The Prophet's Orders to Slaughter their Sacrificial Animals

when the peace treaty had been concluded, the prophet [pbuh] ordered his companions to slaughter their sacrificial animals, but they were too depressed to do that. the prophet [pbuh] gave instructions in this regard three times but with negative response. he told his wife umm salamah about this attitude of his companions. she advised that he himself take the initiative, slaughter his animal and have his head shaved. seeing that, the muslims, with rended hearts, started to slaughter their animals and shave their heads. they even almost killed one another because of their distress. the prophet [pbuh] prayed three times for those who shaved their heads and once for those who cut their hair. a camel was sacrificed on behalf of seven men and a cow on behalf of the same number of people. the prophet [pbuh] sacrificed a camel which once belonged to abu jahl and which the muslims had seized as booty at badr, thus enraging the polytheists. during al-hudaibiyah campaign, the prophet [pbuh] permitted ka‘b bin ‘ujrah, who was in a state of ihram (state of ritual consecration of the pilgrim) for ‘umrah (lesser pilgrimage) to shave his head due to illness, on the condition that he will pay compensation by sacrificing a sheep, fasting for three days or feeding six needy persons. concerning this, the following verse was revealed:

"and whosoever of you is ill or has an ailment in his scalp (necessitating shaving), he must pay a fidyah (ransom) of either fasting (three days) or giving sadaqa (feeding six poor persons) or offering sacrifice (one sheep)." [al-qur'an 2:196]