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Is it permissible to buy and sell machine-slaughtered chicken by people of the Book for non-Muslims, knowing that the Name [of Allah] was not mentioned upon it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The scriptural person who intentionally omits the Basmalah (mentioning the name of Allah) when slaughtering is subject to the same ruling as a Muslim who does so. There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding this. It is not permissible according to the Madhhab of the Hanbalis and others. However, if it is omitted forgetfully, it is permissible according to the well-known opinion of the four Madhhabs. Some scholars are of the opinion that an animal slaughtered without the mention of Allah's name intentionally is considered like carrion. This is explicitly stated by Ibn Hubayra concerning Abu Hanifa, and by Al-Sarakhsi, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taymiyyah, and Ibn Al-Qayyim. According to this view, it is not permissible to buy and sell chicken over which the Basmalah was omitted, because it is considered like carrion. As for the view of those who do not prohibit an animal slaughtered without the mention of Allah's name, such as the Shafi'is, the sale of such chicken is not prohibited if it was slaughtered according to Sharia. This is further confirmed by considering the practices of the People of the Book who do not mention the name of Allah when slaughtering.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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