I was present with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the Eid al-Adha prayer at the prayer ground. When he finished his sermon, he descended from his pulpit, and a ram was brought to him. The Messenger of Allah slaughtered it with his own hand, saying, "In the name of Allah, and Allah is the greatest. This is on my behalf and on behalf of those of my community who have not offered a sacrifice."
شهدت مع رسول الله ﷺ الأضحى بالمصلى، فلما قضى خطبته نزل من منبره، وأتى بكبش فذبحه رسول الله له بيده، وقال: بسم الله والله أكبر، هذا عني وعمن لم يضح من أمتي.
Reported by Abu Dawud (2810), Tirmidhi (1521), and Imam Ahmad (14895), all of them from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, Yaqub bin Abdul-Rahman narrated to us, from Amr bin Abu Amr, from Muttalib, from Jabir bin Abdullah, and he mentioned it. Imam Ahmad (14837) also reported it through Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Zinad, from Amr bin Abu Amr, in the same manner. Its isnad is hasan because of Muttalib, who is Ibn Abdullah bin Hantab Qurashi Makhzumi Madani, for he is truthful and hasan al-hadith. Fuller discussion of this is given in the chapter on what is said when slaughtering the udhiya.It is reported from Hanash that he said, I saw Ali sacrificing two rams, and I said to him, "What is this?" He said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me to sacrifice on his behalf, so I sacrifice on his behalf."Reported by Abu Dawud (2790), Tirmidhi (1495), and Ahmad (843) (4/229-230), all of them through various routes from Sharik, from Abu Hasna, from Hakam, from Hanash, in this manner. Hakim said, "Sahih isnad, and this Abu Hasna is Hasan bin Hakam Nakhai." But it is not as he said. Rather, it contains three flaws.The first, Sharik is Ibn Abdullah Nakhai the judge, who has poor memory, and Bayhaqi faulted the hadith on this basis in Sunan al-Kubra (9/288), saying, "Sharik bin Abdullah is alone in transmitting it with this isnad."The second, Abu Hasna's name is Hasan, though it is also said to be Husayn. Dhahabi said in al-Mizan, "Sharik narrated from him, he is not known." And Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Unknown." Hakim's statement that he is Hasan bin Hakam Nakhai departs from the truth, because Hasan bin Hakam is well known, more than one scholar deemed him reliable, and his kunya is Abu Hakam. As for Abu Hasna, his name is not known, or it is disputed as mentioned before, and Ali bin Madini did not know him.The third flaw, Hanash bin Mutamir Sanaani, though it is also said he is Ibn Rabia bin Mutamir. Aqeeli, Ibn Jarud, and Saji mentioned him among the weak narrators, and Ibn Hibban said in al-Majruhin (1/269), "He made many errors in reports, transmitting things from Ali alone that do not resemble the hadith of reliable narrators, to the point that he became one whose hadith cannot be relied upon."Tirmidhi found the hadith strange and said following it, "This is a gharib hadith. We know it only through the hadith of Sharik. Some scholars have permitted sacrificing an udhiya on behalf of the deceased, while others did not see this as permissible. Abdullah bin Mubarak said, 'I prefer that charity be given on his behalf rather than sacrificing an udhiya for him. And if one does sacrifice, he should not eat any of it, but give it all away in charity.'"I say, as for sacrificing an udhiya on behalf of the deceased, it is not established that the Prophet ﷺ sacrificed on behalf of his uncle Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib, even though he was among his closest relatives. Likewise, he did not sacrifice on behalf of his son Ibrahim, nor on behalf of his wife Khadijah. Nor is it established that any of the companions sacrificed on behalf of their deceased relatives. However, if one does sacrifice an udhiya on behalf of the deceased independently, he should not eat any of it, and it becomes like charity given on behalf of the deceased.