Question: Is it allowed for a man’s wife and children to cut their hair or nails during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah if he is the one offering the sacrifice?
Praise be to Allah
Summary:
It is allowed for the family of the person offering a sacrifice to cut their hair or nails during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. The restriction applies solely to the individual performing the sacrifice.
Detailed Answer:
During the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, the one who intends to offer a sacrifice should refrain from cutting their hair, nails, or removing any skin. This ruling is specifically for the person performing the sacrifice and does not extend to his family members.
Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) explained:
“The family members of the one who is going to offer the sacrifice are not subject to this prohibition. They can cut their hair and nails as usual. This restriction is only for the one who has purchased the sacrificial animal from his own wealth.” (Fatawa Islamiyyah, 2/316)
The Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah (11/397) further clarifies:
“It is prescribed for the one who wants to offer a sacrifice, upon the sighting of the new moon of Dhul Hijjah, to avoid cutting hair or nails until the sacrifice is offered. This applies whether he will slaughter the animal himself or appoint someone else to do it. However, this does not apply to his family members.”
Umm Salama, the wife of Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ), reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to have said:
He who has a sacrificial animal with him whom (he intends) to offer as sacrifice, and he enters the month of Dhu’I-Hijja, he should not get his hair cut or nails trimmed until he has sacrificed the animal.
Sahih Muslim 1977g
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin in al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (7/530) supported this view:
“The prohibition is only for the one intending to offer the sacrifice. The family members of such a person are not prohibited from cutting their hair or nails. This understanding is derived from the hadith, which limits the prohibition to the individual performing the sacrifice.”
And Allah knows best
