ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Origin of Shi'tte Islam and It's Principles Slaughtering and Hunting =========================== The basic principle in Shi'ah jurisprudence concerning animals whose blood spurts 4 is that they become "najis" (impure) when they die, and that it is unlawful (haram) to eat their flesh.

There is also a division of animals into two categories: those which are impure (najis) in essence and cannot become pure, such as the dog and the pig, and cannot therefore on no account be eaten; and those which become essentially impure if they die in any way other than as a result of hunting or slaughtering in accordance with the shari'ah, but which become pure if they are correctly hunted or slaughtered in accordance with the rules laid out below.

However, the mean of correctly killed animals of the second category can only be eaten provided they are not carnivorous. There are two ways of killing animals in accordance with the shari'ah. The first is hunting. Hunting may be in two ways. Firstly by a trained hound who obeys the orders given it and does not normally eat the animal it has killed.

For his prey to be lawful, the person who released and sends the hound must be a Muslim and must pronounce "bismillah" when releasing it, and the hound should at no time leave his sight. Secondly, hunting may be by means of a weapon, i.e. a sharp sword, spear or arrow, or the bullet of a gun. In all cases, the death must be directly due to the penetration of the weapon into the animal, and not to some side effect such as fright.

The person who uses the weapon must be a Muslim and he must pronounce "bismillah" at the time of taking aim. If the animal is killed by either of the above methods, its flesh is lawful. But if the hunter gets his animal when it is still alive, he must slaughter it (see below). All other means of hunting (i.e. trap, net, etc.) are forbidden, unless, of course, the animal is taken alive and correctly slaughtered. The second way to lawfully kill an animal is by slaughtering it (dhabih).

The slaughterer must be a Muslim or someone under the rules of Islam such as the minor son of a Muslim. The second condition is that the instrument of slaughtering should be made of sharp metal. However, in case of necessity, any sharp implement (glass, sharp stone, etc.) which cuts the arteries clearly may be used.