Question Summary:
Could you please forward me with a fatwa pertaining to stunning of an animal before slaughtering is it permisible or not

Question Detail:

Could you please forward me with a fatwa pertaining to stunning of an animal before slaughtering is it permisible or not

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
If the animal is such that there is no need to stun it before slaughtering it, then to stun it for no reason will be considered as cruelty and such an act will be makrūh. Nevertheless, the animal will still be lawful for consumption on condition the animal is alive at the time of slaughtering. If the animal is wild and difficult to slaughter without stunning it, it will be permissible to stun it to the degree that it calms down and becomes easy to slaughter. Here too, the condition of it being alive at the time of slaughtering must be met.
Special care should be taken that the voltage of the stunner is not set too high as this leads to the death of the animal before slaughtering it. Also, the people inspecting the animals should be trained to identify a dead animal from the line so it may be removed from being slaughtered.
 
( و ) كره كل تعذيب بلا فائدة...قال العلامة ابن عابدين: ( قوله وكره إلخ ) هذا هو الأصل الجامع في إفادة معنى الكراهة عناية – رد المحتار 6:296 مصطفى البابي الحلبي
 
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Ehzaz Ajmeri,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah