MECHANICAL SLAUGHTER & STUNNING

Is animal stunning allowed for Zabiha ?

Desensitisation, or stunning

No injury shall be inflicted on the animal’s nervous system, brain or spinal cord prior to slaughtering. ( Please refer to Halal Nullification )Shooting a bullet in the head, captive bolt, hammering the head to stun, electric shocks, stunning by carbon dioxide, and such procedures before slaughtering are questionable and thus subject to Ijtihad

The question is: “If no injury can be inflicted on the animal to be slaughtered, what about stunning? Will it render the resulting meat (upon slaughter) Halal in the eyes of the Syariah?”

Muslim slaughterman shall recite the phrase prior to switching on the mechanical knife. Such invocation during the course of slaughtering is a unique feature of Islamic slaughter. Absence of such invocation will render that particular meat Haram, thus not lawful to be consumed by believing Muslims.

The Muslim slaughterman shall not leave the slaughter area during the production process. However, when there is a need to leave, the Muslim slaughterman shall be replaced by another Muslim slaughterman. The former shall stop the line and switch off the mechanical knife. To restart the production process, the 2nd slaughterman shall recite “Bismillah, Allahu Akbar” before switching on the mechanical knife and line.

In case of Chicken, ducks and bird slaughter using a rotary mechanical blade, there must be three Muslim slaughtermen present. One slaughterman touching the birds physically before they go into the rotary cutting blade reciting name of "Allah" and the two Muslim slaughter men are to slaughter the birds that were missed by the blade.

Desensitisation, or stunning, of the subject before slaughter remains a debatable issue. However, most Islamic scholars have come to terms and agreed that stunning is acceptable and thus the meat is Halal for Muslim consumption. There are a number of forms of stunning and in some forms, the animal will remain unharmed and can actually get up and walk away a few minutes later if it is not slaughtered . Furthermore, stunning is an effective mass production technique that provides a means of controlling the slaughter more precisely, thereby avoiding undue stress to the animal and the slaughterman. As a whole, from these conditions, it is obvious that Halal manners are determined in fine details, and that the slaughterer has to be careful to clear all of Halal steps. From this standpoint, the concept of Halal in Islam is quite unique in the world.