Short answer
No. Qurbani and zakat are separate duties, and one cannot replace the other. Zakat is 2.5 percent of your wealth given to eligible people; qurbani is the sacrifice of an animal on the days of Eid al-Adha, wajib in the Hanafi school for those who own the nisab. You also cannot pay for your qurbani out of zakat money.
Qurbani is wajib on a Muslim who owns the nisab on the days of sacrifice, and the worship lies in the slaughter itself. It does not discharge zakat, and zakat money cannot be used to buy one's qurbani. Giving qurbani meat to the poor is recommended sadaqah, not zakat.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Qurbani is a strongly recommended sunnah rather than wajib. It is still separate from zakat.
- Maliki
- Qurbani is a strongly recommended sunnah. It is separate from zakat.
- Hanbali
- Qurbani is a strongly recommended sunnah. It is separate from zakat.
Explanation
Both duties fall on people with means, and both help the poor, so they are easily confused. They differ in almost every rule:
- What it is: zakat is a share of wealth handed to the poor; qurbani is an act of sacrifice offered to Allah.
- Ruling: zakat is fard; qurbani is wajib in the Hanafi school (see is qurbani wajib).
- When: zakat after a lunar year on the nisab; qurbani on the 10th to 12th of Dhul Hijjah, with no year needed.
- How much: zakat is 2.5 percent of zakatable wealth; qurbani is one sheep or goat, or a share in a cow or camel.
- Who benefits: zakat must be owned by eligible people; qurbani meat may be eaten by you and your family, given as gifts, and given to the poor (see dividing qurbani meat).
Is qurbani sadaqah? The sacrifice itself is worship: Allah says the meat and blood do not reach Him, but your piety does (22:37). The meat you give to the poor is sadaqah, and recommended, but it is not zakat and does not reduce what you owe.
Some practical points:
- Pay your qurbani from your own money, not from zakat you owe.
- If a charity offers to buy animals for the poor with zakat, the meat given to eligible people can count as zakat in kind, but it is not your qurbani.
- Owning the nisab on Eid al-Adha makes qurbani wajib even if your zakat year has not finished.
The four schools agree that each duty stands on its own.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Hajj 22:37
لَن يَنَالَ ٱللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَآؤُهَا وَلَٰكِن يَنَالُهُ ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ مِنكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمْ لِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٣٧﴾
Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them to you that you may glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good.
The worship in qurbani is the sacrifice, not a charity payment.
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:60
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌۭ ﴿٦٠﴾
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Zakat has its own recipients and is a separate duty.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5545
Sahih... إن أول ما نبدأ به في يومنا هذا أن نصلي ...
"The first thing we do on this day of ours is to pray, then return and sacrifice."
Qurbani is a rite of Eid day, separate from yearly zakat.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Udhiyya. Qurbani is wajib on a free, resident Muslim of means on the day of sacrifice.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Udhiyya. The means for qurbani is the nisab of sadaqat al-fitr, with no year required.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.