blood flows. The duty, therefore, is to sever the trachea and the esophagus, and it is preferable to cut the two jugular veins as well, because doing so ensures complete bleeding, purifies the slaughtered animal, and quickly puts it at ease.
The leading imams differ on the minimum requirement. According to al-Shafiʿi and Ahmad, it is obligatory to cut the trachea and the esophagus; according to Abu Hanifah, one of the jugular veins must also be severed; and according to Malik, all four passages must be cut.
Imam Malik’s view is very sound, for experienced practitioners have told us that draining the blood fully is not achieved unless the two jugular veins—which are the blood channels—are cut.
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Anything that pierces the body and makes the blood gush is included among what renders the meat lawful, such as the lead bullet fired from a rifle. The bullet causes the blood to gush and flow, and it kills the game by penetrating and passing through the body, not by the force of its impact or its weight. Killing with such a projectile is lawful, and there is consensus on this point.
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The same ruling that applies to game applies to domesticated animals—camels, cattle, sheep, or chickens—if they bolt, turn feral, and cannot be captured. They are then treated as game, and it is permissible to kill them with arrows, rifle bullets, pistols, machine guns, and similar weapons, by wounding them in any part of their bodies.
Al-Bukhari (5559) and Muslim (1968) narrate from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij: “We were with the Prophet ﷺ on a journey when a camel belonging to some people ran off. They had no horses with them, so a man shot it with an arrow and restrained it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘These beasts sometimes behave like wild animals; whenever one does that, deal with it in this way.’”
- Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Baz said: “Lawful ritual slaughter is that which involves cutting the trachea and the esophagus and causing the blood to flow.” It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whatever makes the blood gush, and over which the name of Allah is pronounced, eat of it—except a tooth or a claw.” [Reported by al-Bukhari (5503) and Muslim (1968)].
As for an animal or bird that is strangled until it dies, or killed by an electric current until it dies, it is unanimously forbidden to eat. Mentioning the name of Allah while strangling it, when applying the electricity, or when eating it does not render it lawful.