Zabihah - Islamic Slaughter (ذبيحة)

ARTICLE

**What is Zabiha ?**

Zabiha is the Islamic method of slaughtering halal (permissible) land animals and birds for food. In the Arabic language, zhebH means "to slay (by drawing blood)". For zhebH to be religiously correct, a few other conditions must be met:

The animal must be in good physical and emotional health.
The animal must be made to be comfortable (not anxious).
The animal cannot see other animals being killed, nor see their bodies.
The animal must not see the slaughtering knife.
The animal cannot be rendered unconscious, electrocuted or stunned by a blow to the head.
The knife must be sharp enough to sever the major arteries of the neck with one sure swipe.
The slaughterer should be a Muslim, Christian or Jew. (Muslims are permitted to eat the food of People of the Book [Christians and Jews], however; Some Islamic Schools of Thought hold that only a Muslim of good piety can perform zabiha .)
Recitation of "in the name of Allah" ( bismillah ) should be performed before slaughter.
The slaughter must be swiftly completed in one swipe.
The animal must be exsanguinated - drained of all flowing blood.

Should Muslims buy only Zabiha meat?

This is a complex and personal question. The answer to which is determined by many factors, some of which are:

Availability - There are many Muslims living in places where it is difficult to find fresh, unprocessed Zabiha meat.

Diversity of Islamic Tradition - The diverse American Islamic Community brings together people from varying Islamic traditions (Schools of Thought). This diversity creates a situation where Muslims can hold sometimes conflicting opinions on the acceptability of meat from Ahl al-Kitaab (Christians and Jews), supermarket meat and the necessity of zabiha meat.

Regulations - The food import regulations of countries like Saudi Arabia permit the importation of foods containing meat from halal animals from countries that do not typically practice zabiha.

Industry Practices - Muslims in America and other Western countries may find that it is common practice to electrocute certain animals before slaughter, or that some animals die from blows to the head that were meant to only render them unconscious. In these case, that animal becomes "dead meat" -- forbidden for Muslims to eat. Because it is impossible to discern how the animal who provided the meat in your grocer's butcher died, it is advisable for Muslims to stay away from all meat of the type of animal in question.

Zabihah - Islamic Slaughter (ذبيحة)

What is Zabiha ?

Should Muslims buy only Zabiha meat?

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**What is Zabiha ?**