#1136: On Whether One Animal For Udhiyya Suffices For A Large Family And A Man Observing Eid With All His Wives

Salaam Alaekum waramathulah wabarakathu.
Please I need Islamic perspective on this.
If 2 wives lives in different towns, how should the man be celebrating both Eids.
And is it right to kill ram with the senior wife and leave the junior wife to celebrate Ileya alone in her house.

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salam Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuh.

Alhamdulillah!

As for this, it is important to note that slaughtering of one animal suffices for the entire family and a man must not slaughter for each of his wives.

It is mentioned in Al-Insaaf:

“And one ram suffices a person without any disagreement (among the Fuqahaa) and it suffices for the People of his home and his wives in accordance with the Sound position in the School, this was mentioned and this is the position of majority of the Fellows (of the School) ”

Imam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah mentioned in the Zaad:

“And part of his guidance, salallahu alayhi wasallam, was that one ram suffices for a man and his entire family even if they were to be many in number”

Ash-Shawkaani in the Nayl stressed this and said, “even if they were hundred dependents”

This is because this is the Sunnah of the Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam as was recorded by Imam Abu Isa At-Tirmidhi from ‘Ataa bn Yassaar from Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari radiyallahu anhu

This means that in any situation where a man slaughters one ram, it suffices for his entire family even if he has four wives and as many children as possible. It is not Obligatory upon him to slaughter multiple animals in this regards, and Allah knows best.

Then, what is required of any man is to observe Eid with all of his wives and be fair to them as much as possible. In the scenerio depicted there is no harm upon him to plan that one of them travels to the town in which the other lives, whichever of the towns is easier for him or closest to the relatives that matter and with whom he would like to observe Eid.

But for a man to celebrate Eid in the manner depicted without any compelling reason, it looks inappropriate and unnecessary exposing his home to disarray and accusations.

Our advice is as stated above and Allah knows best.

Barakallahu Fikum
Jazakumullahu Khayran

Abū Āsim

8th Dhul-Hijjah, 1442AH.

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