Slaughter (dhaba'ih): the lawful killing of animals for food in fiqh

In the jurists' terms slaughter is the cutting of the throat or the lower neck; dhaka is the wider term, the means that makes the flesh of a land animal lawful to eat, by choice or by necessity. ¹ A valid slaughter needs an animal that is alive, a death that comes from the cut, an animal that is not game of the sanctuary, a slaughterer who is sane and a Muslim or a People of the Book, and a blade that cuts. ^{6 7 8 9}

The chosen dhaka is slaughter (cutting the throat) for most animals, and the lower-neck cut for the camel in the majority view. The forced dhaka is a wound in any part of the body when the animal cannot be caught; this is called 'aqr. ^{12 4 13 14} The Malikis hold that animals without flowing blood need dhaka, while the majority do not require it for fish and locusts. ³ A fetus taken from a slaughtered mother follows her dhaka, and the rule depends on whether it comes out alive or dead. ^{5 15}

Dhaka keeps the animal's purity and makes its flesh lawful; the skin of a non-edible animal is clean by dhaka according to the Hanafis. ³ A person who omits the invocation when able and mindful makes the animal unlawful according to the majority; the Shafi'is and in one view the Hanbalis make the forgetful person's slaughter unlawful too, and the ignorant person is disputed. ^{8 10 11} The schools differ over the slaughter of a People of the Book, a Magian, an apostate and a child of mixed parents; the majority make the slaughter of the People of the Book lawful unless it was offered to other than God. ^{7 16 17 18}