Sacrificing a buffalo that is fat but less than two years old

Question

Question: (1) An animal — for example a he-goat, a cow or a buffalo — whose age is 20 months, but which looks even older than two years; it is very fat, sturdy and plump. Will the sacrifice of this animal be valid? There is no defect of any kind in this animal. Please write in detail. (2) There is an animal that is 20 months old; it was raised at home and looks two years old. What is stated in question no. 1 applies to question no.

Answer

(1) Its deficiency is precisely that it is not a full two years old, even though because of its fatness it looks two years old. If a fat-tailed ram is somewhat less than a year old and, because of its fatness, no difference is noticed when it is let in among year-old rams, then its sacrifice is permitted; the sheep takes the same ruling.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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