How is an animal sacrificed in accordance with the Sunnah?

- What are the supplications to be read while sacrificing an animal?
- Will you send them in Arabic?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The deeds that are mustahab about the animal to be sacrificed:

To tie the animal before the days of sacrifice. To put a sign of sacrifice on the animal. To take the animal to the place of sacrifice in a nice way, without harming the animal. To cut the esophagus, trachea and the two carotid arteries; to hurry while slaughtering. To cut the throat from the front part of the neck, not from the back. To slaughter one’s own animal oneself; if he cannot do it, to have another Muslim slaughter it. It is makruh to have a person from the People of the Book slaughter it. To slaughter the animal by turning it toward the qiblah. To be present when the animal is sacrificed. To say prayers and to utter the following supplication after or before saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

"Allahumma hadha minka wa laka. Inna salati wa nusuki wa mahyaya wa mamati lillahi Rabbil-alamina la sharika lahu wa bidhalika umirtu wa ana minal-Muslimin."

"O Lord! This is from you and to you. Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner has He: this am I commanded, and I am the first of those who bow to His Will."

To separate the supplication and bismillahirrahmanirrahim. To say the supplication before or after bismillahirrahmanirrahim. It is makruh to say the together with bismillahirrahmanirrahim. To choose a fatty and big animal if possible. To sacrifice the animal on the first day of eid al-adha during the day. To have a sharp knife to slaughter the animal. To leave the animal to cool and to die after cutting the throat; it is makruh to skin the animal before it cools and dies. To eat the flesh of the sacrificed animal (for the owner of the sacrificed animal). For, it is a feast of Allah. To give others from the flesh of the sacrificed animal. (Qasani, Badayius-Sanayi', Cairo, 1327-1328/1910, V/78-81)

If an animal that is bought with the purpose of sacrificing is not sacrificed in eid al-adha, and days of sacrifice pass, it is necessary to give it to the poor. The rich and the poor are subject to the same decree regarding the issue. If a rich person does not sacrifice an animal whether he has bought an animal or not, he has to give the equivalent of the animal to the poor. He cannot postpone it to the following year. (Mehmed Mevkufati, Mevkufat, İstanbul 1980, II/329)

If a person says he will sacrifice an animal for a dead person, it becomes wajib for him to sacrifice it on eid al-adha days.

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