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The best animal for the Eid sacrifice is an uncastrated white ram, horned and large-eyed, with black markings on its legs, around its eyes, and on its muzzle. It has been related that this was the description of the ram with which the son of Abraham, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was ransomed from slaughter. It is also related that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“The blood of one pale-colored sheep is better in Allah’s sight than the blood of two black sheep.”
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For Eid sacrifices, uncastrated rams are preferable to castrated rams, and castrated rams are preferable to ewes. Ewes are preferable to uncastrated male goats, which are preferable to castrated male goats, which in turn are preferable to female goats. Female goats are preferable to camels and cattle. Male camels are preferable to female camels, and female camels are preferable to bulls, which are preferable to cows. This was stated by Ibn Shaʿbān.
ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said: “The best are sheep and goats, followed by cattle, then camels.” This is the correct view, because what matters in [the sunnah of] Eid sacrifice is the meat’s pleasant taste and succulence, since these sacrifices are intended for the household rather than the poor, unlike pilgrimage offerings. The evidence for this is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered sheep as Eid sacrifices. Had camels been preferable for Eid sacrifices, he would have sacrificed them.
Another indication that sheep are preferable to camels for Eid sacrifices is that Allah, exalted is He, ransomed Abraham’s son from slaughter with a ram. He says in His Book:
“And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.” [al-Sāffāt: 107]
It is related that Allah sent this ram down from Paradise, where it had grazed for fifty years. As for pilgrimage offerings, camels are preferable, followed by cattle, then sheep.
Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, held that camels are preferable to sheep for Eid sacrifices. He supported this with the Prophet’s words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“Whoever bathes and sets out in the first hour is like one who has offered a camel in sacrifice”—to the end of the hadith.
Eid sacrifices, too, are offerings to Allah. Yet this provides no evidence for his view, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, meant pilgrimage offerings. This has also been related in