Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
The meat of the sacrifice is distributed primarily among the poor of Makkah or the Haram. Since there is a huge surplus of sacrificial meat today, the scholars have rightly allowed its distribution to the poor outside the Haram as well.
Answering your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Hadi is to be sacrificed in Makkah or anywhere in the precincts of the Haram. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “I sacrificed here (in Mina); all of Mina is a place of sacrifice, and all of the valleys or by-ways of Makkah are paths to and places of sacrifice.” (Muslim)
The meat of the sacrifice is distributed primarily among the poor of Makkah or the Haram. Since there is a huge surplus of sacrificial meat today, the scholars have rightly allowed its distribution to the poor outside the Haram as well. It is a sound view; it is analogous to the distribution of the Zakah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Zakah or compulsory alms ought to be taken from the rich among them and distributed among the poor.” (Al-Bukhari)
When during the time of the pious Caliph `Umar, when they realized that there was a surplus of zakah funds more than sufficient for distribution among the locals, Mu`adh, the governor and judge of Yemen, sent it to Madinah. After hearing about the reason for sending the funds to Madinah, `Umar approved it.
Since there was no objection from other companions, it can be assumed as a tacit consensus (ijma sukuti) of the Prophet’s companions, upon whom be peace and Allah’s blessings.
Having said this, I would like to add: The only viable way of sending the meat for distribution elsewhere is the official agency appointed for the same. This arrangement was done after due consultation with the World Council of Muslim Jurists, and hence we ought to have no reservations about doing so.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.