Dhabīḥah (or zabiha, Arabic: ذَبÙÙŠÙ'Øَة‎ dhabīḥah IPA: [ðæˈbiËħÉ], 'slaughter'(noun)) is, in Islamic law, the prescribed method of ritual slaughter of all animals excluding locusts, fish, and most sea-life. This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the throat, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact.
The precise details of the slaughtering method arise from Islamic tradition educated by Muhammad, himself. It is used to comply with the conditions stated in the Qur'an:
Forbidden for you are carrion, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered while proclaiming the name of any other than God, and one killed by strangling, and one killed with blunt weapons, and one which died by falling, and that which was gored by the horns of some animal, and one eaten by a wild beast, except those whom you slaughter; and that which is slaughtered at the altar and that which is distributed by the throwing of arrows [for an omen]; this is an act of sin.
Slaughtering process
The slaughtering process referred to as dhabīḥah is regulated by a set of rules intended to ensure the health of the animal to be slaughtered and conformance to Islamic religious law, which is derived from the Qur'an and hadiths.
Relevant verses of the Qurʼan
The following verses of the Qurʼan mention the items which are forbidden to be eaten in Islam; however other have cited many other reasons that discourage the consumption of blood, pork, and carrion.
"He has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allah has been invoked; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which has been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
"This day (all) the good things are allowed to you; and the food of those who have been given the Book is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them; and the chaste from among the believing women and the chaste from among those who have been given the Book before you (are lawful for you); when you have given them their dowries, taking (them) in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for paramours in secret; and whoever denies faith, his work indeed is of no account, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. "
"Therefore eat of that on which Allah's name has been mentioned if you are believers in His communications."
Say: I do not find in that which has been revealed to me anything forbidden for an eater to eat of except that it be what has died of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine-- for that surely is unclean-- or that which is a transgression, other than (the name of) Allah having been invoked on it; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, Merciful."
"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit] - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
Prerequisites
According to the laws of dhabīḥah ḥalÄl, certain prerequisites must be met before an animal is slaughtered:
- The animal must not be a forbidden substance as per the Quran.
- The slaughter itself must be done by a sane (mentally competent) adult Muslim, Jew, or Christian as they are considered "People of the Book" (Arabic: Ahl al-KitÄb‎); this is a point of consensus amongst Muslim scholars. They differ, however, concerning whether Sabians and Zoroastrians are also included under People of the Book as stated in Surat al-Maʼidah, ayah 5. Modern authors have proposed that Christians who follow the Pauline doctrine of the Trinity are not included in this dispensation.
- All Muslim scholars hold that mentioning God's name at the time of slaughter is a must; they differ as to whether or not forgetting to do so or leaving it off intentionally at the time of slaughter renders the sacrifice void and the meat thus forbidden for consumption. They also agree that if other than God's name is mentioned then this would be forbidden, due to the verse
5:3 "Forbidden for you are carrion, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered while proclaiming the name of any other than God, and one killed by strangling, and one killed with blunt weapons, and one which died by falling, and that which was gored by the horns of some animal, and one eaten by a wild beast, except those whom you slaughter; and that which is slaughtered at the altar and that which is distributed by the throwing of arrows [for an omen]; this is an act of sin." â€"â€" al-Maʼidah 5:3 "Eat not of that (meat) on which Allah's name has not been pronounced." [al-AnÊ»am 6:121] Thus an animal slaughtered by a Christian who did not mention anything at the time of slaughter would be permissible to some, while other scholars would hold it impermissible.
- In order for these traditions to take part in the United States, certain governmental regulations, enforced by acts, such as the Humane Slaughter Act require various prerequisites to be in place before any ritual or slaughter of any kind be permitted. This includes faiths such as Muslim, for Halal processing, and Jewish, for Kosher processing. Regulations include that the animal be completely insensitive to pain before killing it, typically by a technique like electronarcosis.
Islamic slaughtering
The act of slaughtering itself is preceded by mentioning the name of God. Invoking the name of God at the moment of slaughtering is sometimes interpreted as acknowledgment of God's right over all things and thanking God for the sustenance He provides: it is a sign the food is taken not in sin or in gluttony, but to survive and praise Allah, as the most common blessing is, "Bismillah," or "In the name of God".
Thus the slaughter itself is preceded by the words "In the name of Allah (Bismillah)". It is not regarded appropriate to use the phrase "Bismillah al RaḥmÄn Al Raḥīm" (In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful) in this situation, because slaughtering is an act of subdual rather than mercy.
According to Islamic tradition, the animal is brought to the place of slaughter and laid down gently so as to not injure it. It is Sunnah but not Fard that the head of the animal be facing the Qiblah. The blade must be kept hidden until the very last moment while the jugular of the animal is felt. The conventional method used to slaughter the animal involves cutting the large arteries in the neck along with the esophagus and vertebrate trachea with one swipe of a non-serrated blade. Care must be taken that the nervous system is not damaged, as this may cause the animal to die before exsanguination has taken place. During the swipe of the blade, the head must not be decapitated. While blood is draining, the animal is not handled until it has died. While this is an acceptable method, the Egyptian Fatwaa Committee has agreed that an animal can be rendered insensible to pain via electronarcosis and still be halal. It's also important to note that these guidelines also respect the laws in place by the United States government to allow the practice to be permissible in the United States.
It is also compulsory that each animal must be slaughtered individually and in seclusion. In a poultry farm or slaughter house, one animal must not witness another animal being slaughtered.
This method adheres to Islamic law (it ensures the animal does not die by any of the Haraam methods) and helps to effectively drain blood from the animal. This may be important because the consumption of blood itself is forbidden in Islam;[Quran 2:173] however, it is not clear that bleeding the animal removes all traces of blood from the carcass, so the meat may remain unclean. In fact it is stated by Islamic authorities that it is only necessary to drain "most" of the blood from the animal.
Inducing unconsciousness
Stunning the animal with a bolt-gun, as is the standard practice in FDA-approved slaughtering houses, may cause instant death. Muslims regard meat from such a slaughter to be haraam, considering such meat as carrion.
It is for these reasons that there are ongoing questions and conversations within the North American Muslim community as to whether meat processed in these slaughter houses meets the standard of "halal" (as opposed to dhabīḥah). At center of this debate is the doubt as to whether this meat could qualify under the allowed category of the food of the People of the Book (Jewish and Christians). The first consideration being that standard slaughtering methods could cause the animal to die in a way other than slaughter (death through exsanguination).
Debate continues among Muslim jurists and the general Muslim population about whether or not stunning, anesthetics, or other forms of inducing unconsciousness in the animal prior to slaughter are permissible per Islam. Several halal food authorities have more recently permitted the use of a recently developed fail-safe system of head-only stunning where the shock is less painful and non-fatal and where it is possible to reverse the procedure and revive the animal after the shock.
Stunning
According to the British Halal Food Authority, stunning is permissible. However there are different forms of stunning; some of which are prohibited, and some are permitted. According to the HFA, the following are prohibited:
- Captive-bolt stunning
- Percussion stunning
- Gas stunning
There are two types of stunning that the Halal Food Authority approves:
- Water-bath Stun â€" for poultry only - where birds are dragged through water with an electric stunner within. Stated that sometimes they are not rendered fully paralyzed after the water bath because they lift their bodies up while struggling and do not make full contact with the stunner. Furthermore, the birds come out of the electrified bath paralyzed, but not stunned. Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns.
- Electric-Tong Stun â€" for larger animals, e.g. sheep, cow, camel, goat, etc.The tong would have to stay attached to the head when the bovine falls. The neck to neck position must never be used because the current may fail to go through the brain. A headholder that holds the animal's head up when the body falls is stronlgy recommended.
- Electronarcosis is also often used for larger animals, dulling the animal's senses before the slaughtering and has been agreed upon as licit by the Egyptian Fawtwa Committee, which is a committee that has the authority to declare what is permissible and not in the ritual slaughter techniques of halal.