In order for meat to be made permissible to eat, it must be slaughtered by a cut through the neck, reaching through the trachea, esophagus, the jugular veins and carotid arteries, without severing the spinal cord.This method is indeed the most humane method to slaughter an animal to make use of its meat.

The swift cutting of vessels of the neck disconnects the flow of blood to the nerves in the brain responsible for pain, and thus the animal does not feel pain. The movements and withering that happen to the animal after the cut is made are not due to pain, but due to the contraction and relaxation of the muscles deficient in blood. This movement is also essential in forcing the maximum amount of blood from the body, which is extremely important in order to purify the meat, as remaining blood acts as a medium for microorganisms, in addition to meat remaining fresher for a longer period of time. Also crucial to this factor is the severance of the trachea, esophagus, and the jugular veins in conjunction with the carotid arteries, which cause a rapid gush of blood to flow from the system. Severance of the spinal cord, however, may lead to cardiac arrest, causing the stagnation of blood in the blood vessels due to the damage of nerve fibers leading to the heart.

Does the Animal Feel Pain in This Method?

In a study entitled Attempts to Objectify Pain and Consciousness in Conventional (captive bolt pistol stunning) and Ritual (halal, knife) Methods of Slaughtering Sheep and Calves’, carried out by Professor Wilhelm Schulze and his colleague Dr. Hazim at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover University, Germany, several electrodes were surgically implanted at various points of the skull of all animals, touching the surface of the brain. After the animals were allowed to recover for several weeks, some animals were slaughtered in the Islamic manner mentioned previously, by the cutting of the trachea, esophagus, the jugular veins and carotid arteries. Other animals were stunned first before slaughtering. During the experiment, an electroencephalograph (EEG) and an electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded the condition of the brain and the heart of all animals during the course of slaughter and stunning. The following results were recorded:1. The first three seconds from the time of Islamic slaughter as recorded on the EEG did not show any change from the graph before slaughter, thus indicating that the animal did not feel any pain during or immediately after the incision.2. For the following 3 seconds, the EEG recorded a condition of deep sleep – unconsciousness. This is due to the large quantity of blood gushing out from the body.3. After the above-mentioned 6 seconds, the EEG recorded zero level, showing no feeling of pain at all.4. As the brain message (EEG) dropped to zero level, the heart was still pounding and the body convulsing vigorously (a reflex action of the spinal cord) driving a maximum amount of blood from the body thusresulting in hygienic meat for the consumer.

Stunning as animals be stunned before their throats be cut. This is based on the claim that stunning renders the animal insensible to pain, although the more favorable opinion is that it renders the animal easier to control in mass factory-like slaughter houses.

According Dr Hafiz M Usama