Is Islamic slaughtering cruel to animals?

ISLAM’s stance on what is permissible to eat and what is not is clear. There are strict rules when it comes to meat regarding what is allowed and what is forbidden.
The Islamic practice of slaughtering animals by means of a sharp cut.

Dr. Aisha El-Awady

ISLAM’s stance on what is permissible to eat and what is not is clear. There are strict rules when it comes to meat regarding what is allowed and what is forbidden.

The Islamic practice of slaughtering animals by means of a sharp cut to the front of the neck has frequently come under attack by some animal rights activists as being a form of animal cruelty, the claim being that it is a painful inhumane method of killing animals.

In the West, it is required by law to stun the animal with a shot to the head before the slaughter, supposedly to render the animal unconscious and to prevent it from reviving before it is killed so as not to slow down the movement of the processing line. It is also used to prevent the animal from feeling pain before it dies.

It therefore may come as a surprise to some to learn of the results of a study carried out by Professor Wilhelm Schulze and his colleague Dr. Hazim at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover University in Germany. The study attempted to compare pain in conventional (captive bolt pistol stunning) and ritual (halal, knife) methods of slaughtering sheep and cattle. Researchers found that Islamic slaughtering is the most humane method of slaughter and that captive bolt stunning causes severe pain to the animal.

In the study, several electrodes were surgically implanted at various points of the skull of all animals, touching the surface of the brain. The animals were allowed to recover for several weeks before the experiment. Some animals were then slaughtered by making a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck cutting the jugular veins and the carotid arteries as well as the trachea and esophagus, which is the Islamic method. Other animals were stunned using a captive bolt pistol.

During the experiment, an electroencephalograph (EEG) and an electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded the condition of the brain and the heart of all animals during the course of slaughter and stunning. The results were as follows.

The first three seconds from the time of Islamic slaughter as recorded on the EEG did not show any change from the graph before slaughter, thus indicating that the animal did not feel any pain during or immediately after the incision.

For the following 3 seconds, the EEG recorded a condition of deep sleep — unconsciousness. This is due to the large quantity of blood lost. After 6 seconds, the EEG recorded zero level, showing no feeling of pain at all. As brain activity dropped to zero level, the heart was still pounding, driving a maximum amount of blood from the body, thus resulting in hygienic meat for the consumer.

With the Western method of captive bolt pistol stunning, the animals appear unconscious soon after stunning. However, EEG recordings showed brain waves that indicate severe pain immediately after stunning. The hearts of the animals that were stunned stopped beating earlier as compared to the animals slaughtered the Islamic way, resulting in the retention of more blood in the meat. This is unhygienic for the consumer.

Not only is this method of stunning animals before the slaughter severely painful as shown in the study, but there is also a rising concern that it may be a factor in the spread of mad cow’s disease from cattle to humans as was discovered in research carried out at Texas A&M University.

Researchers studied a method called pneumatic stunning, the firing of a metal bolt into the cow’s brain followed by a pulverizing burst of 150 pounds of air pressure; delivering a force, which scatters brain tissue throughout the animal. The brain tissue is the most infectious parts of an animal with mad cow disease. Disturbingly, around 30% to 40% of American cattle are stunned by pneumatic guns.

Islamic slaughtering of animals is a blessing to the animal and to humans. In order for the slaughtering to be lawful, several measures must be taken by the one performing the ritual. This is to ensure the highest benefit to both the animal and the consumer.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter; sharpen your blade to relieve its pain.”

The object used to slaughter the animal should be sharp and used swiftly. The swift cutting of vessels of the neck disconnects the flow of blood to the nerves in the brain responsible for pain. Thus the animal does not feel pain. The movements and withering that happen to the animal after the cut is made are not due to pain, but due to the contraction and relaxation of the muscles deficient in blood. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also taught Muslims not to sharpen the blade of the knife in front of the animal or to slaughter an animal in front of another.

Therefore accusations of animal cruelty should very rightly be focused on those who do not use the Islamic way of slaughtering but prefer to use those methods, which cause pain and agony to the animal and could also cause harm to those consuming the meat.