I live in France and we are about to celebrate the Sacrifice (Eid al Adha). I really want to execute the ritual but I have no place to stock the meat, nobody here eat sheep's meat due to high cholesterol and it's a little expensive.
And over all, I became vegetarian.
I would like to know if it is ok to give the money I would put for a sheep to someone who is in need?
In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful
@Servant gave an appropriate answer in his comment:
There are lots of Islamic organizations who are doing slaughtering in combine form and meat is distributed to poor, just need to pay them making an intention from yours
Actually as dear Servant pointed out, there are lots of Islamic organizations who are doing slaughtering, and it is said that they distribute the meats to poor people. Accordingly, you’d better strive to find a trusted organization and give its money to them in order to sacrifice for you. Then, god willing, Allah will give you its thawab (reward). Good luck.
Ritual sacrifice is not obligatory (fard) in any school of thought. The most strict definition is in the Hanafi school of thought where it is highly recommended (wajib). Wajib in Hanafi jurisprudence is somewhere between obligatory and supererogatory (nafl), i.e. it is OK to skip it but if you make a habit of leaving it you are a sinner.
It is a Sunnah - supererogatory act - according to the Shafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Jafari schools of thought.
You can either offer the sacrifice or skip it, but alms-giving is not equivalent to or serves as a replacement of sacrifice. A majority of pilgrims just pay money for their ritual sacrifice, which is actually carried out by agencies working in the field.