Method & Duas of Qurbani

• The animal that is going to be sacrificed should be fed and given water.
• The knife that is going to be used should be sharpened beforehand, and not in front of the animal.
• The animal should be laid down on its left side at the place of slaughter, face pointing towards the Qibla. دعاء should be read before slaughtering the animal.
• Animal should be slaughtered quickly with a sharp knife. When slaughtering, cut all 4 veins in the throat or atleast 3 veins should be cut with 3 strokes of the knife. Don't cut any more than 3 strokes which will cause unnecessary pain to the animal.
• As soon as the animal is cold, you should start skinning the animal. Do not skin the animal when it still has life, it should be completely dead before skining.
• NOTE: age of animal: camel should be 5 yrs old, ox, bull, buffalo should be 2 yrs old and sheep, lamb, goat should be 1 yr old. The animal should be a healthy animal with no defects.

Dua before and after slaughtering:
اِنِّى وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِيْ فَطَرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ حَنِيْفًا وَّمَا اَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ اِنَّ صَلاَتِيْ وَنُسُكِيْ وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِيْ للهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِيْنَ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَه وَبِذَلِكَ اُمِرْتَ وَاَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ اَللَّهُمَّ مِنْكَ وَلَكَ

Trans: “For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth. And never shall I give partners to Allah. Verily my worship and my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah! this sacrifice is from you and is for you”.

Read more: Method & Duas of Qurbani

Stories of Repentance #27

Zaazaan رحمة لله علیھ was a saint and a scholar of hadeeth. He was blessed to meet ‘Umar رضي الله عنه, ‘Ali رضي الله عنه and many other Sahaabah رضي الله عنه, and was one of the special students of ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه.

Before he became a great saint and scholar, Zaazaanرحمة لله علیھ was ‘living the life’ and was involved in sin. However, Allah Ta‘ala inspired him to repent and change his life at the hands of ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه.

The following is the personal story of Zaazaan رحمة لله علیھ in which he describes how Allah Ta‘ala guided him and inspired him to reform himself. He says:

When I was a youngster, I had a melodious voice and was talented in playing the drum. Once, I was with a group of friends who were listening to me singing songs. While we were enjoying our party, ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه happened to pass by. When he heard the singing and music, he came towards us and kicked the jugs of wine, causing all the wine to spill. He then snatched the drum from me and threw it on the ground, breaking it. Finally, he turned to me and said, “O youngster! If you used your melodious voice to recite the Quraan Majeed, you would really become something!” After saying that, he suddenly left.

I turned to my friend and asked him, “Who was this person?” He replied, “That was ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه.” At that moment, Allah Ta‘ala inspired me to repent. I ran after ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه with tears streaming down my face. He had just arrived at the door of his home and was about to enter when I reached him and held onto his clothing. He turned to me and asked, “Who are you?” I replied, “I am the person who was playing the drum.” ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه realized that I had come to repent and change my life, and so he hugged me and cried in joy and happiness. He then said, “Welcome to the one whom Allah Ta‘ala loves (and thus inspired to repent). Sit here!” ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood رضي الله عنه then entered his home and brought some dates for me to eat saying, “Eat from these dates. If I had any food besides this, I would have served that to you as well.”