Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We offered as sacrifice a six-month-old sheep in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Sayyiduna Abu Burdah bin Niyar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: He slaughtered his animal before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had performed the sacrifice on the day of Eid al-Adha. Sayyiduna Abu Burdah (may Allah be pleased with him) stated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ordered him to offer another sacrifice.

Sayyiduna Abu Burdah (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted: I can only find a six-month-old lamb. So the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: If you only find a six-month-old lamb, then slaughter that.

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) order to offer another sacrifice was as a recommendation and for the purpose of teaching, because the virtue of sacrifice is attained by the one who slaughters after performing the Eid prayer. Whoever sacrifices before the Eid prayer, there is virtue in it, but not the virtue of sacrifice, because when something is specified for a particular time and is declared recommended for that time, if a person does that act before the specified time, he does not attain the virtue promised for doing it at that specific time, although the general virtue of the act is not completely lost. An example of this is that it is recommended to perform the Duha prayer at the time of Duha; if someone performs a prayer at night as the Duha prayer, he will not get the reward of the Duha prayer, but he will get the reward for performing the prayer.