Q. Islam encourages humane killing of animals that are slaughtered for food. However, I observed that when a chicken was slaughtered, the butcher forcibly put its head in a cone to ensure that the blood pours into a container. Is it not wrong to do so only to save oneself the effort of cleaning its blood?
A.P. Malik
A. Cruelty to animals is unacceptable in Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) made it clear that when slaughtering an animal, the slaughter must not take place in front of other animals of the same type, in order not to frighten them. He orders that the slaughterer should sharpen his knife well, place the animal to be slaughtered in the most comfortable position and cut the jugular vein so that the animal bleeds fast and does not feel much pain. Anything that tends to increase the pain should be removed or banned.
Having said that, animal slaughter should, as far as possible, be carried out in slaughterhouses, which are equipped to handle the conditions. If one is to slaughter an animal in a confined place, the blood will be everywhere. He might have to resort to some cruel methods in order to ensure that the place is not messed up with blood.
Accidentally Eating Forbidden Things
Q. Could you please tell me what should one do if one has accidentally eaten pork? Should he compensate in some way?
K. Shariff
A. When you speak about this happening accidentally, I take it that you mean by genuine mistake, as in the case of a person not knowing that the food contains pork, or that he mistook a word for another when ordering his food in a restaurant, etc. In this case, there is no blame attached to him and he does not need to do anything other than to pray for God’s forgiveness. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “My nation has been forgiven whatever they do through a genuine mistake, forgetfulness, or compulsion.”
Eating pork is forbidden in Islam. If one does it deliberately, one must repent and seek God’s forgiveness. There is no particular form of compensation. However, whenever we slip or make mistakes or commit an offense, it is always proper to follow that with a good deed or more. The Prophet says: “Follow a bad deed with a good one so as to erase the former.”