The RELIGIOUS method of animal slaughter(DHABH) is the direct method which is done without the use of any type of stunning .It is the same method which was adopted and practiced by all the prophets of GOD(peace be upon them). ESPECIALLY BY:-Abraham,the father of the prophets -Moses for the Jews(Kosher)-Jesus for the Christians(Kosher)-And finally by the prophet Muhammad for the Muslims(Halal) No doubt the act of slaughter is a motive and frightening view to watch:A knife doing the cut in the neck,blood coming out,convulsions and contractions…then death! Public at large has thought over the years that this act of cutting is “painful and cruel to the animal” But this was a mere SUBJECTIVE feeling which was not based on any OBJECTIVE evidence or fact. -Till now,there is no single scientific medical evidence in the whole world which has prooved that the divine method of animal slaughter does cause pain to the animal and is cruel when it is done properly and professionally.We offer a challenge to all to bring us one authentic study?It is mere illusion and delusion.-The animal ,after the proper cut,keeps still and does not move at all,one can see that clearly:a gap between the cut and the start of the normal physiological convulsions and contractions !If the cut does cause pain,so why the animal keeps still for a while after the cut?It is only later, these physiological contractions and convulsions do occur when the brain has been deprived from blood, and in order to bring blood quickly to the dying brain(Haemorrhagic shock/instantaneous “ANAESTHESIA”). To the lay public, these contractions and convulsions are because of “pain” felt by the animal after the cut,but this is not true and there is no evidence for that.-In a German research studies on pain,professor Wilhelm Schulze and his colleague Dr Hazim at the school of Veterinary Medicine,Hannover university in Germany ,have prooved through EEG(Electric recording of the brain) comparative medical studies that the animal does not feel “pain” when the cut is done properly.And evidences of “pain” were noticed when stunning has been used,according to the EEG records.The study is called:“ATTEMPTS TO OBJECTIFY PAIN AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN CONVENTIONAL(Captive bolt pistol stunning and ritual(halal) methods of slaughtering sheep and calves”The conclusion of the study was:THE ISLAMIC SLAUGHTERING OF ANIMAL IS THE MOST HUMANE METHOD OF SLAUGHTER AND THAT THE CAPTIVE BOLT STUNNING PRACTICED IN THE WEST,causes severe pain to the animal.-We all know that electricity,which is used in stunning,is used frequently in the torture of people in prisons as it causes painSurely every one of us is scad to touch electricity,because of the pain and the burn resulting after.Electricity is used widely in the stunning of sheep and to the poultry in their electrified water bath!Unfortunately these innocent animals can not complaint or speak up!-Doctors who give ECT(Electro convulsive therapy) as a treatment to some psychiatric patients in hospitals as in depression,do it only after giving general anaesthesia first and before applying the electricity to the patient,as it is painful!-There are today in many official and government reports a lot of evidences about the pain and suffering affecting the animals following the use of stunning:Failure of stunning,re-stun,animal conscious and paralysed,unable to walk,burns,broken bones etc…Apart from the cruelty and stress caused by the electric rod, the repeated pushing beating and pinching of the animals in order to move it towards the slaughter’s site???(all these types of cruely are not allowed in Islam)-Many States in the US have banned the Captive bolt pistol for cattle due to the risk of BSE. The EU had a similar decision on the same method.-The Farm Animal Welfare Council(FAWC) in Britain,has concluded in their scientific studies that :THERE IS NO EVIDENCEOF PAIN IN RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER and that IT IS DIFFICULT TO MEASURE PAIN AND DISTRESS DURING THE SLAUGHTER PROCESS IN AN OBJECTIVE SCIENTIFIC MANNER….(FAWC: Report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at slaughter or killing:Part 1:Red Meat Animals,June 2003/section 194).-Religious slaughter was considered HUMANE by the US Congress(1958)-New medical studies suggest that ENDORPHINS secretions(natural pain killers in the animal body,as in human too) do occur with the cut,to avoid also the animal from feeling any “pain”.We have to remember also that the threshold to feel pain in the animal is different from man. FROM AN ISLAMIC/RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW: -New medical studies from the University of Damascus in Syria,have prooved that the mentioning of the NAME OF GOD(ALLAH )/TASMIAH on the conscious living hearing animal at time of slaughter, do ACT AS A SEDATIVE/TRANQUILLISER to both: man and animal,and will purify too the meat from germs and bacteria.(Fascinating)This interesting medical discovery was repeated many times,and it gave the same result!This was signed by over 25 Professors and doctors in the University.(there are DVD about it in both English and Arabic and a book in Arabic about this discovery)-It is prohibited in Islam to inflict or cause any pain to any animal.(Please see separate the Superior rights of the animal in Islam).-In Islam,every animal is to be handled individually,by a human(familiar),without causing any stress and to give food and water to the animal before and avoiding the animal the sight of any slaughter or blood or sharpening of the knife and to keep the animal in a comfortable position.(ALL THESE ARE BASED IN THE ISLAMIC TEACHINGS)We do admit,as in every community,that some Muslims do not pratice the proper animal welfare and care at time of slaughter or before and it is in our plan to educate and train all for the best welfare and care to the animal before and during the act of slaughter.To educate all about all Hygiene regulations too.We are fully with all the technologies of today before and after the slaughter and with the technology for best appropriate knife to use.Muslims also will be happy to follow all the regulations and the laws of the land and EEC,but without been interfered with their permanent sacred religious act of slaughter,and without the use of any stunning.-Surely GOD the Creator and all his prophets in Judaism,Christianity and Islam,can not be all cruel to the billion of slaughtered animals over the centuries.GOD is called : the most Compassionate,the most Merciful and Muhammad,called the mercy to all the creation(man and animals).-Muslims(and Jews) are ordered clearly in their holy Scriptures to follow their prophets in the act of animal slaughterAll Muslims have been warned by the prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) not to change at all the divine sacred act of animal slaughter.-Many people in the west do not realise that it is forbidden in Islam and for Muslims to:Eat any meat which came from an animal who has died before the cut,consume any blood inside the meat,cause any type of pain and cruelty to any animal,change the natural healthy chemical formula of the meat(not TAYYIB),eat some meat which is risky to health ,eat any contaminated meat with any porcine substances…Unfortunately many of the scientific medical reports on stunning have shown all these forbidden and undesirable outcomes but in different percentages ,when stunning have been used in one way or another.Even if one doubtful about the presence of any of these outcomes,in Islam we are requested to avoid it all. Muslims and Jews and others should have the RELIGIOUS and the HUMAN RIGHTS to practice their religions especially in issues of food meat and diet, especially when it is for their own consumption .
Dr A.Majid Katme(MBBCh,DPM) Muslim Spokesman on Halal meat and Food(Islamic Medical Association/UK) Tel no: 0044 7944 240 622E-mail address: akatme@hotmail.com