Notes On Machine Slaughter and Meat

Notes On Machine Slaughter and Meat

Al-Salam alaykum

Today I attended a small get-together of some fellow-students and amongst the discussions was one on machine slaughter. I would like to note down here what I've learnt.

There are basically 3 conditions for the permissibility of slaughtered meat.

1. It must be done by a Muslim or Kitabi (Jew or Christian)

2. Purely the name of Allah (in whatever language) must be taken i.e. not on the name of a Prophet etc.

3. Most of the 4 main veins must be cut.

When these three conditions are met the slaughtered animal will be halal for consumption.

Wrt Machine Slaughter there are various methods

1. The animals are transported to the place of slaughter by means of a conveyor belt and each animal is physically slaughtered by a suitable person with tasmiyah.

This unanimously halal.

2. The animals are transported by conveyor belt to the place of slaughter where they are slaughtered by a machine with no person present.

These animals will be haram.

3. There is a person who presses the button whilst reciting tasmiyah. This sets the machine in operation which then brings the knife (or knives, simultaneously) onto the neck of the animal (s).

WRT the permissibility of these animals there are 2 groups of Ulama

The first group (which includes Mufti Shafi, Mufti Nizamuddin, Mufti Taqi, Mufti Rashid Ahmad) state that the animal is halal.

However if the head is totally severed from the body it is makruh and sinful if the cutting began from the front of the animal's neck. If it began from the back then the animal will be halal only if it had remained alive when the 4 veins were being cut. Nevertheless this is makruh and sinful. If it did not remain alive until then, the animal will be haram.

The second group (incl. Mufti Mahmud, Qasimul Ulum and others) are of the view that even such type of machine slaughter does not render the animal halal.

They reason that it is the machine that is effecting the slaughtering and the person is merely switching it on thereby removing the mani` (obstacle) for its operation. This is analogous to a knife hung from a rope that is then cut causing the knife to fall onto the neck of the animal and cutting the veins. Such an animal has been declared impermissible by the fuqaha.

The first group dispute this qiyas on the basis that in the case of machine slaughter it is not a case of raf` al-mani` but rather one of isal al-dhabh ila al-dabbah i.e. causing the animal to be slaughtered.

That in brief is the view of the ulama. The best and safest method no doubt is the mechanical (physical human) slaughter of each animal with the tasmiyah.

Wallahu Ta`ala A`lam.

Abu Usamah