Question:

Assalamualaykum, Can more than seven muslims members give sacrifice of Eid ud Dhuhaa on one camel,buffalo…etc, since Prophet Muhammad Sallallahualyhiwasallam had given a sacrifice of one animal(goat) for whole ummah ?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

A camel or a cow is sufficient to be slaughtered as ‘Eed sacrifice for seven persons as we clarified in Fatwa 81799. Also, it is permissible for a man to slaughter a camel or a cow for himself and his family even if they are more than seven people on the condition that he is the one who spends on them. However, if they are not among his family members on whom he spends, then a camel or a cow is not sufficient for more than seven according to the view of majority of the scholars .

However, some of the scholars are of the view that it is sufficient for more than seven persons. Ibn Hajar said: “The scholars who are of the view that it is permissible for many people to participate in slaughtering one animal (a camel or a cow) agreed that it should not be more than seven people except in one of the two narrations by Sa’eed ibn Al-Musayyib who said: “It [the camel or cow] is sufficient for ten people”. This is the view of Is-Haaq ibn Rahawayh and is also the view of Ibn Khuzaymah, may Allah have upon him, from the Shaafi’i School of jurisprudence, who reported as evidence supporting this the narration of Raafi’ ibn Khadeej, may Allah be pleased with him, that “The Prophet divided and equaled ten goats with one camel”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

On the other hand, Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: “Two persons do not share one sheep and not more than seven persons should share a camel or a cow; however, a person may intend the reward of his slaughtered animal, whether a sheep or a seventh of a camel or a cow, to whomever he wishes.”

Thus what the Prophet did was that he slaughtered two sheep as a sacrifice, one for him and his family, and the second for his nation. What is meant here is that he presented the reward of the slaughtered sheep for his nation and it does not mean that his nation would share this sacrifice with him and there is no contradiction about this.