Assalammu Allaikum, in your fatwa no.2440707 to my question, that the eid -ul-adha sacrifice should be done after the eid prayer, is it including the kutba, pls clarify because some people do it after only praying the 2 rakats eid prayer without the kutba. is it correct. hope you understood my case. pls reply soon

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

First of all, jurists hold several opinions regarding the time of starting slaughtering the sacrifice. We will mention them in brief according to Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah, where it was stated:

1- Hanafi scholars state that the time for offering the sacrifice begins at dawn on the Day of An-Nahr, which is the Day of ‘Eed; however, they hold that for those who sacrifice in a Misr (a populated place such as a city or town), in order to be valid, it must be slaughtered after ‘Eed prayer, even if before the Khutbah. But it is better to delay it until after the Khutbah. If the ‘Eed prayer is offered in several places in the Misr, it is sufficient for the validity of sacrifice that the prayer is over in one of those places. If the ‘Eed prayer is not held, then one should wait until the time when the possibility of prayer ends after the sun passes its zenith and then slaughter the sacrifice animal.

As for those who slaughters in a place that cannot be described as a Misr (i.e. a scantily populated place such as the desert), then this is not a condition. Rather, it is permissible for them to slaughter after dawn on the Day of An-Nahr. That is because ‘Eed prayer is not required from those who do not live in a Misr.

If the one who will offer sacrifice lives in a Misr and entrusted someone who does not live in a Misr to slaughter on his behalf or vice versa, then what counts is the place of slaughtering not the place of residence of the owner of the sacrifice who deputized another one to slaughter on his behalf. That is because the slaughtering itself is the act of worship.

2- Maaliki scholars said - and it is also one of the opinions of the Hanbali scholars - that the time for offering the sacrifice for anyone besides the Imaam begins when the Imaam finishes slaughtering his sacrifice after offering prayer and two Khutbahs on the first day (of 'Eed). As for the Imaam, it begins when he finishes his prayer and Khutbah. Thus, if the Imaam slaughters his sacrifice before finishing his Khutbah, then the offering does not count. Also, if people slaughter their sacrifice before the Imaam finishes slaughtering his sacrifice, it does not count for them unless they begin after he starts and finish after he finishes or at the same time as him. If the Imaam does not slaughter or puts off slaughtering after finishing his Khutbah, whether with or without an excuse, people should estimate the time it would have taken to slaughter and then slaughter their sacrifices thereafter.

3- Shaafi‘i scholars said - and it is also one of the opinions of the Hanbali scholars - that the time for offering the sacrifice begins the time it would take to offer two light Rak‘ahs and two light Khutbahs after sunrise on the Day of An-Nahr. They said: "The validity of sacrifice does not depend on the Imaam finishing his prayer and two Khutbahs because Imaams differ in how long and short their prayers and Khutbahs are."

4- Hanbali scholars, in their third and most prevalent opinion - said that the time for offering the sacrifice begins after the ‘Eed prayer, even if before the Khutbah; but it is better to wait until the two Khutbahs are over. It is not obligatory to wait until the prayer is finished in all places if prayer is held in several places. Rather, it is sufficient if prayer is over in one of them. If the one seeking to slaughter is in a place where the ‘Eed prayer is not held, such as the country or desert (i.e. nomads, wanderers, etc.) where ‘Eed prayer is not an obligation, then the time starts after the estimated time of offering ‘Eed prayer passes after the sun has risen to the height of a spear [above the horizon]."

As for the opinion we adopt here in Islamweb, it is the opinion of the Hanbali scholars (no. 4), as Al-Baraa' ibn ‘Aazib related that the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, delivered the Khutbah after offering the prayer on the Day of An-Nahr and said, "Whoever offers the prayer like us and slaughters like us then his sacrifice will be accepted by Allaah. And whoever slaughters his sacrifice before the ‘Eed prayer, then it is just mutton (not a sacrifice)." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Moreover, Jundub narrated that on the Day of An-Nahr the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, offered the prayer and delivered the Khutbah and then slaughtered the sacrifice and said, "Anybody who slaughtered (his sacrifice) before the prayer should slaughter another animal in lieu of it, and the one who has not yet slaughtered should slaughter the sacrifice mentioning Allaah's Name on it." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

In those two Ahaadeeth, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, based the validity of sacrifice on being after the prayer, not on being after the Khutbah. However, there is no doubt that delaying slaughtering until after the Khutbah is better to be on the safe side.

Allaah Knows best.