Is it obligatory to take out a loan in order to buy the udhiyah?.


Praise be to Allaah.

In the answer to question
no. 36432 we stated that the
scholars differed concerning the ruling on udhiyah and whether it is
obligatory or mustahabb. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:  

There is nothing in the shar’i evidence to indicate that it
is obligatory. The view that it is obligatory is a weak view. End quote. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 18/36 

Moreover, those who say
that it is obligatory state that being rich is a condition of it being
obligatory.  

See Haashiyat Ibn ‘Aabideen, 9/452. 

According to both
opinions – the view that it is obligatory and the view that it is mustahabb
– there is no need to take out a loan in order to buy the sacrificial
animal, because it is not obligatory for one who is not rich, according to
scholarly consensus. 

Then there remains the question: is it mustahabb to take out
a loan or not? 

The answer is that it is mustahabb to take out a loan if
there is the hope that one can pay it back, such as if a person has a job
and takes out a loan until he gets his salary at the end of the month. But
if there is no hope of paying it off, then it is better not to take out a
loan, because then he is taking on a commitment for something that he is not
obliged to do. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
was asked about a person who is not able to offer the udhiyah – should he
take out a loan? 

He replied: 

If he can repay and he
takes out a loan so that he can offer a sacrifice, that is good, but he is
not obliged to do that. End quote. 

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 26/305. 

However, Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) was of
the view that it is obligatory. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may
Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: Is the sacrifice obligatory for one who
cannot afford it? Is it permissible to buy the sacrifice on credit until a
person gets his salary?  

He replied: 

The sacrifice (udhiyah) is Sunnah and is not obligatory…
there is no sin on a Muslim taking out a loan to offer the sacrifice if he
is able to repay it. End quote. 

Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 1/37.