9/640- Abū Yaʿlā Shaddād ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah has prescribed iḥsān (excellence) in everything. So when you kill, kill with excellence, and when you slaughter, slaughter with excellence. Let each of you sharpen his blade and give comfort to the animal he is about to slaughter.” Related by Muslim.

[Commentary]
Imām al-Nawawī—may Allah have mercy on him—records this ḥadīth in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, in the chapter on forbearance, gentleness, and deliberateness. Quoting the narration of Shaddād ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: “Allah has prescribed iḥsān in everything. Therefore, when you kill, kill with excellence, and when you slaughter, slaughter with excellence.”

“Allah has prescribed iḥsān in everything” means that He has legislated excellence in every affair, even in killing and slaughtering and in all other actions. Whatever you undertake, you must do it with iḥsān.

Thus the Prophet’s words: “When you kill, kill with excellence; and when you slaughter, slaughter with excellence,” for the taking of life may occur at times through killing and at times through slaughtering.

Dhabḥ (slaughter) and naḥr (sacrifice) apply to animals whose meat is lawful. Naḥr is reserved for camels, while dhabḥ is used for all other animals. In naḥr the cut is made at the lower part of the neck next to the chest; in dhabḥ it is made at the upper part of the neck near the head. In both slaughter and sacrifice it is essential to sever the two jugular veins, the thick vessels through which the blood flows and is distributed.