Cow, Goat or Sheep Qurbani: Which Animal to Choose

Cow Qurbani, goat Qurbani or sheep Qurbani? All three are valid. The right choice depends on how many people you are giving for, your budget and how much meat you want to reach the poor.

Which animals are allowed?

Qurbani has to come from livestock, called bahimat al-an’am in Arabic. That means:

• cattle (cows and bulls)
• buffalo, which count as cattle
• goats
• sheep, including rams and well-grown lambs
• camels

Chickens, ducks, deer and other animals do not count, whatever their size. Our guide to sacrificial animals for Eid ul Adha covers the less common questions, such as male or female animals and castrated animals.

Cow Qurbani

A cow is the most popular choice in South Asia, and with good reason. One cow gives a lot of meat, and it can be split into seven shares. The Companion Jabir said: “We sacrificed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the year of Hudaybiyah, a camel for seven and a cow for seven” (Sahih Muslim 1318).

• Shares: up to 7. You can take one share, several or the whole cow.
• Minimum age: 2 full years. The same applies to bulls and buffalo.
• Good for: families giving for several people at once, or anyone who wants to feed as many people as possible.

Each person in a shared cow must intend Qurbani or another act of worship, such as Aqiqah. A share bought only for meat spoils it for the others in the Hanafi school.

Goat Qurbani

A goat is a whole animal sacrificed for one person. Many people like that. It is your own Qurbani, not a share.

• Shares: 1 person only.
• Minimum age: 1 full year. A younger goat is not valid, however big it is.
• Good for: one person who wants a whole animal.

Goat meat is lean and is the everyday meat in much of rural Bangladesh, so it is welcome in every home it reaches. There is more on goats in goat sacrifice in Islam.

Sheep Qurbani

A ram was the animal sent in place of Ismail (AS), and the Prophet ﷺ himself sacrificed rams. A sheep counts as one person’s Qurbani, just like a goat.

• Shares: 1 person only.
• Minimum age: 1 year. The Prophet ﷺ also allowed a jadha’ah, a well-grown young sheep (Sahih Muslim 1963). In the Hanafi school this means a sheep of six months or more that is big enough to pass for a one-year-old.
• Good for: one person who wants to follow the Prophet’s own choice of animal.

Cow, goat or sheep: side by side

Is one better than another? Scholars mention that for one person, a whole sheep or goat is better than a seventh of a cow, because it is a complete sacrifice. A whole cow or camel for one person is better still. In practice, any valid animal given sincerely is accepted, and a cow share often feeds more people for the money.

Defects that make an animal unfit

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Four will not do for sacrifice: a one-eyed animal whose blindness is clear, a sick animal whose sickness is clear, a lame animal whose limp is clear, and an animal so thin it has no marrow” (Sunan Abu Dawud 2802, Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 1497). The Hanafi school adds, by analogy:

• a horn broken off at the root (a chipped tip is fine)
• more than a third of an ear or of the tail missing
• most of the teeth gone, so it can’t graze
• a broken leg, or being unable to walk to the place of slaughter

Small things like a scar or a slit in the ear don’t stop an animal being used. When in doubt, choose another animal. Our team checks these points at the market before we buy anything.

How the animal is slaughtered

The rules are the same for every animal. The animal is laid gently on its left side facing the Qibla. The person slaughtering says Bismillahi Allahu Akbar and cuts the windpipe, the food pipe and the jugular veins in one quick stroke with a very sharp knife. The animal must be alive at the cut. The Prophet ﷺ said, “When you slaughter, slaughter well” (Sahih Muslim 1955). So the knife is sharpened out of sight and animals are kept away from each other’s slaughter.

This is the main reason many families avoid Western abattoirs for Qurbani. Most of them stun animals first, and some European countries require it by law. For the wider rules on timing, intention and sharing the meat, see the Qurbani rules.

Choosing your Qurbani with us

Every animal we sacrifice is bought at a local market in rural Bangladesh and checked for age and defects. It is slaughtered by hand after the Eid prayer, with no stunning, and the meat goes to Rohingya refugees and poor families. Prices for 2027:

Reserve a cow share   or a goat

Quick questions

Can seven people really share one cow? Yes. Each share counts as a full Qurbani for one person.

Can I mix Qurbani and Aqiqah in one cow? Many scholars allow some shares to be for Aqiqah as long as every share is for worship.

Is a female animal allowed? Yes. Both male and female animals are valid.

How much meat does a cow give? It depends on the animal, but a cow gives far more than a goat or sheep, so a share usually reaches more people.

To see how the whole process works, from the market to the meat being shared, read about our Qurbani donation.