, however, is a number prescribed by Islamic law.

Or one may say that this varies with the time, place, and camels concerned. In some circumstances, a camel was equivalent to ten sheep, so he allowed it to serve on behalf of ten people; in others, it was equivalent to seven, so he allowed it to serve on behalf of seven. Allah knows best.

Abū Muhammad (1) stated that he slaughtered a cow on behalf of his wives as a Hajj offering, sacrificed another cow on their behalf as an Eid sacrifice, sacrificed (2) two rams on his own behalf, and slaughtered (3) sixty-three sacrificial animals. You have already seen the error in this account. The cow sacrificed for Eid was not a different cow from the Hajj offering; they were one and the same. A pilgrim’s sacrificial offering serves the same purpose as the Eid sacrifice of an āfāqī (someone from the outlying regions).

Section

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, slaughtered his sacrificial animals at his slaughtering place in Minā. He informed them that all of Minā is a place for slaughtering sacrificial animals, and that the broad roads of Mecca are routes of passage and places for slaughter. This demonstrates that slaughtering sacrificial animals is not restricted to Minā: wherever one slaughters them along the broad roads of Mecca, the sacrifice is valid. Likewise, when (4) he stood at ‘Arafāt, he said: “I stood here, and all of ‘Arafāt is a place for standing.” He also stood at Muzdalifa and said: “I stood here, and Muzdalifa