Back to search

Is the slaughter permissible if the animal was struck on its head or electrocuted before being slaughtered, knowing that some are of the opinion that there is no Quranic text prohibiting the stunning of animals?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is forbidden to eat an animal that died due to stunning (by striking the head or electric shock) before its ritual slaughter (dhakat); because it is considered a mauqudhah (an animal beaten to death), and the Holy Quran has stipulated its prohibition, unless the animal is found alive after stunning and is ritually slaughtered according to Islamic law, in which case it is permissible to eat it. It is also forbidden to stun an animal by any means that leads to its torture, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade harming animals and commanded good treatment towards them, especially during slaughter. It is permissible to stun an animal with a non-fatal shock if it is necessary to facilitate its slaughter or sacrifice, provided that it remains alive at the time of ritual slaughter.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy