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Prelude

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has said : Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, has said :"Whoever adopts enmity towards one of My awliya' (sing waliyy : friend or ally), I announce war on him. My servant does not draw nearer to Me by anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him. And, My servant continues to draw nearer to Me by [performing] superorgatory/extra deeds until I love him. Then, when I love him, I become his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. If he is to ask something of Me, I will surely give him, and if he is to seek refuge with Me, I will surely grant him refuge." [Bukhari]

This hadith informs us that Allah has certain beloved people, who are called awliya. These people have a special status before Allah, such that their hearing, sight and limbs all become occupied with worship of Allah. Their supplications are readily answered, and Allah grants them protection when they seek it.

Naturally, this status of wilayah is one we would all like to attain, and the hadith indicates to us how we might do this. Firstly, one must perform all of the obligations (fard, wajib), which includes avoiding all of the prohibited deeds (haram). These are the first priority, and hence to neglect these while busying oneself with supererogatory deeds is clearly a delusion. We should beware of Satan who may make us busy ourselves with supererogatory good deeds, at the expense of forfeiting the obligations.

When one is performing all of the obligations and avoiding all of the prohibitions, then he may attempt to perform whatever he is capable of from among the optional/voluntary good deeds. Then, as one continues to draw closer to Allah in this manner, he may reach the status of wilayah mentioned earlier. The first priority, however, is to take care of performing the obligations and avoiding the prohibitions. One who is doing only this, is in fact superior to someone who is performing abundant supererogatory/optional good deeds, but at the same time persisting in some forbidden deeds.

The obligations and prohibitions in Islam are of various types and levels. The most important obligation, of course, is the correct faith (iman). Then, among the rites of worship, the most important is salah. Some obligations are intrinsically acts of worship (such as prayer and fasting). Others are not acts of worship in themselves, but rather lay down the guidelines for our behavior in certain situations we may encounter in our daily activities (such as eating, drinking, walking, etc.) What we want to do today is to remind ourselves of some orders and prohibitions of the latter category. However, before we start listing them, there are some general guidelines on the subject, which we should bear in mind.

1) The Right to Legislate is Allah's

The right to legislate - to declare things lawful or prohibited - belongs to Allah. It is not the prerogative of human beings to make their own choices binding. Hence, if one does not have knowledge about a matter, he should not hastily declare it to be one way or the other.

"And do not say, concerning that which your tongues put forth falsely, ‘This is lawful and this is prohibited,' so as to invent lies against Allah. Verily, those who invent lies against Allah will not succeed." [Qur'an, 16:116]

To knowingly infringe upon that right is major shirk.

"They took their rabbis/priests and monks, as lords besides Allah." [Qur'an, 9:31]

In a hadith, it is clarified that the corrupt priests/rabbis and monks of earlier nations "prohibited the permissible [the people], and legitimized the prohibited for them, and [the people] followed them, and so that was [the people's] worship of them." [Ahmad, Tirmidhi]

So, once it has become clear that Allah or the Prophet have forbidden something, no-one has the right to declare that thing lawful. Similarly, no-one has the right to declare prohibited that which Allah and the Prophet have declared permissible.

2) Everything is Permissible Except that which Has Been Explicitly Prohibited

We should realize that the permissible things are much more than the prohibited. In fact, the preferred view among the scholars of usul is that the general rule (with a couple of exceptions : sexual intercourse and meat, as we mention later on) is that things are permissible, and that the prohibited things are those which are excepted from this general rule through explicit mention of prohibition in the Qur'an or hadith.

"[Allah] is Who has created for you all of that which is upon the earth." [Qur'an, 2:29]

"Say : Who has prohibited the adornment [created by] Allah which He has brought forth for His servants, and the wholesome things of sustenance? Say : They are for those who believe in this world, [and] exlcusively [for them] on the Day of Resurrection." [Qur'an, 7:32]

"....He has detailed to you what He has prohibited for you...." [Qur'an, 6:119]

It should be noted, however, that in matters of `ibadat (ritual worship), the reverse is the case; i.e. one may not claim something to be a form of `ibadah unless it has been specified as such in the Qur'an or Sunnah.

3) It is in our interest to obey Allah

Allah does not seek to make our lives miserable. Nor is there any benefit or harm to Him in our observing His laws. Rather, we should realize that if Allah or the Prophet have ordered or prohibited something, then there is some underlying wisdom to that injunction, such that it is to our own benefit to obey it. In some cases (e.g. prohibition of wine and adultery) at least some of the wisdom may be clear; in other cases, it may not be as apparent. But, once we know that something is ordered by Allah or the Prophet, then we will have no hesitation in following it, for Allah's knowledge is greater than ours, and all-encompassing.

"[Allah] has not placed upon you any hardship in religion." [Qur'an]

"Allah desires to make light [your load]. And mankind was created weak." [Qur'an, 4:28]

4) In the Halal (Permissible) there is Sufficiency from the Haram (Prohibited)

For virtually every need which we have, there is a legitimate, as well as an illegitimate form of fulfilling it. For example, Allah has prohibited adultery, but permitted marriage. He has prohibited interest and usury, but has allowed all types of legitimate and fair trade. As we said, the laws are not to make our lives miserable. Rather, we have the choice between fulfilling our needs in conformance with the laws, or in violation of them.

5) This World is a Place of Testing

Although there is a halal alternative to virtually every haram, that is not to say that it will always be just as easy to obey the divine commandments. But, we know that this world is a place of testing for us, and if there were no inclination or impetus to commit evil, the true sense of testing would not be realized. So, observing the laws might sometimes seem to cause loss of some benefit or enjoyment. But, in such cases, we should realize that that benefit is temporal and worldly, and the pelasures of Heaven far surpass it. Furthermore, we know that even worldly success and prosperity cannot be achieved without some degree of effort and sacrifice, and hence it is unreasonable to expect to achieve Paradise without any struggle against one's lower desires. The difference between the conduct of the believer and that of the unbeliever is that the former will live his life in conformance with the guidelines of Islam, whereas the latter will try to maximize his enjoyment without regard to true faith, religious scruples, ethics and morality.

"Those who reject faith enjoy themselves, and eat as the cattle eat, and the Fire shall be an abode for them." [Qur'an, 47:12]

"The world is the prison of the believer, and the heaven of the unbeliever." [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ahmad]

"Hell is veiled by desires/lusts, and Heaven is veiled by difficulties." [Riyad al-Salihin]

" . . . . Indeed, the merchandise of Allah is expensive! Indeed, the merchandise of Allah is Heaven!." [Tirmidhi, who graded it hasan gharib]

6) There are Degrees of Order and Prohibitions

As we have already mentioned, there are various levels of orders and prohibitions, and it is important to keep in mind and to respect these priorities. Yes, a Muslim should not adopt a complacent and nonchalant attitude, whereby he pays attention, for example, only to the major orders and avoidance of the major sins, while at the same time being heedless of minor sins. The individual should always be trying to increase his obedience to Allah, and to give up any sins he may be committing, and not to heedlessly think that the sins he is committing are only relatively minor. Ibn al-Jawzi says,

"The human keeps telling his soul to swerve away from evil and to approach good. However, this is merely a [vain] promise, and there is no doubt that it is merely hope. This kind of person walks without effort during the day. One who hopes to awaken the next morning will hardly work at night. Whoever pictures death as imminent works hard.
The parable of the person who acts upon his determined intent and the person who is comfortable with the promise of hope is like the parable of a group of people on a journey. They enter a city, and the determined one buys what he needs to complete his journey. Afterwards, he sits ready for the departure. As for the neglectful, he says to himself: We might stay here a month, so I'll get ready for that. In that state of affairs, the horn announcing departure is blown. The one who stored things away for his time of need is happy; the procrastinating, neglectful one is dark with anger and frustration." [from Talbis Iblis (The Devil's Delusion), by Ibn al-Jawzi]

Nevertheless, the issue of priorities may in some scenarios come into play. For example, when advising others, who may not be as religiously observant as oneself, the priorities should be observed. For example, a man may be listening to haram music, wearing gold jewelry, and not performing the obligatory prayers. These are all sins, but to confront him with all of them at once, and expect him to give them all up immediately, may not be feasible. Hence, one may start, for example, by encouraging him to perform the obligatory salah, and then gradually progress, depending on the precise circumstances and the nature of the person.

7) Good Deeds Remove Evil Deeds

After having mentioned all of this, it may also be noted that if one has not yet managed to detach oneself from a sin, then he should endeavor to do more good deeds, in the hope that this may help wipe out the sin. Similarly, for sins committed in the past, one should try to do good deeds to obliterate the effects of the sins. A man told the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he had kissed a woman. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and his Household and grant them peace) recited to him, (the words of the Qur'an meaning), "And establish salah at the two ends of the day, and in some hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove evil deeds." [Qur'an, 11:114] The man asked, "Is it for me?" The Prophet (may Allah bless him and his Household and grant them peace) said, "It is for all my followers." [Bukhari] However, as we have pointed out, this should not be taken as a substitute for repenting from ongoing sins. It is merely a temporary measure - a 'patch', or an expiation for the past after having repented from a sin. One should not fall complacently into committing sins, thinking that they will be erased by subsequent good deeds. Certainly, one would not deliberately damage his car, thinking that he can always repair it later; to adopt such an approach would soon weaken the car and perhaps eventually destroy it.

We proceed now to mention some specific prohibitions which apply to situations we may encounter in our daily activities.

CLOTHING

Covering the `awrah [For further details, see: Regulations of Clothing]

We know that the `awrah (nakedness) of the man is from the navel to the knees, and for the women all of the body, except that most scholars excluded the hands and the face, and some excluded the feet. Hence, these parts must be covered during prayer and when in the presence of non-mahrams. [A mahram is a permanently unmarriegable relative, e.g. for a man, his sister, mother, daughter, etc.] If leaving any of the rest of the body (such as the back or chest of a man, or the face of a woman) is going to cause fitnah in the presence of the opposite sex, then that also should be covered. Furthermore, the clothing should not be so tight or transparent as to reveal that which it is supposed to be covering. It should not be worn for the sake of vanity, nor to resemble the unbelievers or sinners, nor to resemble the opposite sex.

As the weather gets warmer, we should pay attention to these rules, such that we do not uncover those parts which may not be revealed. It is not allowed, for example, for men to wear shorts which expose the thighs. One prophetic recommendation which may be particularly useful in hot weather is the recommendation to wear white clothing; this can help to repel the heat.

"Wear white among your clothes, for they are of the best of your clothes, and shroud your dead in them." [Tirmidhi (hasan sahih), Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ahmad]

Looking and Touching

"Tell the believing men that they should lower their gazes and protect their chastities. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah knows what they do.

And tell the believing women that they should lower their gazes and protect their chastities, and that they should not reveal their beauty except that of it which is apparent, and that they should draw their scarves over their bosoms." [Qur'an, 24:30-31]

It is not permissible for a man to look at a stranger-woman with lust. If one is free from lust and arousal, he may look at her face and hands according to a minority of scholars. But, in any case, there is no license for indiscriminate looking, for one will generally not know before looking whether or not one is going to be aroused.

Jabir asked the Prophet (may Allah bless him and his Household and grant them peace) about an unintentional look, and he was told to turn his gaze away. [Muslim]

The Prophet told another Companion, not to follow the first (unintentional) look with a second (deliberate) look, for the first one is excused, but the second is not. If one's eyes unintentionally fall on a member of the opposite sex, one should stop looking as soon as one realizes it, and should neither continue looking nor look again deliberately, for the gaze is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan. Looking is described in a hadith of al-Bukhari as fornication of the eyes. Similarly, touching is fornication of the hands. Al-Bukhari has narrated that the hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his Household) never touched the hand of a woman not lawful to him.

Under exceptional cases, it is permissible to look intentionally at the face and hands of a woman, even if one fear lust, except that he must try to restrain the lust as much as possible. These special cases are:

A man may look at his mahram female relatives' face, head, chest, shins and arms, but according to the Hanafis he may not look at their back or belly. A man may look at all of the body of another man except for that which is between his navel and his knees. A Muslim woman may look at all of the body of another Muslim woman, except for the area between the navel and the knees.

"A man shall not look at the nakedness of [another] man, nor shall a woman look at the nakedness of [another] woman." [Muslim]

According to the majority of jurists, a Muslim woman should not reveal, in the presence of a non-Muslim woman - and similarly before a morally corrupt Muslim woman - anything more than what she would reveal to a stranger man, for there is a danger of their describing what they have seen to men. The Hanbalis differed in considering the regulations to be identical for Muslim and non-Muslim women. Some Malikis took an intermediate stance, allowing some concessions in front of close females from whom mischief is not expected.

Prohibited Types of Garments

There are also certain restrictions on the types of materials that may be worn.

Men may not generally wear silk. The prohibition applies whether the silk is touching the body or not. The notion that it is only prohibited if it touches the skin is not credible, and is unaccepted. [As mentioned by Ibn `Abidin in "Radd al-Muhtar"]

"Wearing silk and gold have been prohibited for the males of my ummah, but are permissible for the females among them." [Tirmidhi (hasan sahih), Nasa'i; Similar narrations have been recorded by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ahmad. Bukhari and Muslim have also narrated the prohibition of silk.]

`Umar ibn al-Khattab saw a silken garment and said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "I wish you would buy this, so that you wear it before people on the day of Jumu`ah, and for delegations when they come to you!" But the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Only he wears this who has no share in the Hereafter." [Muslim]

Concessions to wear silk exist for

`Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade the wearing of silk, except for the area of two fingers, or three, or four." [Muslim]

Ibn `Abbas said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only prohibited the wearing of a garment of uniform silk. As for a silken badge, or the warp of a garment, there is no objection to it." [Abu Dawud]

`Abdur-Rahman ibn `Awf and al-Zubayr complained to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), meaning about lice, and so allowed them a dispensation for [wearing] silk." [Bukhari]

Jewelry

Men may not wear gold, as we have seen. Similarly, they may not wear silver, except for a single ring of silver. There is also no objection to silver decorations on a sword or belt, and to silver (or even gold according to some jurists) being used to fill or replace a tooth if there is no other alternative.

Rings of gold are clearly prohibited for men.
"The Prophet forbade the wearing of a gold ring." [Bukhari]

And, another hadith narrated by Muslim tells us that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and his Household and grant them peace) saw a man wearing a gold ring, and therefore pulled it off and threw it down. Later, people suggested to the man to pick up the ring, and perhaps sell it, but he said, "No, by Allah! I will never pick it up after the Messenger of Allah has thrown it down."

Rings of brass, iron and the like are also prohibited.

"A man came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) wearing an iron ring, whereupon he said to him, "Why is it that I see upon you the jewellery of the People of the Fire?" So, [the man] discarded it, and then came to him with a ring of brass, whereupon he said to him, "Why is it that I find the odor of idols from you?" So, he discarded it and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Of what should I take a ring?" He said, "Of silver, and do not make it [any more than] a mithqal [in weight]." [Nasa'i, Ibn Hibban; there is some disagreement about its chain of narration, but the same story has been narrated with different wordings through other channels by Ahmad, Tahawi and others.]

Vessels

It is prohibited for both men and women to use utensils of gold or silver. Jurists have excepted from this utensils which are merely plated with gold or silver such that no gold or silver could actually be recovered by melting down the item. Similarly, some allowed vessels which have soem gold or silver doecoration, on condition that one does not touch any of the gold or silver (with one's hand, mouth, etc.).

"Do not drink from vessels of gold and silver, nor wear brocade or silk, for it is for them [i.e. the unbelievers] in the world, and it is for you in the Hereafter and on the Day of Resurrection." [Muslim]

FOOD

We have talked about some general regulations related to the lawful and prohibited, and have also mentioned, last time, the status of wilayah; a rank which we would all like to attain. We have up to now discussed some guidelines related to our daily activities, and now let us proceed to discuss food.

The importance of consuming only Halal food is indicated by the following hadith:

"Indeed, Allah is good, and accepts only good. And, indeed, Allah has commanded the believers with that with which He commanded the messengers. He says, (translated) "O Messengers! Eat of that which is good, and do work righteousness." and He says, (translated), "O you who believe! Eat of the good things with which We have provided you.") Then, he mentioned a man who undertakes a long journey, dusty and disheveled, raising his hands to the sky [saying] 'My Lord! My Lord!' Yet, his food is Haram, his drink is Haram, his clothing is Haram, and [in fact] he is nourished on Haram, so how then can such a one be responded to?" [Muslim]

If our food, drink, clothing and lifestyle are Haram, how can we hope for our supplications to be answered?

We mentioned last time that the general rule regarding worldly things is that of permissibility unless and until prohibition is known, but that there are a couple of exceptions. These exceptions are: meat and sexual intercourse. So, if one comes across a woman on a dark night, and cannot identify her, he may not assume that it is his wife and behave with her accordingly. Similarly, if one finds some unidentified meat, he may not assume that perhaps it is beef and perhaps it was slaughtered correctly, unless and until he identifies its source. This is because meat and marital relations are by default, prohibited; one may not have marital relations with all and sundry, nor may one eat a live animal. They only become permissible by specific procedures (appropriate slaughter and a valid marriage contract, respectively), such that if there is doubt as to whether that procedure has occurred, the default ruling of prohibition remains in effect.

Hence, we may divide food into two categories : meat, and other foods. For foods other than meat, the default rule of permissibility applies. So, if one encounters a fruit or vegetable that one has never seen before nor is aware of its name, then one may eat it as long as it has not been proven to be harmful. Hence, exotic fruits and the like are generally permissible, whereas smoking tobacco is not.

As for meat, there are essentially five regulations which must be satisfied (with some disagreement over some of them, as we shall mention) in order for it to be Halal:

1) The identity of the animal

The animal itself should be of a species which is not prohibited to eat. Again, the default rule of permissibility applies in as far identifying lawful species. The flesh of all animals whose meat is not harmful is lawful to consume, except for those which have been specifically prohibited in the Qur'an or Sunnah. They are:

a) The Pig

"Say: I do not find, in that which has been revealed to me, anything to be prohibited for the consumer to eat, unless it be carrion, or flowing blood, or the flesh of the pig for it [i.e. the pig] is unclean, or abomination which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But, whoever is forced [by starvation], being neither rebellious nor transgressing, then indeed your Lord is Most-Forgiving, Most-Merciful." [Qur'an, 6:145]

Hence, the pig is unclean, and it is not lawful to consume its flesh, nor to consume any other part of its body (such as its fat).

b) Predatory animals and birds

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited the eating of every fanged beast of prey, and every taloned [predatory] bird." [Narrated by Muslim and others]

c) Domesticated Donkeys

Bukhari and others have narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) prohibited the flesh of domesticated donkeys. Similarly, mule flesh should not be eaten. There is disagreement over horse-flesh. Abu Hanifah and Malik (and Ibn `Abbas before them) considered it disliked or prohibited. Other scholars considered it permissible. The disagreement arises because there are narrations that state that the Companions ate horse-flesh, and others that it is not permissible, such that they disagreed over which reports are more authentic, and which abrogates the other.

d) Vermin

According to the majority of scholars, vermin - such as rats, snakes and scorpions, are prohibited. If they are poisonous such that eating them would be harmful, then they are prohibited unanimously.

Allah's Messenger said, "It is not sinful of a person in the state of Ihram to kill any of these five animals: The scorpion, the rat, the rabid dog, the crow and the kite." [Bukhari]

In addition to their being pests, these creatures are also generally loathed by people and considered repulsive. And, the Qur'an tells us that the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) is "the unlettered Messenger Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Injeel (revelation given to Jesus(peace be upon him). He enjoins the right upon them, and forbids them from the wrong, and makes lawful for them the wholesome and prohibits for them the foul, and he releases them from them their burden and from the shackles which were upon them. So, those who believe in him and honor him and support him, they are the successful ones." [Qur'an, 7:157]

Some Hanafi scholars also considered the lizard impermissible, but the Shafi`is consider it lawful.

e) Certain sea-creatures (according to some scholars)

"Lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food, as a provision for you." [Qur'an, 5:96]

Based on this verse, and on the hadith:

"Its water is purifying and its carrion is lawful." [Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Daraqutni, Ahmad, al-Hakim]

some scholars, such as Imam Malik, considered all sea creatures to be lawful. The Hanafis, however, maintain that the permissibility of sea creatures is not absolute. According to a hadith, a doctor asked the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) about using the frog in medicine, but that the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) forbade killing it [Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, al-Hakim]. This indicates that not all aquatic creatures are lawful. They deduce further that it is specified by the hadith, "Two carrions have been made lawful to us, and two bloods. The two carrions are fish and locusts, and the two bloods are the liver and the spleen." [Ibn Majah, Ahmad, Daraqutni, Bayhaqi] Hence, the Hanafis regard as impermissible any aquatic creature which is not termed a fish. There is some disagreement among them as to whether the shrimp is considered a fish.

There is agreement that lawful sea-creatures may be eaten without slaughter. There is disagreement, however, about fish which die a natural death (e.g. those that are found floating dead on the water). The Hanafis prohibit them, while the majority do not.

2) The identity of the slaughterer

The slaughterer should ideally be a Muslim. However, there is a concession to eat also the meat slaughtered by People of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians), provided the other conditions for slaughter are satisfied.

"This day are the wholesome things made lawful for you. The food of those who were given the scripture is made lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them." [Qur'an, 5:5]

Ibn `Abbas said : it means their slaughtered animals.

Although it has been suggested that today's Christians do not qualify, due to their belief in trinity, the sounder opinion appears to be that this is not a consideration for this particular issue. The belief in trinity is condemned in the Qur'an itself, indicating that it was present among them even at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his Household), and that the concession was in spite of it. Yes, if the Christian invokes over the meat the name of Jesus (peace be upon him) or anyone else besides Allah, or violates any other of the conditions for slaughter, then it should not be eaten.

According to Imam al-Shafi`i, not every Jew or Christian qualifies for the concession. He considered that only those qualify whose parents and ancestors, back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) , were Jewish or Christian. Otherwise they would not be of those who were given the Book, for since then the previous scriptures have been abrogated.

Meat slaughtered by people of any other religion than these, such as Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., is not lawful to consume, regardless of how it was slaughtered. Hence, if it were to be determined that the other conditions were being fulfilled in regular (non-Muslim) slaughter-houses, one would have to ascertain whether or not the slaughterers who work there are overwhelmingly People of the Book. If there is a significant percentage of people of other (or no) religions then this would introduce a reasonable enough doubt to require abstaining from the meat, in accordance with the principle that if Halal and Haram become mixed in finite quantities, then the overall verdict is one of prohibition.

3) The implement used for slaughter

The animal should be killed with a sharp implement which causes the blood to flow out.

The Prophet said, "Use whatever causes blood to flow, and eat the animals if the name of Allah has been mentioned on slaughtering them. Do not slaughter with teeth or fingernails…." [Bukhari]

Narrated Shaddad ibn Aws: "Two are the things which I remember Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) having said: Verily Allah has prescribed goodness for everything; so when you kill, kill in a good way and when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way. So every one of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably." [Muslim]

4) The method of killing

The animal should be killed by cutting the throat. There are four vessels which should be cut : the oesophagus (food-pipe), the trachea (wind-pipe) and the two jugular veins. According to the Hanafi school, at least three of these must be cut. According to Imam Malik, the two jugular veins and the trachea have to be cut. According to the Shafi`is the oesophagus and trachea have to be cut.

The Qur'an lists various types of deaths that make the animal's meat unlawful.

"Prohibited are you are carrion (unslaughtered animals), [flowing] blood, swine-flesh, that which has been slaughtered for other than Allah, that which has been killed by strangulation, or by a blow, or by a fall, or by the goring of horns, and that which has been [partly] eaten by a wild animal - unless you are able to slaughter it before its death." [Qur'an, 5:3]

Hence, animals killed by strangulation, or electric shock, or other such means, should not be eaten.

5) Mention of the name of Allah at the time of slaughter

The name of Allah should be recited at the time of slaughter. It is only fitting that we recognize that the animal has been created and given life by Allah, and that we are only entitled to take its life by the permission of Allah.

"Do not eat of that on which the name of Allah has not been mentioned." [Qur'an, 6:121]

Based on the above verse, the majority of scholars have ruled that it is obligatory for a Muslim to mention the name of Allah at the time of slaughter, and that if he deliberately omits it, the resulting meat is carrion and unlawful to consume. If one was intending to say it, but forgot to, then according to the majority the meat is lawful, for forgetfulness is excused in such a case. As far as the slaughter of Jews or Christians, the Hanafis and Hanbalis made no distinction in the requirement, due to the generality of the evidences. The Malikis, however, do not stipulate the requirement of mentioning the name of Allah for slaughter by a Jew or Christian.

According to the Shafi`is, mentioning the name of Allah is recommended, but not required, for slaughter by Muslims, as well as for those by People of the Book (although, naturally, the other conditions still have to be satisfied for the meat to be halal). Imam al-Shafi`i's view is that the prohibition mentioned in the Qur'an is of that on which something other than the name of Allah has been recited, not of that on which nothing has been recited.

"A group of people said to the Prophet, "Some people bring us meat and we do not know whether they have mentioned Allah's Name or not on the slaughter of the animal." He said, "Mention Allah's Name on it and eat." Those people had embraced Islam recently." [Bukhari, Malik, Abu Dawud]

Imam al-Shafi`i reasoned that if those people had mentioned the names of idols, then mentioning the name of Allah at the time of eating would not make the meat halal. And, if mentioning the name of Allah at the time of slaughter had been essential, then mentioning it at the time of eating would not suffice. Hence, the Shafi`is conclude that mention of the name of Allah at the time of slaughter is recommended, but not required.

The majority provide a number of responses to the hadith above:

1. The people in the hadith were Muslims, and with a Muslim one generally assumes that he is doing things correctly. [I`la al-Sunan] For example, we will pray behind an imam, assuming he has wudu', even if we did not actually see him perform wudu', since he assume the best of him and have no grounds for suspicion.
   
2. It could be postulated - as has been done by the Hanafis - that the hadith is an evidence that mentioning the name of Allah is waived from someone who is unaware of the obligation (due to being new to Islam), just as it is waived from the forgetful one. [al-Bunayah]
   
3. Imam Malik has a different interpretation. He states, after narrating this hadith in his Muwatta', "That was in the beginning of Islam". i.e. he considered that the concession was later cancelled.
   
4. Furthermore, the hadith is actually an evidence in favor of the majority, for the fact that the Companions asked about this situation indicates that they considered mention of the name of Allah over slaughter to be required.

Also in favor of the majority view, that mention of the name of Allah is a requirement, is other evidence, such as the following hadith:

`Adiyy ibn Hatim said, "Sometimes I send my dog for hunting and find another dog with it. The Prophet said, "Do not eat the game for you have mentioned Allah's name only on sending your dog and not the other dog." [Bukhari]

"Use whatever causes blood to flow, and eat the animals if the name of Allah has been mentioned on slaughtering them." [Bukhari]

Even Imam al-Ghazzali - a prominent imam in the Shafi`i school - has stated that the position of the majority is very strong, and that even a Shafi`i is strongly advised to follow it.

Avoiding Doubtful Things [See : Avoiding Doubtful Things for further details]

Clearly, there are going to be cases where meat is unquestionably halal (such as if one slaughtered it himself, or if he bought it from a trustworthy, upright Muslim butcher). There will be other cases where it is clearly haram, and yet others where the verdict may be unclear, or scholars may disagree on it. To cases of uncertainty - be they regarding meat or any other matter - we may apply the hadith, "Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt." [Tirmidhi, Nasa'i] It should also be stressed that the mere fact that we have quoted the views of different scholars for various issues above does not at all give one a license to indiscriminately choose whatever one desires or finds easiest from among those views. To adopt such a course is actually pursuit one's desires and whims, and hence is prohibited by the consensus of all scholars.
"And do not follow desire lest it mislead you from the Path of Allah." [Qur'an, 38:]

On the subject of doubtful things, we may also mention here the following hadith,

"That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily, every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah's sanctuary is His prohibitions. Verily, in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Verily, it is the heart." [Bukhari and Muslim]