in Britain we have an organisation that supervises Islamic slaughter and has the authority to certify that the restaurant is using meat produced by the slaughterhouse that comes under its supervision. In these slaughterhouses the slaughter of chickens is carried out in the following manner:
The chickens are given a light electric shock that does not kill them; rather it weakens them and thus makes them easier to handle. Then the chickens go into the machine which takes them past sharp mechanical knives that cut the windpipe, jugular veins and oesophagus. The problem that we have is that this machine is operated by a man who says “Bismillah” and “Allahu akbar” the first time only, and they employ five men in the slaughter-room whose job is to say “Bismillah” and “Allahu akbar” repeatedly, but they do not have anything to do with the operation of the machine or direct responsibility for slaughter. My question is: are these birds regarded as halaal that are slaughtered mechanically and the phrases “Bismillah” and “Allahu akbar” are not said by the employee who operates the machine directly, except when he first begins to operate it. Is the fact that the five other men say “Bismillah” and “Allahu akbar” of any benefit, knowing that they are not directly involved in slaughtering the chickens?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Giving the animal an electric shock before slaughtering it may kill the animal if the voltage is high, or it may cause it to lose consciousness without killing it, if the voltage is low or moderate.
If it kills it, it is not permissible to eat it because it is “dead meat” (an animal that was not slaughtered in the proper manner) according to the consensus of the fuqaha’. If it does not kill it, and it is slaughtered in the proper shar‘i manner immediately afterwards, then it is halaal and it is permissible to eat it.
Dr. Muhammad al-Ashqar (may Allah preserve him) said:
If the electric shock was fatal, then the animal is like one that has been “beaten to death” (and therefore haraam, as mentioned in al-Maa’idah 5:3). If it caused it to lose consciousness without killing it, and the animal was slaughtered in the proper shar‘i manner after that, then it is halaal. If it was not slaughtered properly but it was skinned and cut up without being slaughtered, then it is not halaal.
End quote from Majallat Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami. Issue no. 10, vol. 1, p. 339
The Islamic Fiqh Council (Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami) is of the view that it is not permissible to give chickens electric shocks before slaughtering them, because experience has proven that this leads to the death of a considerable number of them.
In a statement of the Islamic Fiqh Council, issued during its tenth conference in Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period 23-28 Safar 1418 AH/28 June-3 July 1997 CE, it says the following:
Animals that are slaughtered in the proper shar‘i manner after stunning are halaal and may be eaten if technical conditions are met that ascertain that the animal was not dead before it was slaughtered. These have been defined by experts at the present time as follows:
1. The electrodes should be placed on the temples or on the forehead and back of the head
2. The voltage should be between 100 and 400 volts
3. The current should be between .75 and 1 amp for sheep, between 2 and 2.5 amps for cattle.
4. The electrical current should be applied for between 3 and 6 seconds.
(c) it is not permissible to stun an animal that is intended for slaughter by using a captive bolt pistol or bolt gun, or by gassing.
(d) It is not permissible to stun chickens by means of electric shock, because experience has proven that this leads to the death of a considerable number of them before slaughter.
(e) It is not haraam to eat animals that were slaughtered properly after being stunned by using a mixture of carbon dioxide and air or oxygen, or by using a non-penetrating bolt gun that does not lead to the death of the animal before it is properly slaughtered. End quote.
Dr. Muhammad al-Hawaari stated that stunning of chickens by means of electrocution leads to cardiac arrest in 90% of cases and to death in 10%.
See Majallat Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami, issue no. 10, vol. 1, p. 411, 583
Based on that, you need to look at the electrocution asked about. If it will lead, as the Council said, to the death of a considerable number of the chickens that are not separated from the live chickens, then it is not permissible to electrocute them. But if the electrocution uses a low voltage that does not lead to that, then the slaughter is halaal.
Secondly:
Saying “Bismillah” is a condition of slaughter being halaal, and is not waived in the case of forgetting or ignorance,
The basic principle with regard to saying “Bismillah” is that it must be done for each individual animal with the intention of slaughtering it in the proper manner.
But in the case of mechanical devices that slaughter a large number of chickens within a short time period, the scholars have differed with regard to the way of saying “Bismillah” that is essential for the slaughter to be halaal. There are several opinions:
1. That it is sufficient for “Bismillah” to be said once by the person operating the machine, if it slaughters a number of chickens in one continuous time period. This is what has been stated in fatwas issued by the Standing Committee and in a statement issued by the Islamic Fiqh Council.
2. That it is sufficient for “Bismillah” to be said once by the person operating the machine, on condition that the specific chickens that he is going to slaughter are in front of him, such as if they are lined up on the conveyor belt and the like. This has been stated in fatwas issued by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him).
3. That saying “Bismillah” when using these machines is not possible, therefore it is not permissible to use these machine for halaal slaughter.
The more correct view is the first one, for the following reasons:
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah:
What is the ruling on mechanical slaughter, in which dozens of chickens are slaughtered by machines at the same time, saying “Bismillah” only once? If a person is slaughtering a large number of chickens by hand, is it acceptable for him to say “Bismillah” just once, or does he have to say it for each one individually?
Answer:
Firstly: it is permissible to slaughter using modern machines on condition that (the blades) are sharp and that the oesophagus and windpipe are cut.
Secondly: if the machine slaughters a number of chickens in the same continuous length of time, it is acceptable for the person operating the machine to say “Bismillah” once when he begins to operate it with the intention of slaughtering, so long as the person operating the machine is a Muslim or kitaabi (Jewish or Christian).
Thirdly: if the person is slaughtering by hand, he must say “Bismillah” separately for each chicken he slaughters, because each chicken is a separate entity.
Fourthly: The slaughter must be done in the slaughterhouse and the windpipe and two veins, or one of them, must be cut.
Bakr Abu Zayd, Saalih al-Fawzaan, ‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah Aal ash-Shaykh
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah, 22/463
It also says (22/462): is it permissible to say “Bismillah” when operating the machine which does one repeated movement. Please note that what is meant is saying “Bismillah” only once, when starting the machine for slaughter.
Answer: it is acceptable for the person who is operating the machine to say “Bismillah” once when starting it for a number of (chickens) with the intention of slaughtering them, so long as the one who is operating it is a Muslim or a Jew or a Christian.
‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, ‘Abd ar-Razaaq ‘Afeefi, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Baaz. End quote.
It says in the statement of the Islamic Fiqh Council quoted above:
8. The basic principle is that slaughter of poultry and other animals is to be done by hand, but there is nothing wrong with using mechanical devices to slaughter poultry so long as the conditions of shar‘i slaughter mentioned above in paragraph 2 are met. And it is acceptable to say “Bismillah” once for each batch that is to be slaughtered in a continuous session, but if there was an interruption then saying “Bismillah” must be repeated. End quote.
But the statement of the Council did not specify that saying “Bismillah” must come from the one who is operating the machine.
Dr. Muhammad Sulaymaan al-Ashqar said: Saying “Bismillah” in the case of a large number, if they are to be slaughtered by hand in the Islamic manner, may be exhausting for the slaughterman. For example, if a person has the task of slaughtering 1200 chickens per hour at a rate of one chicken every three seconds, then he would have to say “Bismillah wa Allahu akbar” 1200 times in an hour which would be exhausting and very difficult, and such burdensome difficulty is to be avoided in Islam because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship” [al-Hajj 22:78].
Hence the Fatwa Council in Kuwait, of which I was a member at the time this fatwa was issued, stated that when slaughtering a large number of poultry it is sufficient to say “Bismillah” over them once, at the beginning, if the task is to proceed continuously without stopping. If there is a pause for some reason, then the slaughterman has to say “Bismillah” again for the remainder.
End quote from Majallat Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami, issue no. 10, vol. 1, p. 346.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked the following question:
I went to visit the National Poultry Farms and I saw how they slaughter the chickens; in the beginning they suspend the chickens so that they cannot move, then they pass over the slaughterman who slaughters them without saying “Bismillah”. I asked: Why do you not say “Bismillah”? He said: Because I say “Bismillah” when I enter and I cannot say it for five hundred thousand chickens. So when I start I say, “Bismillah, Allahu akbar”, and that is sufficient. I said, Who did you ask? He said: The scholars gave me a fatwa to that effect and permitted it.
I do not know, O Shaykh, whether this action is permissible?
He replied: It is essential to say “Bismillah” over something specific, whether it is one or more. For example, if he lines up a thousand chickens then when starting the machine he says, “Bismillah”, that is sufficient. Then if he lines up another thousand chickens, for example, and starts the machine and the knives start moving, it is sufficient for him to say, “Bismillah” for this batch. And if another batch is lined up for him, he should say “Bismillah” for it.
Questioner: He says, “I say ‘Bismillah’ once and that is sufficient”?
Shaykh: Do you mean until the machine stops? No, that is not permissible, because “Bismillah” must be said over something specific.
Questioner: Another question, O Shaykh. We also went to visit Astra Farms in Tabook, where they were slaughtering quail. What do they do? They hang up these birds, then after hanging them up they pass over a machine that sprays water on the birds and stuns them somewhat, then they pass over something like a wall on which is written, “Bismillah wa Allahu akbar”, then they go to a machine that cuts off their heads. The person in charge said that this is acceptable. Is it acceptable to have the words “Bismillah wa Allah akbar” written down?
Shaykh: All of that is ignorance and now you, may Allah bless you, have to report what you and your brothers have seen in a signed statement and send it to Dar al-Ifta’, and tell them when you saw that, whether it was this year or a few years ago, so that you may discharge your duty with regard to this matter.
Questioner: O Shaykh, they say that a group of shaykhs gave them a fatwa allowing that.
Shaykh: No, some shaykhs issued a fatwa saying something other than this. Maybe he issued a fatwa saying what I have said, which is that he may collect a batch and then turn on the machine for this batch, even if he does not say “Bismillah” for each individual bird. It is similar to the case where he sees a flock of birds and shoots them and says “Bismillah”, and twenty birds fall – in that case they are halaal.
Al-Liqa’ al-Maftooh, 35/27