For someone offering a sacrifice outside their place of residence, they appoint a representative (wakīl) to perform the sacrifice on their behalf. In the case of such an appointment, the act is carried out by the representative, while the intention is attributed to the person who appointed them.

Since the act is carried out by the representative, it follows the timing of the representative’s location. Therefore, the sacrifice should be made after the ῾Iīd prayer at the representative’s location, just as someone who appoints another to perform Ḥajj for them would observe the standing at ῾Arafāt according to the time in the Holy Land (i.e., Makkah), not according to the time in the location of the person appointing them. This is similar to the point at question because the appointment for sacrifice is an appointment for performing a religious ritual, not the underlying act of worship itself.

The ritual act occurs after the ῾Iīd prayer of the one performing it, who in this case is the representative. Hence, the representative does not need to ask the person who appointed them to utter tasmiyah (to say bismi-Allāh) during the sacrifice; their own tasmiyah is sufficient. In fact, if the one who appointed them were to utter tasmiyah instead of the representative who is performing the sacrifice, the tasmiyah would not be valid. The tasmiyah must be made by the person directly performing the act of sacrifice.

Thus, the sacrifice involves the intention of the one who appointed (the principal) and the action and direct performance by the representative, each fulfilling their respective requirements.

Fatwā issued by Dr. Khālid Naṣr