The Hadith: 'Allah curses the person who offers a sacrifice to anyone other than Allah'


Question:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Allah curses the person who offers a sacrifice to anyone other than Allah … “ 1 what is meant by this exactly given that here in the South when we slaughter animals to entertain guests or as meat for the household, people say, “In the Name of Allah and upon the religion of the Messenger of Allah, this is a Sadaqah (voluntary charity) purely for the Sake of Allah. O Allah! Please grant the reward for this to me and my household?”

Answer:

What is meant by this Hadith is the prohibition of offering sacrifices to the dead prophets or Awliya’ (pious people), seeking their blessing; or offering sacrifices to the Jinn (creatures created from fire), so as to please them and in return seek fulfillment of demands or to ward off their evil.

All these acts constitute Al-Shirk-ul-Akbar (major form of associating others in worship with Allah) which will incur the Curse and Anger of Allah upon the doer. As for slaughtering an animal to entertain guests, or out of generosity towards one’s family, or slaughtering sacrifices as a means of drawing closer to Allah, as an act of charity towards the dead while hoping for reward from Allah to the living and the dead, all this is permissible. Rather, it is a kind act, hoped to be rewarded by Allah; likewise are the sacrificial animals offered on the Yawm-ul-Nahr “Day of Sacrifice” (the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah on which pilgrims slaughter their sacrificial animals) on behalf of the dead and the living.

May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions

  1. Muslim, Sahih, Book on sacrifices, no. 1978; Al-Nasa’i, Sunan, Book on sacrifices, no. 4422; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 118. ↩