at Baldah—and this was before revelation had been sent down to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The Messenger of Allah then presented him with a platter on which there was some meat, but he refused to partake of it and said, “I do not eat from what you slaughter upon your stone altars; I eat only that over which the name of Allah has been pronounced.”

In another wording of the report: “Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl used to criticize Quraysh for their slaughtered animals and would say, ‘The sheep is a creature of Allah: He sent down water for it from the sky and caused pasture for it to grow from the earth, yet you slaughter it without invoking the name of Allah!’ He spoke thus in censure and to show the gravity of their act.”

Moreover, the Almighty’s words, “and that over which any name other than Allah has been invoked” (al-Māʾidah 3), in their outward sense refer to whatever is slaughtered for someone other than Allah—such as when one says, “This animal is offered to so-and-so.” When that is the intention, it is immaterial whether the words are actually spoken or left unspoken. The prohibition of this is even clearer than the prohibition of meat slaughtered merely for consumption while one says over it, “In the name of the Messiah,” or the like. Just as that which we slaughter as an act of devotion, seeking nearness to Allah Most High, is purer and more meritorious than what we slaughter simply for meat while saying, “In the name of Allah,” worshipping Allah through prayer and sacrificial offering is greater than merely invoking His name at the outset of an affair. Consequently, associating partners with Him by directing prayer or sacrificial rites to another is graver than seeking assistance