Question: Those more blessed with wealth should make optional (nafl) sacrifice for the sake of reward for Rasulullah, his Ummah, the Ambiyaa and for their own living or deceased parents. Permission for the waajib sacrifice of a living person is necessary. For nafl sacrifice this consent is not required. This is a text from a web site please comment on it.

Also, the deceased parent, how long after their passing and is the Qurbani necessary? I am asking since both my dad and my husband's mom is deceased.

Answer: The statement means that those upon whom the qurbani is wajib (essential), they must give the consent and order for it to be done on their behalf. This means that if a husband wishes to do qurbani on behalf of his wife, who also has the means to do it (that is, it has become essential upon her) then, he needs to obtain her permission to do so. The same is applicable to any other person who is alive and qurbani has become essential upon him/her. If however, qurbani has not become essential upon an individual, then it can be done on his/her behalf without seeking their permission. The reason for this is that the nature of this sacrifice in one that is nafl (optional) and such is allowed. The same would be the ruling in the case of deceased Muslims, qurbani can be done on their behalf without their permission, since it falls in the category of Nafl (optional acts).

Regarding the second question, if the parent/s had left an order with the son/daughter before their death that a qurbani should be done on their behalf and the money was left to do it, then doing the qurbani for the parent/s in this case would be essential, and it must be done. However, if no such instruction was left by the parent, then doing the qurbani on the parent's behalf would not be essential (wajib). In this case, the children would be free to do a qurbani on behalf of the parent/s whenever they wish, and the parent/s will receive the full blessings for it. They (the children) can do the qurbani whenever it becomes easy for them or whenever they wish to do it. There is no restriction with respect to the passage of time, hence, it can be done after any amount of years, and it can also be done every year.


And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan