Tadhkiya (ritual slaughter and taking of game)

التذكية

Tadhkiya is the lawful cause that makes the flesh of a land animal that is slaughtered allowed to eat. It covers slaughter, throat-cutting at the base of the neck, wounding an animal beyond reach, and hunting. Most jurists require that the one who slaughters be a Muslim or a People of the Book, and discerning; they require the naming of God at the time, unless it was forgotten. A tooth or nail still attached to the body may not be used; fish and locusts are lawful without it. ¹ ² ³

Summary

Tadhkiya is the lawful cause that makes the flesh of a land animal, one fit to be slaughtered, allowed to eat. It covers slaughter, the thrust into the base of the camel's neck, wounding an animal beyond reach, and hunting. ¹ ²

Definition

Tadhkiya means completing a thing and slaughter; the saying "the slaughter of the unborn is the slaughter of its mother" uses the word. In law it is the cause that makes eating a land animal lawful by choice. For the Hanafis it is the lawful way that keeps the animal pure and makes its flesh, or its hide and hair if inedible, lawful to use. ¹

Kinds

Slaughter (dhabh): cutting the windpipe from the inside at the joint between neck and head; it is slaughter by choice and narrower than tadhkiya. ²
Nahr: thrusting into the hollow at the base of a camel's neck and chest, cutting the veins low in the neck; it is another form of slaughter by choice. ²
Aqr: wounding an animal that cannot be reached, anywhere on its body; it is slaughter by necessity. ²
Hunting (sayd): killing a wild animal by sending an arrow, a dog or a falcon. ²

Ruling

Tadhkiya allows the flesh of a permitted animal that is fit to be slaughtered, whether by slaughter, thrust or wounding. Fish and locusts are lawful without tadhkiya, since they are not of the kind slaughtered. ²

Conditions on the one who slaughters

The jurists require that the one who slaughters be a Muslim or a People of the Book. The Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis, and one view of the Shafi'is, require him to be discerning, able to understand naming God and slaughter; the sounder Shafi'i view does not. ² ³ Most jurists require naming God at the time of slaughter, unless one has forgotten; the Shafi'is hold naming recommended. ³

The instrument

Slaughter is lawful with any sharp instrument that cuts, such as iron, copper, gold, wood, stone or glass. A tooth or nail still attached to the body is not lawful by agreement; if detached, the jurists differ. ³ The rules are treated in the chapters on hunting, slaughter and sacrifice; the Malikis treat them under the heading of slaughter. ³

Openness as against secrecy in acts of worship, charity and public notice (alaniya)

In the lexicon, alaniya comes from proclaiming and showing a thing, and is the opposite of secrecy. Public voice (jahr) is narrower than openness, and secrecy is what is hidden in the heart. Acts of worship divide by openness: some are prescribed to be public, such as the call to prayer, the sermon, jihad and enjoining good; some are better kept private, such as reciting silently in the silent prayer; and some may be either, such as charity. An obligatory alms-giving is better shown when there is no fear of showing off, so that others may follow it, while a voluntary gift is better hidden where display is feared. The faults of narrators, witnesses and those entrusted with charities and endowments must be made public when they affect their fitness, and the scholars hold this is not forbidden backbiting. The judge is recommended to proclaim the restraint of a bankrupt and to call witnesses to it, and one Shafi'i view makes it obligatory.

Tadhkiya (ritual slaughter and taking of game)

At a glance