Is it permissible to slaughter an animal withthe intention of offeringa sacrifice?

I have been married for four years and have not been blessed with
children. Praise be to Allaah, I have recently heard the news that my
wife is pregnant, and onmy father's advice I slaughtered two
animals(as a sacrifice) and distributed the meat among needy Muslims,
purely for the sake of Allaah on behalf of myself and my wife. What is
the Islamic ruling on that? May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
If this sacrifice and feeding the needy was done as an act of
thanksgiving to Allaah, then it is permissible, forfeeding people is a
way of doing good to people,and Allaah loves those who do good.
But if your sacrifice was aimed at warding off evil and bringing about
good, then it is not permissible. This is what is well-known among
people when the word "sacrifice" (fadw) is used, because they
thinkthat by doing this they will ward off evil and bring about good,
so they do this when accidents or sickness happen to them or their
loved ones.
In Islam, sacrifice is not ameans of warding off that which has been
decreed by Allaah, whether good or bad.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked about slaughtering an animal when a building is completed or
halfway through building. He said:
This action is subject to further examination. If the intention behind
thesacrifice is to protect oneself against the jinn or some other
intention by which the owner of the house intends to achieve
something, such as keeping it or its occupants safe, this is not
permissible, and it is a kind of bid'ah (innovation). If it is donefor
the jinn then it is major shirk, because it isan act of worship done
for someone other than Allaah.
But if it is done as an act of thanksgiving for a blessing that Allaah
has bestowed, such as reaching the roof or completing the house, sothe
person gathers his relatives and neighboursand invites them to this
feast, there is nothing wrong with this. This is what many people do
as an act of thanksgiving for a blessing from Allaah, as He has
enabledthem to build a house and live in it instead of renting.
Similar to this is what some people do when they come back from a
journey, and theyinvite their relatives and neighbours as an act of
thanksgiving to Allaah for their safe arrival. When the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came back from a journey
he would sacrifice a camel and invite the people to eat. (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 3089).
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 5/388.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih ibn 'Uthaymeen(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
What some people do when they move into a new house and slaughter an
animal and invite their neighbours and relatives is fine so long as it
is not accompanied by any corrupt beliefs, as is done in some places
where, when a person moves into a new house,the first thing he does is
to bring a sheep and slaughter it on the threshold so that the blood
will fall onto it, and they say that this will prevent the jinn from
entering the house.This is a corrupt belief which has no basis in
Islam. But if a person slaughters it as an expression of joy and
happiness, there is nothing wrong with that.