If the udhiyah dies before it can be slaughtered
Question

                I decided to offer an udhiyah this year through the mosque that belongs to al-Jam‘iyyah ash-Shar‘iyyah, and I was one of a group of six who bought shares in a calf. We paid 2000 (Egyptian) pounds to al-Jam‘iyyah ash-Shar‘iyyah, and they bought the sacrificial animals, and they allocated to each group of partners a specific udhiyah according to the numbers, one  udhiyah for each group of five, six or seven individuals, according to prior agreement, but one hour before Fajr on the day of Eid, the calf allocated for my udhiyah died, and no money was returned to me, because I had bought the udhiyah and it died after purchase and before the sacrifice. I looked for another udhiyah and ended up slaughtering a sheep that cost 1000 pounds.

My question is:

Firstly, what should be done in this situation? Secondly, is this being deprived of goodness regarded as a punishment that befell me for my sins?
Praise be to Allah.
	1 – If a person 
	singles out an udhiyah then it dies, without any negligence or transgression 
	on his part, then he does not have to do anything.

	If the  udhiyah 
	that is in his possession dies without any negligence on his part, or is 
	stolen, or wanders off, then he does not have to do anything, because it is 
	a trust that was in his care, and he is not liable for it if he was not 
	negligent, as is the case with items entrusted to one’s care. End quote. 
	See: al-Insaaf by al-Mirdaawi (4/71)

	2 – If he or 
	someone else destroys it, then the one who caused its destruction is liable 
	to repay its value or replace it.

	Ibn Qudaamah 
	(may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (9/352):

	If he destroys 
	an obligatory udhiyah, then he must repay its value, because it comes under 
	the heading of things that have value; what counts is its value on the day 
	that it was destroyed.

	Once this is 
	clear, you do not have to do anything, because you did not destroy the 
	udhiyah, and you were not negligent in caring for it.

	With regard to 
	what you slaughtered after that with the intention of offering the udhiyah 
	(i.e., the sheep), this is something good and you will be rewarded for it, 
	in sha Allah, although you did not have to slaughter something instead of 
	the one that died. But as you did that, it was a voluntary act, and extra 
	good on your part, in sha Allah.

	There is nothing 
	in the fact that your udhiyah died to indicate that it was a kind of 
	deprivation or divine punishment to you, or any such thing. Rather, who 
	knows? Perhaps it was a test for which you will be rewarded, in addition to 
	your previous efforts to do good, then Allah enabled you to offer another 
	udhiyah instead of the one that died. All of this is an increase in goodness 
	and divine favour to you, in sha Allah.

	Shaykh al-Islam 
	Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

	If, in addition 
	to having firm resolve, the individual does whatever he is able to, then 
	according to Islamic teaching, he is equal in status to the one who does the 
	action in full, and he will have the same reward or punishment as the one 
	who did the action in full and did everything he intended. So he (the one 
	who did as much of the deed as he was able to) will be rewarded or punished 
	even for what he failed to do (but intended to do if he was able), like 
	those who cooperate and help one another in doing righteous deeds.

	End quote from
	Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (10/722-723). See also: Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa 
	(23/236)

	We ask Allah to 
	accept from you and from all the Muslims. 

	And Allah knows 
	best.