27. Chapters on Slaughtering

It was narrated that Umm Kurz said: “I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘On behalf of a boy, two sheep of equal age and on behalf of a girl one sheep.’” It was narrated that ‘Aishah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to sacrifice two sheep for a boy’s ‘Aqiqah and one sheep for a girl.” It was narrated from Salman bin ‘Amir that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: “For a boy there should be an ‘Aqiqah, so shed blood for him and remove the harm from him.” It was narrated from Samurah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Every boy is mortgaged by his ‘Aqiqah, so slaughter for him on the seventh day, and shave his head, and name him.” Yazid bin ‘Abdul-Muzani narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Offer an ‘Aqiqah for the boy, but do not smear his head with blood.” It was narrated that Nubaishah said: “A man called the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we used to sacrifice the ‘Atirah during the Ignorance days in Rajab,; what do you command us to do?’ He said: “Sacrifice to Allah whatever month it is, do good for the sake of Allah and feed (the poor).’ They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we used to sacrifice the Far’ah during the Ignorance days; what do you command us to do?’ He said: ‘For every Sa’imah* (flock of grazing animals), feed the firstborn as you feed the rest of your flock until it reaches an age where it could be used to carry loads, then sacrifice it, and give its meat in charity’ – I** think he said – ‘to the wayfarer, for that is good.’” It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “There is no Far’ah and no ‘Atirah.” It was narrated from Muhammad bin Abu (‘Umar) ‘Adani that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “There is no Far’ah and no ‘Atirah.” It was narrated from Shaddad bin Aws that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Allah has prescribed Al-Ihsan (proficiency) in all things. So if you kill, then kill well, and if you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.” It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by a man who was dragging a sheep by its ear. He said: ‘Leave its ear alone and hold it by the sides of its neck.’” It was narrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded that the blade should be sharpened, and hidden from the animals, and he said: ‘When one of you slaughters, let him do it quickly.’” It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas: “And certainly, the Shayatin (devils) do inspire their friends (from mankind).” [6:121] He said: “They used to say: ‘Whatever the Name of Allah has been mentioned over, do not eat it, and whatever the Name of Allah has not been mentioned over, eat it.’ Then Allah said: “Eat not of that over which Allah’s Name has not been pronounced.’” [6:121] It was narrated from ‘Aishah, the Mother of the Believers, that some people said: “O Messenger of Allah, some people bring us meat, and we do not know whether the Name of Allah has been mentioned over it or not.” He said: “Say: Bismillah and eat.’ They were new in Islam. It was narrated that Muhammad bin Saifi said: “I slaughtered two rabbits with a sharp-edges stone and brought them to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he told me to eat them.” It was narrated from Zaid bin Thabit that a wolf bit a sheep, and they slaughtered it with a sharp-edged stone, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) allowed them to eat it. It was narrated that ‘Adi bin Hatim said: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we hunt game but we cannot find anything but the sharp edge of a stone or stick (with which to slaughter it).’ He said: ‘Cause the blood to flow with whatever you want, and mention the Name of Allah over it.’” It was narrated that Rafi’ bin Khadij said: “We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) on a journey, and I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we are (sometimes) on military campaigns, and we have no knife with us.’ He said: ‘(Use) whatever causes the blood to flow, mention the Name of Allah and eat, but (do not use) teeth or nails, for the tooth is a bone and the nail is the knife of the Ethiopians.” It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by a boy who was skinning a sheep. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: “Step aside and I will show you how.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) put his hand between the skin and the flesh, and thrust his arm in until it disappeared up to the armpit, and said: “O boy, this is how you skin it.” Then he went and led the people in prayer and did not perform Wudu’. It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to a man from among the Ansar who had picked up a knife to slaughter an animal for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: “Avoid those that are lactating.” (i.e. those from which milk is received). Abu Hurairah narrated that Abu Bakr bin Abu Quhafah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him and to ‘Umar: “Let us go out to Waqifi.” He said: “So we went out in the moonlight until we came to the garden and he (the owner of the garden) said: ‘Welcome.’ Then he took up the knife and went among the sheep (to choose one for slaughter), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Avoid those that are lactating.’” It was narrated from a son of Ka’b bin Malik, from his father, that a woman slaughtered a sheep with a stone, and that was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but he did not see anything wrong with that. It was narrated that Rafi’ bin Khadij said: “We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) on a journey, and a camel ran away. A man shot an arrow at it and the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘It has the inclination to run away like a wild animal. If this happens to any of you, do likewise.’” It was narrated from Abu ‘Ushara’ that his father said: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should slaughtering only be done in the throat or upper chest?’ He said: ‘If you stab it in the thigh that will suffice you.’” It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade mutilating animals.” It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade tying up animals.” It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Do not take anything with a soul as a target.” Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade killing any animal when it is tied up (for use as a target).” It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the meat and milk of Al-Jallalah.”* It was narrated that Asm’a bint Abu Bakr said: “We slaughtered a horse and ate its meat during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).” It was narrated from Abu Zubair that he heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah say: “At the time of Khaibar we ate horses and wild donkeys.” It was narrated that Abu Ishaq Shaibani said: “I asked ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa about the flesh of domesticated donkeys and he said: ‘We were starving on the Day of Khaibar, when we were with the Prophet (ﷺ). The people had gotten some donkeys as spoils of war on the way out from Al-Madinah, so we slaughtered them and our cooking pots were boiling when the caller of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cried out, telling us to overturn out pots and not to eat anything of the flesh of donkeys. So we overturned them.’ I said to ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa: ‘Was it made unlawful?’ He said: ‘We think that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade it altogether because it eats excrement.’” It was narrated from Miqdam bin Ma’dikarib Al-Kindi that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade several things, until he mentioned (the meat of) domesticated donkeys. It was narrated that Bara’ bin ‘Azib said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to throw away the meat of domesticated donkeys, raw or cooked, then he did not say anything to us about it after that.” It was narrated that Salamah bin Akwa’ said: “We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the campaign of Khaibar, and in the evening the people lit their fires. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘What are you cooking?’ They said: ‘The meat of domesticated donkeys.’ He said: ‘Throw out what is in them (the pots) and break them.’ A man said: ‘Or can we throw out what is in them and wash them?’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Or (do) that.’” It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that the caller of the Prophet (ﷺ) cried out: “Allah and His Messenger forbid you to eat the flesh of domesticated donkeys, for it is filthy.” It was narrated that ‘Ata’ narrated that Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said: “We used to eat the meat of horses.” I said: “And mules?” He said: “No.” It was narrated that Khalid bin Walid said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the flesh of horses, mules and donkeys.” It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed said: “We asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the fetus. He said: ‘Eat it if you wish, for it is considered legally slaughtered with the slaughtering of its mother.’”