Slaughter in Government Slaughterhouses
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Fatwa No. ( 2189 )
Q: A dispute arose among the Muslims of South Africa regarding the slaughter process in our government slaughterhouses. Before the slaughter, the following takes place according to municipal regulations: First: The bull is struck in the brain with a gun to render it unconscious. Note: They do not use the known firearm bullet in this process, but rather a steel rod. The purpose of this process, as they claim, is to facilitate the slaughter for the butcher, to rest the animal, and to preserve the butcher's life, as bulls may sometimes attack him. Second: Since the first process is not considered sufficient by them, they stab the bull in the neck with a sharp instrument, and the specialist doctors say that the bull dies from this within fifteen minutes of the process. Third: Immediately after this, they perform the known Islamic slaughter. Please inform us: Is this slaughter valid according to the Shari'ah, and is it permissible for us to eat this meat?
The specialists: The bull dies within fifteen minutes of this procedure. Third: Immediately after this, they perform the known ritual slaughter. Please inform us: Is this slaughter valid according to the Shari'ah, and is it permissible for us to eat this meat?
A: First: It is not permissible to strike an animal with a bullet or stab it with a sharp instrument except in its throat if it is of the type that is slaughtered by throat-cutting; because of the torture it inflicts on the animal. This is except if it becomes wild or rampaging and cannot be controlled except by shooting it with a bullet or stabbing it with a spear, for example. In that case, it is permissible. Then, if it dies from that before one is able to reach it, it is permissible to eat it. If it is caught alive, its meat is not permissible to eat until it is slaughtered or throat-cut according to what is known in the Shari'ah; based on what is established in (al-Bukhari and Muslim) . Second: If a domesticated animal is shot or stabbed without a dire necessity calling for it, it is considered among the killed by falling or being struck. If it dies from that before being slaughtered or throat-cut, it is carrion, and its meat is not permissible to eat. If it is caught alive and slaughtered or throat-cut while it still has life, its meat is permissible to eat; based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3] ,
where the Exalted clarified that the strangled animal, whether by a rope, hand, or similar, and the one struck from among domesticated animals with a stick, iron, or bullet, for example, and the one that fell from a roof or over a wall, for example, and the one gored by another animal—He clarified that if it dies from that, its meat is forbidden to eat, and if it is caught alive and slaughtered, its meat is permissible to eat. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: A dispute arose among the Muslims of South Africa regarding the slaughter process in our government slaughterhouses. Before the slaughter, the following takes place according to municipal regulations: First: The bull is struck in the brain with a gun to render it unconscious. Note: They do not use the known firearm bullet in this process, but rather a steel rod. The purpose of this process, as they claim, is to facilitate the slaughter for the butcher, to rest the animal, and to preserve the butcher's life, as bulls may sometimes attack him. Second: Since the first process is not considered sufficient by them, they stab the bull in the neck with a sharp instrument, and the specialist doctors say that the bull dies from this within fifteen minutes of the process. Third: Immediately after this, they perform the known Islamic slaughter. Please inform us: Is this slaughter valid according to the Shari'ah, and is it permissible for us to eat this meat?
The specialists: The bull dies within fifteen minutes of this procedure. Third: Immediately after this, they perform the known ritual slaughter. Please inform us: Is this slaughter valid according to the Shari'ah, and is it permissible for us to eat this meat?
A: First: It is not permissible to strike an animal with a bullet or stab it with a sharp instrument except in its throat if it is of the type that is slaughtered by throat-cutting; because of the torture it inflicts on the animal. This is except if it becomes wild or rampaging and cannot be controlled except by shooting it with a bullet or stabbing it with a spear, for example. In that case, it is permissible. Then, if it dies from that before one is able to reach it, it is permissible to eat it. If it is caught alive, its meat is not permissible to eat until it is slaughtered or throat-cut according to what is known in the Shari'ah; based on what is established in (al-Bukhari and Muslim)
It was narrated from Rafi' ibn Khadij that a camel became wild in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so a man caught it with an arrow. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "These animals have wild ones just as wild animals have wild ones. So, whatever becomes wild among them, do with it thus."
عن رافع بن خديج ، أنه ندَّ بعير بحضرة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فأدركه رجل بسهم، فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن لهذه البهائم أوابد كأوابد الوحش، فما نَدَّ عليكم منها فاصنعوا به هكذاProhibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death]
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْـزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْwhere the Exalted clarified that the strangled animal, whether by a rope, hand, or similar, and the one struck from among domesticated animals with a stick, iron, or bullet, for example, and the one that fell from a roof or over a wall, for example, and the one gored by another animal—He clarified that if it dies from that, its meat is forbidden to eat, and if it is caught alive and slaughtered, its meat is permissible to eat. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.