Question
I had the issue of stunning with SANHA as I was of the understanding that stunning prior to slaughtering is highly detested by senior Ulama all over the globe, and by even respected non-Muslim scientists. Furthermore, it has many negative consequences SANHA, however, is of the view that controlled stunning in commercial abattoirs is acceptable. On this issue SANHA submitted that ‘senior Ulama and pious predecessors’ have laid down the rules for acceptance of commercial slaughter based on their interpretation of public need, decades prior to the formation of SANHA. SANHA, however, did not expand on the above. I have researched to the best of my ability the Fatwas of senior Ulama and Pious Predecessors on this stunning issue, and I have found that all the senior Ulama and Pious Predecessors seem to be unanimous in detesting the stunning of animals, especially poultry prior to slaughtering. Please enlighten me regarding the senior Ulama and Pious Predecessors who had laid down the rules of acceptability of stunning of poultry, decades before SANHA as formed. I quote below a recent Fatwa issued by Mufti Taqi Usmani on the stunning issue: “The practice of rendering animals uncons
Answer
Undoubtedly, all true Ulama reject as haraam pre-slaughter stunning, and every pre-slaughter infliction of injury to the animal. Numerous non-Muslim experts in this field too reject stunning and point out its harms.
When Islam rejects every act of injury before slaughter and when Allah Ta’ala has ordained a system of Thabah for the Ummah, then it is contumacy and flagrant transgression to aver that ‘controlled stunning’ or ‘controlled infliction of injury’ is acceptable. Ask SANHA for its Shar’i evidence for its contention of ‘acceptability’. A person’s personal view unsubstantiated by the evidence of the Shariah, is devoid of substance in Islam. The laws of Islam are sacrosanct. These laws and systems are revealed. They came from Allah Azza Wa Jal to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It is haraam and tantamount to kufr to delete, change or displace these laws, ways and methods with systems invented by the kuffaar, especially when the Shariah is explicit in prohibiting pre-slaughter injury.
In Islam when the term ‘Pious Predecessors’ , i.e. Salf-e-Saaliheen, is mentioned, it refers to the Ulama, Sulaha, Fuqaha and Auliya of the three initial eras of Islam , which are known a
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