Offering udhiyah on behalf of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the hadith that was narrated concerning that

Praise
be to Allah

It is not
permissible for anyone to offer an udhiyah on behalf of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), because the basic principle with
regard to acts of worship is that they are not allowed and should not be
done unless there is proven evidence to the contrary.

With regard to
the hadith referred to by the questioner, it was narrated by at-Tirmidhi and
classed as da‘eef by Shaykh al-Albaani and others, as we shall see below in
sha Allah.

At-Tirmidhi
(1495) said: Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd al-Muhaaribi al-Kufi told us: Shareek told
us, from Abu’l-Hasna’, from al-Hakam, from Hanash, from ‘Ali, that he used
to offer an udhiyah of two rams, one of behalf of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) and the other on his own behalf. He was asked
about that, and he said: He instructed me (amarani) to do that –
meaning the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and I shall
never stop doing it. Then immediately after narrating the hadith, he (at-Tirmidhi)
said: This hadith is ghareeb (strange) and we only know it from the hadith
of Shareek.

It was also
narrated by Ahmad (1219) and Abu Dawood (2790) via Shareek ibn ‘Abdullah al-Qaadi,
with the word awsaani (instructed me; this word is used to refer to
instructions left by a dying person to be carried out after his death):
‘Uthmaan ibn Abi Shaybah told us: Shareek told us, from Abu’l-Hasna’, from
al-Hakam, from Hanash who said: I saw ‘Ali offer an udhiyah of two rams. I
said to him: What is this? He said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) instructed me (awsaani) to offer an
udhiyah on his behalf, so I offer an udhiyah on his behalf.

Al-Mubaarakfoori
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Al-Mundhiri
said: Hanash is Abu’l-Mu‘tamir al-Kinaani as-San‘aani. More than one scholar
criticised him. Ibn Hibbaan al-Basti said: He made a lot of mistakes when
narrating reports, and was the only one to narrate from ‘Ali things the like
of which are not seen in the hadiths of trustworthy narrators, to the extent
that he became one of those who cannot be quoted as evidence.

Shareek is ibn
‘Abdullah al-Qaadi, concerning whom there are some reservations. Muslim
narrated some reports from him in al-Mutaaba‘aat. End quote.

I say:
Abu’l-Hasna’, the Shaykh of ‘Abdullah, is majhool (unknown) as is well
known. Therefore the hadith is da‘eef.

End quote from
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi.

Shaykh al-Albaani
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: I say: Its isnaad is da‘eef because of
the poor memory of Shareek – who is ibn ‘Abdullah al-Qaadi.

Hanash is ibn
al-Mu‘tamir as-San‘aani, who was classed as da‘eef by the majority of
scholars.

And Abu’l-Hasna’
is majhool (unknown).

End quote from
Da‘eef Abi Dawood.

It was also
classed as da‘eef by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abbaad (may Allah preserve
him), as it says in his commentary on Sunan Abi Dawood, for the
reasons mentioned above.

Once it is
determined that a hadith is da‘eef, we must act on the basis of the general
principle, which is that it is not permissible to offer an udhiyah on behalf
of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin
al-‘Abbaad (may Allah preserve him) said: When a person offers an udhiyah,
he does so on behalf of himself and the members of his household, and he may
do so on behalf of the living and the dead among the members of his family.
If a man leaves instructions (in his will) that an udhiyah be offered on his
behalf, then an udhiyah should be offered on his behalf.

As for offering
an udhiyah on behalf of a deceased person only, we do not know of any proven
evidence to support that practice. But if a person offers an udhiyah on
behalf of himself and the members of his household or his relatives, both
living and dead, there is nothing wrong with that, and there is evidence in
the Sunnah to support that. So the dead may be included alongside the
living, but as for offering an udhiyah on their behalf only, without them
having left instructions to that effect, I do not know of any evidence for
that.

With regard to
the hadith narrated by Abu Dawood from ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him),
according to which he used to offer an udhiyah of two rams and say that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had left instructions for
him to do that, this is not proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him), because its isnaad includes a narrator who is majhool
(unknown) and another who was criticised (by the hadith scholars) although
he is not unknown. Anyone who wants to do something to increase the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then he should strive to do
righteous deeds for himself, for Allah, may He be exalted, will give His
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) a reward like that which
He will give him, for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
is the one who showed people the way to do good, and “Whoever guides to
goodness will have a reward like that of the one who does it.”

End quote from
Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood

Even if we
assume that the hadith is saheeh, this applies specifically to instructions
left to be carried out after one’s death, as was clearly stated in the
report of Abu Dawood. But the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) did not leave any instruction to anyone except ‘Ali (may Allah be
pleased with him), so we must adhere to the texts and not go beyond that.

For more
information on the ruling on offering an udhiyah on behalf of a deceased
person, please see the answer to question no. 36596

And Allah knows
best.