THE SUNNAH METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING
Submitted by Mohammed Gilani on
The best method of slaughtering is the Islamic method.
Slaughtering animals, in the way prescribed by Islam, is now
proven, by western scientists, as the best system.
When we slaughter, we are commanded not to nip the neck or cut
it off completely. This can happen with chickens. If a person has a
heavy hand, he should be careful. To cut the whole head off is
Makrooh and should be avoided.
We are required to slaughter four pipes: the wind pipe, the food
pipe and the two veins which transport the blood.
The minimum
requirement by the Shari’ah is that we cut at least three pipes. It
will still be Halaal.
Slaughtering must be done in a swift motion, not in an erratic or
insensitive manner – or like how we slice a loaf of bread. The knife
must be very sharp and we must use enough force to sever all four
pipes together.
On slaughtering in this manner, the blood gushes out and the entire
nervous system comes into action. The nerves connected to the
heart receive a message from the brain, that it needs more blood, so
the heart pumps more blood. The brain sends a message to the legs
or the wings, to say that it needs more blood. So when we see the
animal kicking its legs or flapping its wings, it is because of the
messages being received, to release more blood.
We think the
animal is in pain but this is not the case.
Scientifically, it has been proven that the tastiest and
healthiest meat is the meat with the least amount of blood in
it. When the animal is stunned, its brain is 50-60% dead, if not
more than this.
When an animal is stunned, very little blood is released. Many nonMuslims also look for Halaal meat because they say it tastes very
nice. In these days, if a person has to ask anyone: “Where do you buy your
meat?”, then often, the response is: “Don’t worry, its certified Halaal!”
A few years ago, we used to say that the meat is Halaal. Today we
say it is “certified Halaal.” Who certified it? How was it certified
Halaal? …This is something we are unconcerned about.
When we visited Germany, I explained this Islamic method of
slaughtering. Some of the people there knew about it better than I
did, and explained that an experiment was carried out, at the
university, where electrodes were used on the brain of the animal,
to measure the amount of pain it experienced. According to their
experiment, they found that an animal slaughtered without
stunning, experienced minimal pain – almost none – compared
to the animal that was stunned.
As an example: If a person is hit on his head, he experiences a lot of
pain and it sends him in a spin – so to say. The same happens when
stunning an animal.
So we have to slaughter in the correct manner. The nerve for pain
runs in the front with the four pipes that are cut and the other
nerves run on the back. So when we slaughter with a sharp knife,
the pain nerve is cut and the animal is free of pain.
Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta’ala has given us the most advanced way of
slaughtering. Where science has never reached, our Nabi(Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) showed us the most superior way of slaughtering
animals, for all times.
Qurbani is a very great Ibaadat. Let us take it seriously. Let it be
that every Muslim household participates in this great Ibaadat, by
carrying out this Ibaadah also. Let us get the whole family
involved, young and old. Let it be that our kitchens, our yards, our
gardens, are utilized for this wonderful Ibaadat of Qurbani.
Let us
bring alive this great Sunnah and the spirit of Qurbani.