Sunan Ibn Majah: Chapters on Slaughtering

“I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘On behalf of a boy, two sheep of equal age and on behalf of a girl one sheep.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to sacrifice two sheep for a boy’s ‘Aqiqah and one sheep for a girl.”

“For a boy there should be an ‘Aqiqah, so shed blood for him and remove the harm from him.”

“Every boy is mortgaged by his ‘Aqiqah, so slaughter for him on the seventh day, and shave his head, and name him.”

“Offer an ‘Aqiqah for the boy, but do not smear his head with blood.”

“A man called the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we used to sacrifice the ‘Atirah during the Ignorance days in Rajab,; what do you command us to do?’ He said: “Sacrifice to Allah whatever month it is, do good for the sake of Allah and feed (the poor).’ They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we used to sacrifice the Far’ah during the Ignorance days; what do you command us to do?’ He said: ‘For every Sa’imah* (flock of grazing animals), feed the firstborn as you feed the rest of your flock until it reaches an age where it could be used to carry loads, then sacrifice it, and give its meat in charity’ – I** think he said – ‘to the wayfarer, for that is good.’”

“There is no Far’ah and no ‘Atirah.”

“There is no Far’ah and no ‘Atirah.”

“Allah has prescribed Al-Ihsan (proficiency) in all things. So if you kill, then kill well, and if you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by a man who was dragging a sheep by its ear. He said: ‘Leave its ear alone and hold it by the sides of its neck.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded that the blade should be sharpened, and hidden from the animals, and he said: ‘When one of you slaughters, let him do it quickly.’”

Another chain reports the same.

“And certainly, the Shayatin (devils) do inspire their friends (from mankind).” [6:121] He said: “They used to say: ‘Whatever the Name of Allah has been mentioned over, do not eat it, and whatever the Name of Allah has not been mentioned over, eat it.’ Then Allah said: “Eat not of that over which Allah’s Name has not been pronounced.’” [6:121]

“O Messenger of Allah, some people bring us meat, and we do not know whether the Name of Allah has been mentioned over it or not.” He said: “Say: Bismillah and eat.’ They were new in Islam.

“I slaughtered two rabbits with a sharp-edges stone and brought them to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he told me to eat them.”

It was narrated from Zaid bin Thabit that a wolf bit a sheep, and they slaughtered it with a sharp-edged stone, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) allowed them to eat it.

“I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we hunt game but we cannot find anything but the sharp edge of a stone or stick (with which to slaughter it).’ He said: ‘Cause the blood to flow with whatever you want, and mention the Name of Allah over it.’”

“We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) on a journey, and I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we are (sometimes) on military campaigns, and we have no knife with us.’ He said: ‘(Use) whatever causes the blood to flow, mention the Name of Allah and eat, but (do not use) teeth or nails, for the tooth is a bone and the nail is the knife of the Ethiopians.”

“Step aside and I will show you how.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) put his hand between the skin and the flesh, and thrust his arm in until it disappeared up to the armpit, and said: “O boy, this is how you skin it.” Then he went and led the people in prayer and did not perform Wudu’.

“Avoid those that are lactating.” (i.e. those from which milk is received).

“Let us go out to Waqifi.” He said: “So we went out in the moonlight until we came to the garden and he (the owner of the garden) said: ‘Welcome.’ Then he took up the knife and went among the sheep (to choose one for slaughter), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Avoid those that are lactating.’”

It was narrated from a son of Ka’b bin Malik, from his father, that a woman slaughtered a sheep with a stone, and that was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but he did not see anything wrong with that.

“We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) on a journey, and a camel ran away. A man shot an arrow at it and the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘It has the inclination to run away like a wild animal. If this happens to any of you, do likewise.’”

“I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should slaughtering only be done in the throat or upper chest?’ He said: ‘If you stab it in the thigh that will suffice you.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade mutilating animals.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade tying up animals.”

‘Do not take anything with a soul as a target.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade killing any animal when it is tied up (for use as a target).”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the meat and milk of Al-Jallalah.”*

“We slaughtered a horse and ate its meat during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”

“At the time of Khaibar we ate horses and wild donkeys.”

“I asked ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa about the flesh of domesticated donkeys and he said: ‘We were starving on the Day of Khaibar, when we were with the Prophet (ﷺ). The people had gotten some donkeys as spoils of war on the way out from Al-Madinah, so we slaughtered them and our cooking pots were boiling when the caller of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cried out, telling us to overturn out pots and not to eat anything of the flesh of donkeys. So we overturned them.’ I said to ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa: ‘Was it made unlawful?’ He said: ‘We think that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade it altogether because it eats excrement.’”

It was narrated from Miqdam bin Ma’dikarib Al-Kindi that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade several things, until he mentioned (the meat of) domesticated donkeys.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to throw away the meat of domesticated donkeys, raw or cooked, then he did not say anything to us about it after that.”

“We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the campaign of Khaibar, and in the evening the people lit their fires. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘What are you cooking?’ They said: ‘The meat of domesticated donkeys.’ He said: ‘Throw out what is in them (the pots) and break them.’ A man said: ‘Or can we throw out what is in them and wash them?’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Or (do) that.’”

“Allah and His Messenger forbid you to eat the flesh of domesticated donkeys, for it is filthy.”

“We used to eat the meat of horses.” I said: “And mules?” He said: “No.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the flesh of horses, mules and donkeys.”

“We asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the fetus. He said: ‘Eat it if you wish, for it is considered legally slaughtered with the slaughtering of its mother.’”