Question: Can we do the charity instead of sacrificing?
The main idea of sacrifice is slaughtering specific animals at specific days for the sake of Allah. Therefore, the worship of sacrifice is not accepted to be fulfilled without performing this. The flesh of this slaughtered animal is eaten by its owner, relatives or acquaintances of the owner and the needy.
The Almighty God commands:
“And to every community (ummah) We have appointed time and place of sacrifice[1], so that they might extol the name of God over whatever heads of cattle[2] He may have provided for them.” (al-Hajj 22:34)
Doing charity is another form of worship. However, different kinds of worships cannot stand for each other according to Islam.
[1] The word “mansak = مَنسَكًا” mentioned in the verse means “time of sacrifice”, “place of sacrifice”, and “the sacrifice itself”. In this verse, the meanings “time and place of sacrifice” are pertinent.
[2] The Arabic word translated as cattle is “an’am”. An’am is listed to be sheep, goat, camel and bovine of either sex in the verses al-An’am 6:143-144.
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