Indeed all praise and thanks are due to Allah, we praise him, we seek his assistance, we seek his forgiveness, we seek his guidance.

Bukhari extracted on the authority of Abu Bakrah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

The month of Dhul-Hijjah that is approaching us is a very sacred month. It is from the four sacred months in the Islamic year. It is the month about which verse have been revealed:

The scholars have interpreted this to mean the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, the most holy of days in the Islamic year. Bukhari narrates on the authority of Abdullah b. Abbas that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

Therefore in this blessed and holy month, one should increase in his righteous actions. He should stand in the day and in the night, beseeching his Lord for forgiveness and for His Gardens. He should fast as much as he can, and if he cannot fast the ten days, then he should fast on the Day of ‘Arafah, because the Prophet (ﷺ) said,

One should increase in the remembrance of Allah (swt), by reciting and pondering over His Book. One should give as much charity as he is able to and if he can should slaughter an animal. One should thank His Lord and remember Him much.

What to avoid during these ten days if one wants to offer a sacrifice?

The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a sacrifice must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from his skin, from the beginning of the ten days until after he has offered his sacrifice because the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

If a person does any of these things deliberately, he must seek Allah’s forgiveness but is not required to offer (an extra) sacrifice in expiation; his sacrifice will be acceptable. Whoever needs to remove some hair, nails, etc. because it is harming him, such as having a broken nail or a wound in a site where there is hair, should do so, and there is nothing wrong with that. The state of ihram is so important that it is permitted to cut one’s hair if leaving it will cause harm. There is nothing wrong with men or women washing their heads during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, because the Prophet (ﷺ) only forbade cutting the hair, not washing it.

The wisdom behind this prohibition of the one who wants to offer a sacrifice from cutting his hair etc., is so that he may resemble those in ihram in some aspects of the rites performed, and so that he may draw closer to Allah by offering the sacrifice. So he leaves his hair and nails alone until the time when he has offered his sacrifice, in the hope that Allah will save him in his entirety from the Fire. And Allah knows best.

If a person has cut his hair or nails during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah because he was not planning to offer a sacrifice, then he decides later, during the ten days, to offer a sacrifice, then he must refrain from cutting his hair and nails from the moment he makes this decision.

Qurbani in Tanzania 1443

Last year, your Qurbani has allowed us to buy 20 sheeps to feed the poor and the orphans of the people in the village of Soya in Tanzania. They were extremely happy that day and said it was their best Eid ever!!

Join us this year and help us make this Eid al-Adha an even more joyful day for them.

THE QURBANI IN TANZANIA IS £40 PER SHEEP.