If they have shares in a sacrifice, is it essential for each one to eat someof his sacrifice?

There is a charity in our country which organisesfor seven people to
share in a sacrifice, such as a calf or a cow, then the charity takes
care of slaughtering it and distributing the meat to the poor in each
village. Then each individual takes his share of the sacrifice after
the rest has been distributed. Please note that the value of each
person's share is 950 pounds. If we assume that we collect the money
for seven sacrifices and we have forty-nine people, and it is very
difficult to find a place to slaughter the sacrifices within a short
period of time so that each person may begiven something of his
sacrifice, my question is: is it possible to collect the share from,
for example, three sacrificesand distribute that to the people
involved, andthen leave the rest of thesacrificial meat to be
distributed to the poor? Or is it essential that each person take from
his own sacrifice?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is permissible to share in a sacrifice if it is a camel or a cow.
It is permissible for seven people to share in one sacrifice of a cow
or a camel.
It is proven that the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) shared
in sacrifices (hadiy), seven sharing a camel or a cow, in Hajj and
'Umrah.
Muslim (1318) narrated that Jaabir ibn 'Abd-Allah(may Allah be pleased
with him) said: In the year of al-Hudaybiyah we offered the sacrifice
with the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him), a camel on behalf of seven and a cow on behalf of seven.
According to another report: We set out with the Messenger of Allaah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) entering ihraam for
Hajj,and the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) told us to share (in sacrificing) camels and cattle, every seven
of us sharing an animal.
For more information, please see the answer toquestion no. 45757 .
Secondly:
It is Sunnah to eat from the sacrifice but it is not obligatory
according to the majority of fuqaha'.
In Zaad al-Mustaqni' it says: It is Sunnah to eat one third, give one
thirdas gifts, and give one third in charity.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
commentary: The words "It is Sunnah to eat one third, give one third
as gifts, and give one third in charity" mean it is prescribed, not in
the sense that it is obligatory, but that it is mustahabb to divide it
into thirds and eat one third, give one third as gifts, and give one
third in charity.
The difference between gifts and charity is that what is given as an
act of friendship is a gift, because of what it says in the hadeeth,
"Give one another gifts and you will love one another." And what is
given so as to draw closeto Allah is charity. Based on this, charity
is given to one who is in need and a gift is given to onewho is
independent of means.
Dividing it into thirds, i.e., one third for eating, one third for
giving as gifts and one third for giving in charity, is doneso that
people of all classes or levels will benefit from his sacrifice.
Eating it oneself is mentioned first because Allah mentioned it first
in the verse in which He said (interpretation of the meaning): "Then
eat thereof and feed therewith the poor having a hard time" [al-Hajj
22:28].
With regard to the words "It is Sunnah to eat", the apparent meaning
is that if he gives all of it in charity, there is nothing wrong with
that and he is not sinning. This is based on the fact that eating
fromone's sacrifice is Sunnah,as is the view of the majority of
scholars.
Some of the scholars said: Rather eating from it is obligatory and he
is sinning if he does not dothat, because Allah has enjoined it and
given it precedence over charity;and because the Prophet(blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him), during the Farewell Pilgrimage, enjoined
that a piece be taken from each sacrificial animal and placed in a pot
and cooked, then he ate some of its meat and drank some of its broth.
They said: To go to the effort of taking one hundred pieces from one
hundred camels andcooking them in a pot and eating from that indicates
that the command in the verse is given in the sense of it being
obligatory. And because this comes under the heading of enjoying the
blessings ofAllah, so it is included in the words of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): "The days of al-Tashreeq
(the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhu'l-Hijjah) are days of eating, drinking
and remembering Allah, may He be glorified and exalted."
Whatever the case, the individual should not refrain from eating
fromhis sacrifice.
End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti', 7/481
If the matter is as you described, and it will be difficult to
slaughter seven cows in one day, and everyone wants to take meat on
the same day, there is nothing wrong with that. So you should
slaughter as many as you can, then everyone should take some of the
meat. For those whose cow could not be slaughtered on the first day,
they may take some of the meat, even if it is only a little, when it
is slaughtered on the second day. But you should pay attentionto two
matters:
1. It is essential to set aside some of the meat of each cow for
charity and it should not all be distributed to those whoare offering
the sacrifice, whether it is slaughtered on the first day or after
that.
2. It is essential to specify who has shared in the sacrifice at
the time of slaughter, so it should be intended that this cow is
offered on behalf of So and so, mentioning each of them by name. It is
not sufficient to slaughter allthe cows on behalf of all the
participants; rather it is essential to identify exactly on whose
behalf each cow is being sacrificed.
And Allah knows best.