enjoy the festival with a good feast of meat but national funds for the amelioration of the poor or the welfare of the community can be considerably strengthened if the skins of the sacrificed animals are devoted to this purpose. In addition to this, in places where the number of sacrificed animals is in excess of the needs of the population, the surplus meat may be preserved and sold, and the proceeds thereof used for some charitable object.60 Islām does not allow the wastage of natural resources, and it has organized all its charities in such a manner that they can be turned to the best use.

Besides these obligatory charities at the two ‘Īds, the Holy Prophet used to exhort people in his ‘Īd sermons to contribute whatever they could, voluntarily, for the national cause; and there is mention of women giving away their jewelry at such times (Bu. 13:8). The two ‘Īd festivals of Islām could thus be made occasions for strengthening national funds and for the relief of the poor, if the directions of the Holy Prophet were followed faithfully.

The Sacrifice

At the ‘Īd al-Adzḥā, every Muslim who can afford to do so sacrifices an animal. In the case of a goat or a sheep, one animal suffices for one household (Tr. 18:8). In the case of a cow or a camel, seven men may be partners (Tr. 18:7). The animal is sacrificed after the ‘Īd prayers are over. It may be sacrificed on the day of ‘Īd or during the two or three days that follow, called the tashrīq days, the time during which pilgrims stop in Minā (MM. 4:49-iii). The two days’ limit is preferable, because the pilgrims are allowed to leave after two days.61 The animal sacrificed must be free from apparent physical defects, and full-grown (musinna). The goat or sheep should be at least a year old, the cow two years and the camel five (H. Ch. al-Adzḥiya). As regards the meat of the slaughtered animals, the Holy Qur’ān says: “Eat of them and feed the contented one and the beggar” (22:36). There is no harm if it is dried and sold and the proceeds used for the feeding of the poor. The idea that the meat of the sacrifices should not be stored or eaten for more than three days is contradicted by a saying of the Holy Prophet: “Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh says, We did not use to eat the flesh of our sacrifices for more than the three days of Minā; so the