Sheep have their lambs in late winter or early spring as they also need to eat lots of fresh grass so that they can make milk for their lambs. We are expecting Eidul-Adha to be in July in 2020, for the next few years in Britain the natural cycle will mean that (much) younger lambs will be available for Qurbani.
Does Islam set a minimum age for the animal to be slaughtered?
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh
We advise Muslims to be cautious when offering lambs for sacrifice this year (2020) and for the next few years. We have carried out field research and have been informed that as sheep give birth in late winter to early spring, the lambs may be four months old or even younger at the time of Eidul-Adhā; as a result the Qurbanī will not be accepted. This issue is anticipated to continue for the next few years; so Muslims are advised to offer sheep or other animals for sacrifice. It is permissible to offer a hog (also referred to as hogg, hoggerel, hogget) which is a younger sheep. However, whether it is a hog or lamb and is less than one year old it must be more than six months old and should be fat enough to appear to be at least one years old.
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Qurbanī FAQ:
