Abu Ya'la Shaddad bin 'Aus (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Verily Allah has prescribed Ihsan
(kindness) for everything. So when you kill, you must make the killing
in the best manner; when you slaughter, make your slaughter in the best
manner. Let one of you sharpen his knife and give ease to his animal (in
order to reduce his pain)." [Muslim].
Commentary:
By killing here means the killing of a harmful animal, or the killing of a
murderer as retribution and the killing of the enemy in the
battlefield. All these situations warrant killing but with a stress on
moderation, thanks to Islamic teachings. A believer is told not to let
his passions of enmity go wild, and even an enemy or a criminal ought
not to be put to a torturous death. In the Pre-Islamic Period of
Ignorance it was a prevalent practice that the limbs of a victim were
mutilated before he was finally killed. Islam has forcefully forbidden
this inhuman custom, stating that the victim should be beheaded with the
one swing of sword.
Similarly, there are specific instructions
regarding an animal's slaughter. First, the knife should be sharpened.
Second, the animal must not be slaughtered from its nape, because in
both ways it will suffer pain. This Shari'ah rule ensures quick death of
the animal. In modern Europe, an animal is slaughtered with one stroke
of a cutting-machine. Apparently this method seems to be easy and
smooth, yet in this way the animal's blood doesn't flow out from its
body completely. So the consumption of the meat of such a kill is
injurious to human health. Due to this reason, Islam considers the
discharge of blood as a prerequisite to Halal (lawful). Certainly, only
the Islamic way of slaughtering an animal is more sound, scientific and
wholesome.
Friday Reminder: Recitation of Surah Kahf
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