Issue 1293: There are five conditions for slaughtering an animal as follows:

1- The person who slaughters the animal must not be an obstinate infidel or one who declares enmity towards the Holy Prophet's Progeny (PBUT).

2- The animal must be slaughtered with a tool made of iron.

Q1294: What is the verdict on slaughtering an animal with a steel knife?

A: Slaughtering with steel while iron is not available is apparently sufficient although steel is not iron, but when it is available, slaughtering will only be in order if it is done with iron; according to common belief, and apparently, if a magnet attracts it, people will know it as iron.

3- While being slaughtered, the animal's face, legs, and stomach must be facing the Quiblah.

4- When a person wants to slaughter an animal, they must, with the intention of slaughtering, utter the name of Allah, and it will suffice if they only say “Bismillah”.

Q1295: Will that suffice if one says, “Ailamdu lillah”, “Allahu Akbar”, “Subhanallah” or other remembrances which include His names of glory or their translations such as “Allah is pure and beautiful” instead of “Bismillah”?

A: Saying “Alhamdu lillah”, “Allahu Akbar”, “Subhanallah”, or the translation of any one of them will suffice, but to say “Allah” alone will not suffice.

Q1296: If with the press of a button one can slaughter tens of sheep, chickens, and cows at once, would the utterance of just one “Bismillah” be sufficient?

A: In case there is continuity in their slaughter and the time lapsed is not long, there will not be any problem in that, otherwise “Bismillah” must be said once for each of the animals being slaughtered.

5- The animal must make some movement after being slaughtered, to show that it was alive before being slaughtered.

Issue 1297: The dead body of an animal, whose meat is illegal to eat and whose blood does not gush out forcefully when slaughtered, like a snake, is pure but such an animal does not become halal by slaughtering.

Issue 1298: Dogs and pigs do not become pure and halal by slaughtering and hunting and it is also illegal to eat their meat, but as for a flesh-eating animal whose meat is illegal to eat, like a wolf or a leopard, their dead body will be pure if slaughtered in the manner which will be explained later or if hunted by means of a bullet etc, but their meat will be illegal to eat, and if such animals are hunted with the help of hunting dogs, their dead body cannot be considered as pure.

Issue 1299: The dead body of animals like elephants, bears, monkeys, mice, snakes and lizards which live in holes under the ground, will be impure if they have gushing blood and die by themselves and their bodies will not be pure if they are slaughtered, except for weasels and alligators which become pure by slaughtering according to the Islamic laws.

Issue 1300: If a dead young is born from the body of a living animal, or is taken out of it, it will be illegal to eat its meat.

Issue 1301: Slaughtering animals using the machines which have recently become popular in some countries will be in order if the conditions of slaughtering (such as saying “Bismillah” etc.) are fulfilled according to the Islamic laws, and the slaughtered animals will be halal.

Issue 1302: Slaughtered meat and poultry which comes from non-Muslim countries will be illegal to eat if it cannot be known whether it has been slaughtered by Muslims or not.

Issue 1303: If, after slaughtering an animal, it becomes evident that one of its main four blood vessels has not been cut, or if there is doubt whether all the four blood vessels have been cut completely, the meat will be illegal to eat.

Q1304: What would the verdict be if instead of cutting the head of small animals and birds, the head is pulled off by hand?

A: In the case of small animals or even small birds like sparrows, if the head is pulled off, it will be illegal to eat and unclean (Najis).

Q1305: What would the verdict be like if a person, in non-Muslim countries, prepares kebab from meat which is not slaughtered according to the Islamic laws and sells this to the People of the Book and to those who accept the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book as halal? And what will the edict be if a person sells wine to the People of the Book with the pretence that they sell bottles?

A: Selling what is slaughtered by the People of the Book to the People of the Book and to those who accept their slaughtered animals as halal is in order; but selling wine with the intention of selling bottles does not render the deal valid and permissible.

Q1306: Is it permissible to eat the meat of animals slaughtered by the People of the Book?

A: Animals slaughtered by the People of the Book are illegal to eat unless it is certain that they have slaughtered the animals after saying “Bismillah”, and in this regard, there is no difference between the Book inhabitants and other non-Muslims and unbelievers, and apparently as it is evident in the Holy Quran and the sayings of the Holy Prophet’s Progeny, the criterion for the meat of an animal to be halal is to be slaughtered along with saying “Bismillah”. However, it is favorable to observe precaution on the animals slaughtered by all non-Muslims.

Q1307: I have a question to ask you; a question whose answer will solve the problem of many families like mine and will prevent many of escapism from religion.

In the city where I live, there is no halal meat available. There are some Shiite Muslims in this city some of whom have been members of the Islamic Society, and from the very beginning they have tried to prepare Islamic halal meat, but they have not been able to do so for the following reasons:

It is illegal in the U.S.A to kill animals and in case it should be seen, a heavy fine must be paid. In the U.S. sheep are rarely bred, and it is more of the cows that are available which are difficult to slaughter and also expensive. Concern about the situation and about the healthiness of the available cows and sheep on the black market has discouraged people trying to obtain their desired choice of Islamic meat. On the other hand, there is packaged meat available whose label contains all the necessary information about the date of slaughtering, part of the body from which that meat was cut, and the percentage of protein and fat. There is not even one single drop of blood in these packages. These packages bear the expiry date of the meat and above all these points; the meat sold in this manner is also cheap. Our Sunni brothers here usually purchase this kind of meat and only utter “Bismillah” before cooking or eating it. Others try to obtain meat from Jewish people, because their rulings on the method of slaughtering are very similar to those of Muslims, but before consumption, they utter the name of Allah, and they consider it sufficient in this manner. During my short stay here, I have obtained sheep twice from distant areas and slaughtered them myself. This is against the laws of my host country and doing this left me with an uncomfortable feeling; besides, since I do not know how to slaughter a sheep, a lot of the meat was contaminated and wasted. Considering the time consumed and the stress I underwent, this cost me a lot. With respect, I wish Your Eminence would take into consideration the conditions of our time, and our belief that Shiite is capable of answering all the needs of people and updating the rulings as it becomes necessary. Is it not easier to encourage people to follow their religious laws by simplifying them to a greater extent? I personally think that one of the reasons why our Sunni brothers do their religious duties is because their religious jurists try to simplify the conditions of worship. If one of our religious leaders had to live in the U.S. for a long period and experienced the situation here, wouldn't their verdicts on worldly duties change in keeping with the times?

I would ask Your Eminence to answer my question on consumption of meat, and at the same time, I would like to ask you what our duty is in this changing world while it is not possible for respectable religious jurists to experience the day difficulties people like me face in different foreign countries?

With regard to the tough conditions of living, I do not really know how long my family and I will go on performing our religious duties.

A: Although the necessary condition for the meat of slaughtered animals is to utter “Bismillah” before slaughtering, as the Holy Quran says, “Don't eat from animals slaughtered where the name of God has not been uttered at the moment of slaughtering” (Al-An'aam:121), and hence one must abstain from such meat and avoid its consumption, it is possible that leaving out the utterance of “Bismillah” before slaughtering by those who do not believe in it - but not by those who obstinately stand against God, Islam and Muslims-by itself, does not necessarily cause the meat to be illegal to eat. and with ignoring this possibility, I believe that all the verses and sayings related to illegality of the meat of the animal whose slaughtering has not been along with “Bismillah”, is exclusive to cases where both slaughtered meat with and without “Bismillah” are available at the same time, and not as in the case in question where only one kind, that is, the slaughtered meat without the utterance of “Bismillah” is available, since the generality of this ruling would cause, in some cases as in the one in question, distress and hardship (as indicated in the question) and according to the proofs and arguments of negation of distress and constriction, and regarding the fact that Islam is an easy faith, the generality of the rule is removed and the meat in question will be halal and permissible to eat because of the said difficulties, although the same meat will be illegal and sinful to eat elsewhere if the said difficulties do not exist and where foregoing consumption does not raise any hardship.

Q1308: What is the verdict on rabbits' meat? Is it legal or illegal to eat? If illegal, then is it permissible to consume it as much as necessary for medical purposes? It is commonly believed that rabbit's meat is helpful in curing sore legs especially to the elderly.

A: Eating rabbits' meat is illegal and it is not permissible to be consumed; however, if a physician's diagnosis is that one's cure of their disease is exclusively dependant on consumption of rabbit's meat, it will be permissible if it is consumed as much as necessary.

Q1309: Is the slaughtering of animals by Muslims other than twelve-Imam Shiites considered as religiously legal and acceptable?

A: If they observe the conditions of slaughtering, it will suffice and will be legal, unless it is done by Nawasib, i.e., the enemies of the Holy Prophet's Progeny, whose slaughtered animals are deemed as dead animals and thus considered as illegal.