1165 – ʿĀ’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) related: “Some people said to the Prophet ﷺ, ‘A group brings us meat and we do not know whether they have pronounced the name of Allah over it or not.’ He replied, ‘Pronounce the name of Allah over it yourselves and eat.’ ” Reported by al-Bukhārī (1).

Points derived from the ḥadīth

1. The report has several chains whose wordings clarify its intent. Al-Bukhārī narrates, “They were new to Islam,” and in another version, “That was in the early days of Islam.”

2. Conditions for valid slaughter:
   (a) Saying “In the name of Allah” at the moment one begins. If omitted deliberately, the slaughter is unlawful according to the majority of scholars; if omitted out of ignorance or forgetfulness, it is lawful according to the stronger of the two opinions.
   (b) Competence of the slaughterer: he must be a sane, discerning Muslim or a person of the Scripture.
   (c) Performing the slaughter according to the Sharīʿah: from the animal’s throat if it can be restrained, severing the trachea and the esophagus.
   (d) Using a sharp instrument that lets the blood flow, such as a knife and the like.

3. Shaykh ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ḥumayd said: The scholars unanimously agree that the site of slaughter is the throat (al-ḥalq) and the labbah; it is impermissible to slaughter a restrained animal elsewhere.
   – According to Mālik, it is only valid if four are cut: the trachea, the esophagus, and the two jugular veins.
   – According to al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad, it suffices to cut the trachea and the esophagus even if the jugulars are not severed.