If it is said: “By this, you are causing people’s wealth to be lost,”

we reply: This is like someone saying, “If you cut off the thief’s hand, half the population will become crippled, with no hand.” Yet if the thief’s hand were cut off, theft would decrease and no one would steal. Likewise, when we tell the man who forgot to mention Allah’s name over the animal he slaughtered, “Your slaughtered animal is unlawful,” then, when he comes to slaughter another time, he may mention Allah’s name ten times and never forget it again. He has been burned by the fire of forgetfulness. In this way, we safeguard this religious rite: Allah’s name must be mentioned over the animal being slaughtered.

Conditions for valid slaughter:

The first is mentioning Allah’s name. The scholars’ disagreement concerning its ruling has already been discussed.

The mention of Allah’s name is to be made when one intends to perform the act itself—not when sharpening the blade, meaning the knife; nor when placing the arrow in the bow; nor when loading the shot into the rifle—but at the moment of the act. This is why the preposition “over” occurs in Allah’s statement: “So eat of that over which the name of Allah has been mentioned,” indicating that this is the act over which Allah’s name must be mentioned.

The second is causing the blood to flow—that is, making it gush forth until it flows like a river, meaning that it pours out forcefully. This can only be achieved by cutting the two jugular veins, commonly known as the arteries—though some people call them the veins. They are two well-known thick vessels surrounding the windpipe. Blood cannot be made to flow in this manner except by cutting them. The evidence for this is:

First, the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whatever causes the blood to flow” (1), and he did not mention