Dividing the sacrifice into three shares

11-1-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it a must to divide what is extracted from the sacrifice such as its liver, heart, lungs, intestines and the like as three shares like one does with its meat, or can those who offered the sacrifice keep it?

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Answer:

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.

The obligation as regards the sacrificial animal is to give of its meat in charity, for Allah, the Almighty, Says (what means): {So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.} [Quran 22:28]

There is no evidence proving what some people think of the obligation of dividing the sacrifice into three shares, to the extent that they divide everything of it in threes believing they are required to do so. Indeed, some scholars favored dividing the sacrificial animal into three shares, one third to be eaten, another to be gifted and a third to be given as charity.

However, this method is not held mandatory by any scholar, to the best of our knowledge. Thus, if the person offering the sacrifice eats the liver or anything else that is mentioned in the question, then he will not be sinful. If he gives in charity all such things, there will be no harm. The more he gives to the poor, the better, even if the poor’s share is more than the third of the sacrifice.

Allah Knows best.