Umm al-Mu'mineen Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever has an animal for sacrifice and the crescent of Dhul-Hijjah is sighted, then he should not cut his hair or nails until he has offered the sacrifice.

Sayyiduna Jundub bin Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I participated in Eid al-Adha with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) had not done anything except that he led the (Eid) prayer. When he finished the prayer and completed the salam, suddenly he saw a sacrificial goat that had been slaughtered before the prayer. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Whoever offered the sacrifice before the Eid prayer, let him offer another sacrifice in its place, and whoever has not yet offered the sacrifice, let him slaughter the sacrifice in the name of Allah.

Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The first thing we do on this day (of Eid) is that we perform the (Eid) prayer, then return (home) and perform the sacrifice. So whoever does this has followed our way, and whoever slaughters (the animal) before the prayer, it is just meat that he has prepared for his family and it will not be considered a sacrifice. And Sayyiduna Abu Burdah bin Niyar (may Allah be pleased with him) had already slaughtered (his animal). He said: I have a jadha’ah (a sheep less than one year old) which is better than a musinnah (a sheep more than one year old). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then slaughter it, but it will not be permissible for anyone after you.

`Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not slaughter (for sacrifice) except a musinnah (an animal that has completed one year and entered the second, i.e., a two-toothed animal), but if you cannot find such an animal, then sacrifice a jadha’ of sheep (one that has completed six months and entered the seventh).

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) distributed sacrificial goats among us, and a jadh'a (a one-year-old animal) came to my share. So I said, "O Messenger of Allah! A jadh'a has come to my share." He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Sacrifice it."

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sacrificed two rams which were white and black and had horns. I saw him slaughtering them with his own blessed hand, and that (at the time of slaughter) he placed his foot on their necks. And that (at the time of slaughter) he said: "Bismillah, Allahu Akbar."

Narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered for a ram with horns to be brought, one that walked in black, sat in black, and looked in black (meaning its feet, belly, and eyes were black). Then such a ram was brought for sacrifice, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,“O Aisha! Bring the knife.”Then he said,“Sharpen it with a stone.”I sharpened it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took the knife, caught the ram, laid it down, and at the time of slaughter said,“In the name of Allah, O Allah! Accept this from Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), from the family of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and from the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).”Then he sacrificed it.

It is narrated from Abu Ubaid, the freed slave of Ibn Azhar, that he offered the Eid prayer with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). He says that then I offered the (Eid) prayer with Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him); he led the prayer before the sermon. Then he addressed the people and said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade eating the meat of sacrificial animals for more than three days, so do not eat it (after three days, rather eat it for three days and also give charity from it).

‘Abdullah bin Abu Bakr narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Waqid (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade eating the meat of sacrificial animals after three days. Abdullah bin Abu Bakr says that I mentioned this to ‘Amrah, and she said that Abdullah spoke the truth. I heard Umm al-Mu’minin ‘A’ishah al-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) say that in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), some people from the villages came to participate in Eid al-Adha (and they were needy people), so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Keep the meat of the sacrifice for three days and give the rest in charity (so that these needy people do not remain hungry and they also get meat to eat).”After that, people said,“O Messenger of Allah! People used to make water bags from their sacrifices (from their skins) and melt fat in them.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“What happened now?”The people said,“You forbade eating the meat of sacrificial animals after three days (and from this it was understood that no part of the sacrifice should be kept for more than three days).”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“I forbade you because of those needy people who had come at that time. Now eat, store, and give in charity.”

`Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Neither Fara’ is permissible nor ‘Atirah (is permissible). Ibn Rafi’ added in his narration that Fara’ is the first offspring of a she-camel which the polytheists used to slaughter.