Taraddi (an animal that falls and dies, and its lawfulness)

Taraddi is falling from a height to a lower place, and a mutaraddiya is an animal that has fallen into a well or from a mountain. The Qur'an forbids such an animal unless it is slaughtered lawfully. ^{1 2}

In the language, taraddi is falling from a high place to a low one; one who falls into a pit has taraddi'. A mutaraddiya is one fallen into a well or from a mountain, and in the Hanbali usage one fallen from a height such as a mountain or wall, or lying in a well. ¹

The surah al-Ma'ida (5:3) forbids the mutaraddiya, unless it is slaughtered lawfully. Lawful slaughter is of two kinds: by choice, with an animal that can be reached, by cutting the throat or the neck at the proper place; and by necessity, by wounding an animal that cannot be reached, anywhere on its body. One turns to the second only when the first is impossible. ² The Hanafis exempt a sheep that bolts in a town, since it can be caught and held. ² A beast of herd that falls into a well and cannot be slaughtered by choice is killed by wounding it anywhere, and is lawful to eat, unless its head is under water, since the water helps kill it. The hadith of Rafi ibn Khadij, about a camel that bolted and was shot down, supports this. ² The Malikis, except Ibn Habib, hold that a fallen animal is not made lawful by wounding; it is made lawful by slaughter, at the throat or the neck. ³

The Hanafis hold that if one shoots game and it falls into water, it is forbidden, since the water may have caused its death; and if it falls onto a roof or a mountain and then tumbles to the ground, it is forbidden, since avoiding this is possible. ³ The Hanbalis hold that if an animal falls into water that would kill its kind, or falls from a height that would kill its kind, it may not be eaten. If it falls into water in a way that does not kill it, or the fall would not kill such an animal, there is no dispute that it is lawful. If one shoots a bird that falls to the ground and dies, it is lawful, since avoiding this is impossible. ³