Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam, السل
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
A. Zabiha – Islamic Method of Slaughtering
It is not only humane but also scientifically the best.
1. Islamic method of slaughtering animal
Zakkaytum is a verb derived from the root word Zakaah (to purify). Its infinitive is Tazkiyah which means purification. The Islamic mode of slaughtering an animal requires the following conditions to be met:
a. Animal should be slaughtered with a sharp object (knife)
The animal has to be slaughtered with a sharp object (knife) and in a fast way so that the pain of slaughter is minimised.
b. Cut wind pipe, throat and vessels of neck
Zabiha is an Arabic word which means ‘slaughtered’. The ‘slaughtering’ is to be done by cutting the throat, windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck causing the animal’s death without cutting the spinal cord.
c. Blood should be drained
The blood has to be drained completely before the head is removed. The purpose is to drain out most of the blood which would serve as a good culture medium for micro-organisms. The spinal cord must not be cut because the nerve fibres to the heart could be damaged during the process causing cardiac arrest, stagnating the blood in the blood vessels.
2. Blood is a good medium for germs and bacteria
Blood is a good media of germs, bacteria, toxins, etc. Therefore the Muslim way of slaughtering is more hygienic as most of the blood containing germs, bacteria, toxins, etc. that are the cause of several diseases is eliminated.
3. Meat remains fresh for a longer time
Meat slaughtered by Islamic way remains fresh for a longer time due to deficiency of blood in the meat as compared to other methods of slaughtering.
4. Animal does not feel pain
The swift cutting of vessels of the neck disconnects the flow of blood to the nerve of the brain responsible for pain. Thus the animal does not feel pain. While dying, the animal struggles, writhes, shakes and kicks, not due to pain, but due to the contraction and relaxation of the muscles deficient in blood and due to the flow of blood out of the body.
B. Science of meat – Halal meat more tender, less cruel, say experts – a Times of India exclusive
Please go through this beautiful article “Science of meat – Halal meat more tender, less cruel, say experts ” given below published in Times of India Newspaper, Bangalore edition on January 29, 2012.
Even as the UK Parliament refuses to serve halal meat at restaurants on its premises, fresh scientific opinion suggests halal is the better option. Times Life investigates – Kounteya Sinha, Amit Bhattacharya & Anuradha Varma
Evidence suggests that animals slaughtered through Jhatka(non-Halal) method suffer more trauma than those killed by Halal Method.
FOR Mohammad Salim, owner of a tiny meat shop in the Gurdwara Road Market of New Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur area, business is just as it’s been for the last 15 years since he moved to the capital from Agra. There seem to be more takers for mutton that Sunday morning than for the fresh batch of Rohu that’s just arrived. The practising Muslim packs half kilo curry pieces of a leg of mutton in polythene. For this seller of halal meat, the recent debate over the UK parliament rejecting demands to serve halal meat in its restaurants, on grounds of cruelty, is pointless.
“We read a Kalima (Qur’anic verse) before the meat is cut. Lekin, marta toh murga hi hai (Finally, it’s the animal that pays the price). It’s just a question of using different methods of slaughter,” he shrugs.
Mohammad Salim, a halal meat seller reads a Kalima before the meat is cut.
Early this month, British newspapers had reported that Muslim MPs and peers were told they wouldn’t be served meat slaughtered in line with Islamic tradition — slitting the animal’s throat without first stunning it — since it was offensive to their non-Muslim colleagues.
Even as voices of dissent grow louder among furious UK parliamentarians, experts are speaking in favour…