Did the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) always choose a castrated animal for the udhiyah?

Firstly:

In the answer to
question 95329, we stated that there is nothing
wrong with castrating animals if it is done for a valid reason. This is the
view of the majority of scholars.

There is no
report in the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) to indicate that he dealt with castrated animals in a particular way,
or that there are particular rulings concerning them. Rather the most that
can be said is that he sacrificed two castrated rams. This indicates that
doing so is permissible; it is permissible to castrate animals, on the one
hand, and it is permissible to offer castrated animals as an udhiyah on the
other hand.

Ahmad (23348)
narrated that Abu Raafi‘ said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) sacrificed two large castrated rams that were white
speckled with black. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’
(4/360).

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen said:

It is
permissible to offer a castrated animal as an udhiyah, because it is proven
from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he
sacrificed two castrated rams – i.e., two animals whose testicles had been
cut off. The point is that the meat of a castrated animal tastes better, so
castration does not harm it in the slightest.

End quote from
al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri (3/111)

As for the
animal whose penis has been cut off, it is not permissible to offer it as an
udhiyah, as we shall see below.

Secondly:

The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not always choose a castrated
animal for the udhiyah; rather he would sometimes choose an intact animal
that had not been castrated.

Abu Dawood
(2796) and at-Tirmidhi (1496) narrated that Abu Sa‘eed said: The Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to offer as an
udhiyah an intact (uncastrated) horned ram, that had black markings around
the eyes, the mouth and the feet. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

Imam Maalik
(1043) narrated from Naafi‘ that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar offered an udhiyah once
in Madinah. Naafi‘ said: He instructed me to buy for him a horned, intact
(uncastrated) ram, then to slaughter it on the Day of al-Adha in the
prayer-place of the people.

He said in
an-Nihaayah (3/417):

The word
(translated here as) intact refers to an animal that that can impregnate a
female. He chose an intact male over a castrated male or a female because he
wanted one that was of high quality and large size.

See: Tahdheeb
al-Lughah by al-Azhari (5/48)

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The intact,
horned ram is the best of udhiyahs according to Maalik and most of the
scholars.

End quote from
al-Istidhkaar (5/220)

Some of the
scholars gave preference to the castrated animal because its meat tastes
better. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is
permissible to offer a castrated animal as an udhiyah; some scholars even
regard that as preferable to an intact animal, because its meat tastes
better. However the correct view is that the intact animal is preferable
from one angle, because it is physically complete, and this is given
precedence over the goodness of its meat.

End quote from
Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (9/42)

Other scholars
regarded both as being equal, without giving precedence to one or the other.

Ash-Shawkaani
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The hadiths on
this topic were quoted as evidence for it being recommended to offer a
castrated animal as an udhiyah, but what appears to be the case is that
there is no preference, because it is also proven that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) offered intact animals as
udhiyahs, as in the hadith of Abu Sa‘eed. So they are both the same.

End quote from
Nayl al-Awtaar (5/142)

Perhaps it is
most correct here to say that what is best of either type is that which is
fattest, has most meat, is most physically complete and best in appearance,
as it says in Ahkaam al-Udhiyah wa’dh-Dhakaah (2/229).

If the intact
animal is bigger and has better-tasting meat, then it is preferable, and if
the castrated animal is bigger and has better-tasting meat, then it is
preferable.

[ends].