Specifying the name of the person on whose behalf the sacrifice is being offered

The individual is
not obliged to slaughter his hadiy himself; it is permissible to appoint a
trustworthy person to do that on his behalf. However it is important to note
something that has to do with appointing or delegating someone to do that on
one’s behalf, which is that at the time of slaughter, it is essential to
state the name of the one on whose behalf it is being done. So the one who
is doing the actual slaughter should intend that it is on behalf of So and
so; it is not permissible to slaughter a number of sheep, for example, on
behalf of a number of people without stating the names with each slaughter. 

Based on that, it
is not permissible to appoint companies or banks that do not specify the
names of the people on whose behalf the sacrifice is being offered, except
in the case of necessity, when it is not possible for the individual to go
to the slaughter place himself or to find a trustworthy person to slaughter
the sacrifice on his behalf. 

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Some Hajj groups collect
money from the pilgrims for the hadiy (sacrifice), and they slaughter the
animals on their behalf, but they may fail to mention the name of the one on
whose behalf the sacrifice is offered at the time of slaughtering each
animal. Is this permissible? 

He replied: This
is not permissible. It is essential to state on whose behalf this sacrifice
is being offered every time an animal is slaughtered. For example, if there
are thirty men in the group, and he (the person who is offering the
sacrifice on their behalf) buys thirty sheep for them, he should have a list
of their names in front of him, and every time he brings a sheep forward
(for slaughter), he should say: “This is on behalf of So and so,” because it
is essential to state on whose behalf it is being offered. If he just
sacrifices thirty sheep on behalf of thirty men, that is not valid. 

End quote from
al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri, 73/32 

He (may Allah have
mercy on him) was also asked: We have heard that you warned people against
giving money to these companies, but what is the solution with regard to
what has happened in the past? We did Hajj more than once, and we gave money
to these companies and they did not take our names. What is the ruling on
what was done in the past? Is it acceptable? If it is not acceptable, what
do we have to do? 

Answer: We did not
warn against giving the hadiy (sacrifice), because in fact the hadiy is
necessary. The individual has two choices: either to give money to these
companies or to sacrifice it himself and leave it on the ground, in which
case neither he nor anyone else will benefit from it. If the person is able
to slaughter his hadiy and eat from it, give some of it as a gift and give
some of it in charity, then undoubtedly this is much better. This is
possible for some people who have acquaintances in Makkah and are able to
delegate them to do this on their behalf, telling them: Slaughter the hadiy
on our behalf. In that case he can benefit from it, or he can go to Makkah,
go to the slaughterhouse and buy an animal and slaughter it there, and he
will find people crowding around him to take it from him. But what I think
is a serious mistake is to send the cost of the sacrifice to another country
so that it can be sacrificed there. This is the thing for which there is no
basis. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to send
the sacrificial animal to Makkah to be sacrificed in Makkah. There is no
report from him, either in a saheeh (sound) or da‘eef (weak) hadeeth, that
suggests that he sent his sacrificial animal (udhiyah) to any other place;
rather he used to slaughter it in his house, and they would eat from it,
give some of it as gifts and give some as charity.

End quote from
al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri, 34/17 

If the company
writes down the name of the person on whose behalf the sacrifice is being
offered, and hangs it around the sheep’s neck, as some companies do, and the
slaughterer forms the intention that this sacrifice is on behalf of the
person whose name is written on this paper, then that is acceptable and
valid. It fulfils the need to specify on whose behalf the sacrifice is being
offered, and it is not necessary to mention the person’s name after that. 

And Allah knows
best.