Top Imam Warns Against Shared Cattle Qurbani in the West

The practice of taking Qurbani (Udhiyah) orders at professional butcher shops in the UK, Europe, and America began a few years ago. Like diaspora communities from other countries, Bangladeshi expatriates also started performing Qurbani abroad, driven by the desire to share the sacrificial meat with family members living in these countries alongside their homeland. Butcher shops also adopted Qurbani as a new seasonal business theme.

However, a warning from a top Islamic scholar in London regarding whether Qurbani is valid or invalid when sharing a cow with other partners has sparked a fresh debate. He cautioned that the widespread practice of purchasing anonymous shares of livestock through commercial butchers fails to meet fundamental religious requirements. As Eid-ul-Adha approaches, this convenience-driven system used in Western countries has come under intense scrutiny due to a lack of systemic transparency and the unverified mixing of capital.

For decades, the annual Udhiyah among Western diaspora communities has largely turned into an indirect commercial transaction. Believing Muslims typically pay a fixed fee at a local butcher shop, provide their names, and collect neatly packaged meat a few days later. Frequently, this deeply spiritual ritual is treated like a standard retail purchase.

However, this commercial shortcut has prompted an urgent intervention from established Islamic jurists (faqihs) regarding the fundamental validity of the practice. In a detailed interview conducted by journalist Aminur Chowdhury, the Imam of East London Mosque and prominent Islamic scholar, Hafiz Maulana Abul Hussain, explicitly warned that if you participate in an unverified cow Qurbani share in the UK, USA, or Europe, your Qurbani may not be valid according to sacred Shariah law.

According to Islamic jurisprudence, a maximum of seven distinct shares is legally permitted in a single cow's Qurbani. However, this permission is strictly conditional upon each participant having a genuine religious intention (niyyah) and using entirely lawful or halal earnings. The core vulnerability of the Western retail model is that these syndicates formed by butchers are, in most cases, anonymous. Questions remain over who the other partners are and to what extent their source of income is halal.

Hafiz Maulana Abul Hussain told the journalist, "If you perform Qurbani in a cow with six other people whom you do not even know, how will you verify whether their money is halal or haram?" He further clarified that according to the definitive texts of the Quran and Sunnah, if even a single share in a joint cow Qurbani is funded by unlawful wealth, or if the intention of any single participant is merely to collect meat instead of performing a sacred act of worship, the entire Qurbani becomes void for all parties involved.

The scholar noted that commercial shopkeepers essentially operate on business principles where religious scrutiny may be secondary to profit margins, but the ultimate spiritual responsibility rests solely upon the individual believer. To eliminate this systemic risk, religious authorities are strongly urging expatriate Muslims to avoid anonymous commercial livestock syndicates. Instead, the Imam advises opting for a single-share Qurbani, such as a goat or a sheep, to ensure complete control over financial purity.

This religious warning is further compounded by severe logistical discrepancies observed in Western capitals. Investigative observations revealed that serious controversies arose during recent festive seasons in London when commercial butcher shops began delivering Qurbani beef on the morning of Eid day itself.

Given the strict regulatory frameworks governing British abattoirs or slaughterhouses, and the lengthy time required for post-slaughter processing, chilling, and urban transport, the appearance of retail-ready meat so quickly raises serious Shariah concerns. According to Islamic law, any animal slaughtered before the completion of the mandatory Eid prayer is legally considered ordinary meat and can under no circumstances be counted as a genuine Qurbani.

Instead of letting commercial shortcuts become the norm, jurists argue that expatriates must urgently prioritize spiritual compliance over logistical convenience. While the commercial process offers unparalleled convenience, the true evaluation of Qurbani lies in flawless obedience to divine law.

As the global Muslim community prepares for the upcoming festival, attention is swiftly shifting toward verifiable, fully transparent supply chains.

It is worth noting that in recent years, alongside the rapid growth of the Muslim population in the UK and Europe, the market for halal meat centered around Qurbani has also expanded significantly. Statistics reveal that despite Muslims accounting for just about 6.5% of the total UK population, the community drives nearly 40% of the country's entire mutton and lamb market—a massive portion of which is consumed during the Eid-ul-Adha season. However, due to a lack of Shariah-compliant transparency and logistical complexities, Muslim councils across the UK and Europe (such as the MCB) along with various halal certification boards, have been actively urging the diaspora over the past few years to ensure that their Qurbani is performed in a 100% verifiable and religiously valid manner.