Qurbani FAQs

Islamic Relief distributes two different types of Qurbani meat: fresh and frozen:

• Fresh Qurbani – Islamic Relief distributes fresh Qurbani meat in most countries, as animals are purchased and slaughtered locally.
• Frozen Qurbani – In areas where fresh Qurbani is not possible, Islamic Relief distributes frozen Qurbani meat.

1 Sheep or Goat = 1 Qurbani
1 Cow = 7 Qurbanis (One Qurbani – 1/7th of the share)

According to most Muslims Qurbani is obligatory upon every sane male/female that has wealth in excess to his/her needs. Normally those who are eligible to pay zakat have to give a Qurbani.

No, as Islamic Relief is conducting hundreds of thousands of Qurbanis around the world, this is practically not possible. It is also not necessary to give the name of the person, even if you are making a Qurbani on behalf of someone else. As long as you have made the intention that you are giving this Qurbani on behalf of a certain person that should be sufficient.

It is the policy of Islamic Relief that the selected beneficiaries of the Qurbani project are made eligible based on a scoring system, which ranks families according to need.

The scoring system is based on the following objective criteria:

• Families who live on less than the minimum income for that particular country – 40 points
• Female headed households – 20 points
• Families having disabled and/or elderly persons – 10 points
• Children under five years old – 5 points
• Pregnant women – 5 points
• Lactating mothers – 5 points
• Families with little or no access to the market – 5 points

It is the policy of Islamic Relief to distribute only one Qurbani meat pack to each family regardless of family size.

Islamic Relief performs Qurbani as part of our overall aid effort. The people who benefit in Ramadan and from our general projects, inshaAllah, would also benefit from Qurbani. This allows us to focus our efforts and help the same people out of poverty and to improve their lives, rather than providing a little bit of help occasionally but never achieving anything.

We are not able to carry out Qurbanis for specific orphans because the scale of the operation would make this logistically difficult. Donors can still carry out a general Qurbani through the normal channels and pay the normal price. However, orphans do represent a category of high priority in all our programmes; therefore they not only benefit from donors’ sponsorship, but also benefit from receiving other support and aid in Ramadan and Qurbani.

The slaughter will take place on one of the days of Eid.

If you give a Qurbani on the second or third day of Eid, the Qurbani will still be carried out on one of the days of Eid, as Islamic Relief has already purchased the animals to be slaughtered beforehand.

Qurbanis are carried out on the basis of forecasts drawn. If necessary, modifications are made, and additional funds are transferred to the relevant country. In effect donors are paying towards Qurbanis which are already allocated.

It is advisable to give as early as possible.

The time for offering the sacrifice begins after the Eid prayer on Eid al-Adha and ends when the sun sets on the 13th of Dhu’l-Hijjah. So there are four days of sacrifice: the day of Eid al-Adha and the three days after it.

It is better to hasten to offer the sacrifice after the Eid prayer, as the Prophet (PBUH) used to do, then the first thing he would eat on the day of Eid would be meat from his sacrifice.

The time for sacrifice ends when the sun sets on the fourth day.

You can make payments right up until the end of third day after Eid (13th of Dhu’l-Hijjah) before Maghrib.

Islamic Relief has already purchased the animals to be slaughtered.

This depends on the school of thought that one follows. Please consult your local Imam/Sheikh.

According to the Hanafi school of thought it is obligatory on:

• every sane, mature (one who has reached puberty) Muslim
• who is not a traveller
• who owns wealth which is beyond one’s need equal to (or more than) nisab = 72 grams of gold or 100 grams of silver)

No, this is not necessary as long as you have made the intention that you are giving this Qurbani on behalf of a certain person.

Since Qurbani is an act of worship, then one has to offer the best. Therefore Islamic Relief adopts high quality standards when it comes to selecting the sacrificial animals. Standards cover health, weight (meat yielded) and age. Also we would like our needy brothers and sisters around the world to receive the best quality Qurbanis because the believer is asked to love for his brother/sister that which he/she loves for him/herself. These high standards come at a higher cost.

Islamic Relief always tries to reach the neediest of people in the most remote areas where the communities are hard to reach. In many of these remote areas Islamic Relief  is the only charity with operations and hence represents the only hope (after Allah) for the communities there. Transporting meat to hard-to-reach rural areas incurs higher transportation costs which affects the Qurbani price.

Current situations in certain countries with conflict or natural disasters also add to the costs.

It would be better if people did not visit, as on the day our teams on the ground are extremely busy with slaughtering the animals, dividing them, packing the meat, transporting it to villages and distributing them. Therefore, our teams will not have the capacity or time to host individuals. However, if individuals are present at the locations where the Qurbani is being distributed then they are welcome to observe.

To demonstrate our distributions to donors, we will share photographs of some of our distributions around the world on our website and social media channels.

Islamic Relief has been performing Qurbanis since 1986.  As with our other projects, Islamic Relief’s work is constantly monitored and audited.  Reports are also produced each year showing what happened in each country.

It would be better if people did not visit, as on the day our teams on the ground are extremely busy with slaughtering the animals, dividing them, packing the meat, transporting it to villages and distributing them. Therefore, our teams will not have the capacity or time to host individuals. However, if individuals are present at the locations where the Qurbani is being distributed then they are welcome to observe.

To demonstrate our distributions to donors, we will share photographs of some of our distributions around the world on our website and social media channels.

Qurbanis are performed through Islamic Relief field offices in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Islamic Relief field offices purchase and slaughter animals locally. If there are problems with livestock supply in a particular country (due to limited local supply, natural disaster etc.) then animals are sourced and slaughtered abroad, and then shipped to the affected countries.

All animals are sacrificed according to Islamic guidelines.

It is prescribed for the one who wants to offer a sacrifice, once the new moon of Dhul Hijjah appears (i.e. 1st of Dhul Hijjah), not to remove anything from his hair, nails or skin, until he has offered the sacrifice.

Animals chosen in a country are dependent upon;

• The suitability of the meat to the local diet
• The cost of the animal
• The location and the availability of animals
• The quality of the meat

Yes, all the various expenses such as the cost of the animal, slaughter, transportation, storage, selection of the beneficiaries, and distribution are included in the price.

Admin charges are necessary in order to perform the Qurbanis as they cover the cost of transportation, slaughtering, packing, distribution, hire of staff as well as organisational support costs.

You may wish to undertake one Qurbani in the UK and one abroad as an example and this is permissible. It is allowed to offer more than one sacrifice as the Prophet (PBUH) himself carried out multiple Qurbanis for himself and the Ummah. Many Muslims offer multiple Qurbanis on behalf of the Prophet (PBUH) and for deceased parents.

Qurbani can be performed in the UK. Islamic Relief’s UK Qurbani programme aims to provide high-quality fresh lamb and your contribution will help to ensure that families and individuals who are struggling to make ends meet are not forgotten at the time of Eid.

Islamic Relief will be offering Qurbani of high quality British lambs weighing on average 43kg for £150. Once slaughtered the lamb carcass will weigh approximately 19kg average. After butchering the meat available for cooking and distributing will weigh approximately 15kg average for each Qurbani.

The meat from UK Qurbani will be packed and delivered to local partner organisations who will distribute the meat in the UK to food banks, homeless people, homeless shelters and refuges.

All lambs purchased for Qurbani through Islamic Relief will be traditionally slaughtered in accordance with the prophetic tradition and not stunned.

To ensure compliance with health and safety standards on this scale of distribution we will not be able to deliver meat to individuals for distribution. The distributions will be done through partner organisations.