A questioner writes in for clarification on whether udhiya for ‘Eid al-Adha is tradition or obligation?

It is a strong tradition that we offer an animal for sacrifice in commemoration of the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim (AS).

One Companion sent his servant with some money to buy meat at the market. He said go buy some meat and let everyone know that is my sacrifice. He didn’t actually sacrifice an animal.

Vegans are against slaughtering animals so they can talk to their scholar to see if they can give the money in charity instead. One of the obvious purposes of slaughtering the animals is to give it to the poor so they can celebrate and enjoy the meat.

Most scholars say it is one small animal, such as a sheep or a goat, for one family.