Chapter 02 - Hunting and Slaughtering

1372. Abu Hurairah   narrated that the Messenger of Allah   said, 'If anyone owns a dog except a sheepdog, a hunting dog, or a farm dog, a carat of his reward will be deducted daily." Agreed upon.






1373. "Adi bin Hatim   narrated: The Messenger of Allah  said to me, "When you set off your dog, mention Allah’s  Name (say Bismillah), and if it catches anything for you and you come up to it while it is still alive slaughter it; if you come up to it when the dog has killed it but not eaten any of it, eat it. It you find another dog with yours and the game has been killed, do not eat, for you do not know which of them killed the animal. When you shoot your arrow, mentions Allah's Name and if the game goes out of sight for a day and you find it without any marks except for that of your arrow, eat if you wish, but if you find it drowned in water do not eat it!' Agreed upon, and the wording is from Muslim.







1374. 'Adi   narrated, 'I asked the Messenger of Allah  about hunting using a featherless arrow (al-Mi’rad)(41O). He replied, "If the game is killed with its sharp edge (the iron piece) eat it; but if it strikes with the middle part of the shaft (i.e, it is not penetrated with the sharp part) and the game is killed (due to being hit with it), it is considered a Mauqudhah(411),  so do not eat it." Related by Al-Bukhari.

410.It is a featherless arrow without a sharp edge, but it hits the game with its broad side. Some say that the Mi’rad is a thick bar of wood with a piece of iron fixed to its edge and it could be without this piece of iron which is closer to its description.
411. The Mauqudhah is the animal killed by violent blow with a stone or a stick and it is prohibited to eat it. This Hadith clearly specifies that if the game is wounded with a sharp object and bleeds to death, then it is permissible to eat it but if it dies out of being hit by an object it is not lawful to eat in this case, as the body is not penetrated to bleed.







1375. Abu Thalabah   narrated that the Messenger of Allah  said."When you shoot your arrow and the game has gone out of sight, eat it when you come upon it, provided it has not become rotten” (412) Related by Muslim.

412. If the animal is found having drowned, it is forbidden to eat it, but if he found it still alive it must be slaughtered first. As staled previously, if he found his game with no other injury except for that of the arrow, then it is lawful to eat even if it is dead, as long as it is not rotten.





1376. 'Aishah  narrated, 'Some people said to Allah's Messenger   'There are people who bring us meat and we do not know whether or not they have mentioned Allah's name over it.' He   replied, "Mention Allah’s name yourselves and eat it." Related by Al-Bukhari.






1377. 'Abdullah bin Mughaffal al-Muzani   narrated, "The Messenger of Allah   prohibited throwing pebbles (on animals) and said, 'Such means do not hunt a game, nor do they injure an enemy, but they only may break a tooth or gouge out an eye." Agreed upon, and it is Muslim's version.






1378. Ibn 'Abbas   narrated that the Messenger of Allah  said, "Do not take any living creature as a target." Related by Muslim.






1379. Kab bin Malik  narrated, 'A woman slaughtered a sheep with a stone, so the Prophet   was asked about that and he ordered it to be eaten.' Related by Muslim.





1380. Rafi' bin Khadij  narrated that the Prophet  said, "You may eat an animal which is slaughtered by any means which causes the blood to gush out as long as Allah's Name is mentioned over it, except for the tooth and the claw (not allowed to be used) (413) The tooth is a bone and the claw is the knife of the Abyssinians (Ethiopians)." Agreed upon.

413. Any sharp object, which makes the blood flow, could be used to slaughter on animal except for a tooth or a bone.





1381. Jabir bin 'Abdullah   narrated, "The Messenger of Allah   prohibited beating a tied-animal to death.' Related by Muslim.






1382. Shaddad bin Aus  narrated that the Messenger of Allah   said, ''Verily, Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things. Thus, if you kill, kill in the least painful manner you can (414) and when you slaughter an animal, do it in the best possible way (415) and any of you should sharpen his blade so that the animal may be spared from the suffering of the slaughtering." Reported by Muslim.

414. If someone is to be executed (for any crime he committed), he should be killed in such a manner that he faces the least possible suffering and that he passes away as quickly as possible.
415. When someone is slaughtering an animal he should not move it around violently, neither draw it with force, nor slaughter it in the presence of another animal that may be watching it.






1383. Abu Sa’id al-Khudri   narrated that the Messenger of Allah  said, “The (legal) slaughtering of the fetus is included when its mother is slaughtered.” (416) Related by Ahmad and Ibn Hibban graded it as Sahih.

416. When the cow or the camel is slaughtered and a fetus is found inside, the fetus is lawful to eat if one wishes. That only applies if it was found dead, but if it is still alive, it must be  slaughtered.








1384. Ibn 'Abbas  narrated that the Messenger of Allah  said, “ A Muslim's name is sufficient for him, so if he forgets to mention Allah’s Name when be slaughters an animal, he should mention Allah's Name, then eat it." Related by Ad-Daraqutni but there is a weak narrator in its chain. Also there is Muhammad bin Yazid bin Sinan in its chain who is truthful but had a weak memory.







1385.  Abdur Razzaq transmitted it with a sound chain of narrators on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas  but it is not connected up to the Prophet  







1386. Abu Dawud narrated a similar Hadith that reads, 'The slaughtering of any Muslim is  Halal (lawful) whether or not he mentioned Allah's name over it. (417)  Its narrators are reliable.

417. Most scholars are of the opinion that pronouncing the Takbir and Bismillah is a Sunnah except for Abu Hanifah. There is also a consensus among the scholars that if a Muslim deliberately does not mention Allah’s Name while slaughtering then the animal becomes unlawful to eat, but if he forgets then it is permissible to eat it and it is enough in this case to mention Allah’s name before eating it.