The very formulation of this ruling by the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—strongly indicates, through the tenor of his words, that slaughter performed after the prayer is valid. Had there been any other condition affecting the soundness of the sacrifice, the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—would not have omitted it, for it was obligatory upon him to clarify such matters.

The precise wording of the ḥadīth of Anas is as follows:
The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—declared on the Day of Sacrifice:

“Whoever has slaughtered before the prayer must repeat the sacrifice.”

On the basis of this, the jurists differed over a related issue about which no explicit text exists: when should the villagers who have no local Imām perform their slaughter?
• Mālik held that they should time their slaughter according to the sacrifice of the nearest Imām.
• Al-Shāfiʿī maintained that they should estimate the duration of the prayer and sermon and then slaughter.
• Abū Ḥanīfah said: anyone who slaughters after dawn has met the requirement; others stipulated that it be after sunrise.

The disciples of Mālik also disagreed over another question: if the Imām does not slaughter at the prayer-ground, what should the people do?
• Some said they must wait for him to slaughter after he departs.
• Others held that this is not obligatory.

As for the last permissible time for slaughter, Mālik said that it ends at sunset on the third day of the days of sacrifice. Thus, in his view slaughter may be carried out during the “known days”: the Day of Sacrifice and the two days that follow. Abū Ḥanīfah, Aḥmad, and a group of scholars concurred.

Al-Shāfiʿī and al-Awzāʿī, however, said: the period of uḍḥiyah comprises four days—the Day of Sacrifice and the three days thereafter.

Others transmitted the view that the sacrifice is confined to a single day, namely the Day of Sacrifice itself. Another opinion—isolated and unsupported—extends slaughter to the last day of Dhul-Ḥijjah. All of these positions are ascribed to the early generations.

Their disagreement rests on two considerations.

First: their differing interpretations of the “known days” in the verse,

“that they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of Allah during known days over the livestock He has provided them” (al-Ḥajj 28).

Some said these days are the Day of Sacrifice and the two days thereafter, which is the famous view; others said they are the first ten days of Dhul-Ḥijjah.

Second: the apparent tension between the implication of that verse and the ḥadīth of Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“All the passes of Makkah are places of sacrifice, and every day of the Tashrīq days is a day of slaughter.”

Those who defined the “known days” as the Day of Sacrifice plus two days and preferred the verse’s implied restriction over the ḥadīth concluded: “Slaughter is valid only within these days.”

Those who reconciled the verse and the ḥadīth, affirming no real conflict—since the ḥadīth adds a ruling beyond what is found in the verse, and the verse was not intended to delimit the days of slaughter, whereas the ḥadīth was—held that slaughter is permissible on the fourth day as well, for it is by consensus one of the Tashrīq days.