Offering the udhiyah with the intention of seeking healing

Praise
be to Allah

If the sacrifice
is offered to Allah, may He be exalted, and the intention behind that is to
give some of this meat in charity to the poor and needy, then there is
nothing wrong with that. It was narrated from the Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) that he said: “Treat your sick by means of
charity.” Narrated by Abu Dawood in al-Maraaseel. It was also
narrated by at-Tabaraani, al-Bayhaqi and others, from a number of the
Sahaabah. All its isnaads are da‘eef (weak) but it was classed as hasan by
al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) because of corroborating evidence
in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi (744)

The scholars of
the Standing Committee for issuing fatwas were asked:

Please explain
to us the hadith “Treat your sick by means of charity” – narrated by al-Bayhaqi
in as-Sunan al-Kubra (3/382) and classed as da‘eef by most of the
hadith scholars – with regard to treating the sick by offering a sacrifice
for him. Is that prescribed or not in order to relieve him of sickness?

They replied:
the hadith mentioned is not saheeh, but there is nothing wrong with giving
charity on behalf of the sick person for the purpose of drawing close to
Allah and in the hope that Allah may heal him thereby, because of the
general meaning of the evidence that points to the virtue of giving charity,
and says that it extinguishes sins and wards off a bad death. End quote.

Fataawa
al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah
(24/441)

Shaykh Ibn
Jibreen (may Allah preserve him) said:

Charity is a
useful and beneficial remedy that brings healing from disease and alleviates
sickness. This is supported by the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him): “Charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes
fire.” Narrated by Ahmad (3/399). Perhaps some diseases happen as a
punishment for a sin that the sick person committed, but when his family
give charity on his behalf, this sin is erased and so is the cause of the
sickness, or hasanaat (good deeds) are recorded for him because of the
charity, so his heart is revived thereby, and the pain of the sickness is
reduced as a result. End quote.

Al-Fataawa ash-Shar‘iyyah
fi’l-Masaa’il at-Tibbiyyah
(2/question no. 15)

There is nothing
wrong with you offering a sacrifice for the sake of Allah, may He be
exalted, intending it as charity on behalf of the sick person, in the hope
that Allah may heal him and grant him well-being, especially if that is also
done as the udhiyah too.

But there is no
need to specify that a goat should be sacrificed, because the aim is to
offer a sacrifice as an udhiyah and charity, so you may sacrifice whatever
you can afford of whatever fulfils the conditions of udhiyah, whether it is
a goat or anything else.

And Allah knows
best.