If that is so, the question remains: is it a condition that the pronouncement of Allah’s Name be made by the person performing the act, or would it suffice if someone beside him pronounced it? For example, someone comes to the slaughterer and says, “In the Name of Allah,” and then the slaughterer performs the slaughter. Is this sufficient or not?

The answer is: It is not sufficient, because the pronouncement was made by someone other than the one performing the act. Thus, if a man were standing beside you when food was served to you, and he said, “In the Name of Allah,” but you ate, you would not be considered to have pronounced Allah’s Name.

Likewise, if, while you were performing ablution, someone said, “In the Name of Allah,” and you performed the ablution, that would not benefit you. Likewise, if a man were with his wife and someone else said, “You are divorced,” she would not be divorced.

The point, then, is that the statement must come from the one performing the act. Hence, the Prophet ﷺ said regarding hunting: “When you send forth your dog and mention Allah’s Name over it” (1). “You send forth” and “you mention”; thus, the pronouncement of Allah’s Name must come from the one performing the act.

The conditions for the lawfulness of a slaughtered animal are eight:

First: the eligibility of the person performing the ritual slaughter; from this follows the second condition, namely the intention to slaughter.

Third: the instrument.

Fourth: severing the windpipe and the oesophagus.