inference. The proof itself is sound, but the inference drawn from it is weak. An example is what some scholars inferred from the hadith: “The slaughter of the fetus is accomplished by the slaughter of its mother” 1.. The well-known understanding of this hadith among scholars is that when the fetus’s mother is lawfully slaughtered, her slaughter suffices for it as well—that is, the fetus need not be slaughtered if it is removed from her after she has been slaughtered, for it has already died, and there is no benefit in slaughtering it after its death.

Some scholars, however, understood the hadith to mean that the fetus must be slaughtered in the same manner as its mother: by severing the two jugular veins and causing the blood to flow. But this interpretation is far-fetched, for blood cannot be made to flow after death.

The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Whatever causes the blood to flow and Allah’s name is mentioned