There are two kinds of hady (sacrificial animals): obligatory and voluntary. One may eat from every hady, whether required or supererogatory, except in four situations: 1) the animal offered as compensation for hunting; 2) the fidyah (expiation) for bodily harm; 3) an animal vowed exclusively for the poor; and 4) a voluntary hady that is injured or dies before reaching its appointed place of slaughter.
If an obligatory hady suffers such harm before its time or place, its owner may, if he wishes, eat from it, for he must still provide a substitute. A non-obligatory hady that becomes incapacitated before its place requires no replacement—unless the owner eats from it.
Should someone eat from a hady whose meat may not be eaten, scholars hold two opinions. The first is that he must replace the entire animal; the second is that he need only replace the quantity he consumed. The former view is the one most widely attributed to Mālik, while the latter was chosen by ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-Azīz and is also the position of al-Shāfiʿī.
A report from Mālik states that if one eats from an animal he had vowed for the poor, he is liable only for the portion he ate. However, if he eats from the hady given as recompense for hunting or as fidyah for bodily harm, he must replace the whole animal and still bring the full fidyah.
Whoever performs qirān or tamattuʿ, invalidates his Hajj, neglects the stoning of the pillars, or commits a similar infringement owes a camel (budnah). If he cannot find one, a cow suffices; if not, a sheep; and if even that is unattainable, he must fast, with no obligation to feed others. Should he offer only a sheep, Mālik dislikes it yet rules it valid.
If a defect appears in the hady after it has been garlanded, the sacrifice is still acceptable—though some disagree—and this is the settled view of Mālik. If, however, the animal was already defective when garlanded, it will not suffice. If the owner was unaware of the flaw, he may recover the arsh (price difference) from the seller and use it toward purchasing another animal.
For a voluntary hady, one opinion allows the owner to dispose of that arsh as he wishes; another requires him to spend it on a comparable hady if he can obtain one, otherwise to give the amount in charity.
The sunnah, when a voluntary hady becomes incapacitated before its proper place, is to slaughter it, dip its garland in its blood, and leave the carcass for the people to eat. The owner must neither eat from it, nor feed others, nor distribute it in charity. If he does eat, feed, or give any of it away, the more prevalent opinion from Mālik is that