IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE?

BY: Mujlisul Ulama of SA PO Box 3393 Port Elizabeth 6056, South Africa IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 2 IS PRE-SLAUGHTER STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? On the practice of pre-slaughter stunning of chickens, Darul Uloom Canada has made some research. The following is the conclusion of their research: “In January 2024, a team from the Halal Monitoring Authority (HMA) visited Darul Uloom to present their research on Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS). Following this presentation, HMA invited representatives from Darul Uloom to visit their facility in May 2024 to observe the slaughter process involving stunned chickens. After thoroughly reviewing the relevant data and studying the works of Hanafī jurists, the DārulIftā is of the opinion that the controls implemented by HMA are sufficient to ensure that the animal is alive at the time of slaughter, thereby meeting halāl standards. Although the stunning method is not ideal, the conditions for halāl slaughter appear to be fulfilled. However, since the issue of consuming such chicken is a communal matter, the Darul Iftā believes it is appropriate to seek feedback from other scholars. Accordingly, this document should not be understood as a formal fatwa to the general public declaring permissibility. Instead, it has been compiled for consideration by other scholars. We would appreciate it if scholars who agree with these findings could share their concurrence. Similarly, if there are scholars IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 3 who disagree, we would welcome their feedback and reasons for disagreement.” (End of the Darul Uloom’s opinion) Adding to this discussion, one Mufti Yusuf Badat states his legless, flaccid „evidences‟ for the permissibility of the shaitaani system of slaughter. A Maulana from Canada summarizing Badat‟s evidences states: “His main evidences: Stunning a bird or animal without causing death, prior to slaughter, although in principle is disliked (makrūh), is acceptable, if done to ease the handling and slaughter process. Our Comment This conclusion is preposterously illogic, unacceptable and haraam. Any injury inflicted on an animal prior to slaughter is haraam. This Mufti has absolutely no Shar‟i basis for his allegation of „acceptability‟ of a haraam method. He further compounds and aggravates his grossly erroneous view by justifying the haraam method for the sake of „easing the handling and slaughter process‟. His justification has no validity. He has justified the satanic pre-slaughter system of stunning chickens for the sake of facilitating the kuffaar‟s shaitaani system of slaughter which requires speed for mass production for their monetary goals. Thus the Mufti has employed haraam to sustain haraam. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 4 It is utterly despicable for a Mufti to cancel the System commanded by Allah Ta‟ala just so that the coffers of the kuffaar may be filled with the boodle. It is never permissible to discard the Islamic System which does not allow any kind of pre-slaughter injury, for the sake of promoting and facilitating the kuffaar chicken entrepreneurs. The known Hanafī jurist, Imam Burhān Al-Dīn Al-Marghinānī (may Allāh have mercy on him) states, “A disliked act, such as some pain to the animal [in the slaughter process] for a higher purposeful objective, prior or post slaughter, does not render prohibition. This is why such a slaughtered animal can be consumed.” – (Al-BināyahSharh Al-Hidāyah Vol. 11, Page 564, Dār Al-Kutub Al-„Ilmiyyah[10]) Our Comment The only thing stated by the Author of Hidaayah is that the Makrooh/Haraam act “does not render prohibition”. He does not say that the actual haraam act is permissible. He does not say stunning or any other act of injury is halaal. He in fact says that despite the infliction of the haraam act, the meat remains halaal, i.e. if the injury does not kill the animal. He does not present this example to diminish or to cancel Islam‟s Thabah system nor to halaalize the kuffaar system of slaughter which Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) labelled „Shareetatush Shaitaan”. Thus, the meat being halaal on account of the requisite neck vessels having been cut with the pronouncement of Tasmiyah, does not render IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 5 halaal the act of stunning or any other act of injury inflicted on the animal. Badat has dug out this obscure mas‟alah to halaalize the slaughtering system of the kuffaar, and this is motivated by pecuniary and mercenary objectives. “The stun that does not cause death is from the act of excellence [and good treatment] to the animal that is being slaughtered, due to the reason that the animal will not feel much pain during its slaughter.” – (See: Ma‟āyīr Al-Halāl Wa Al-Harām, Page 318[11]) Our Comment The author of the book, Ma‟ayir Al-Halal Wa Al-Haram is a SHIAH from Iraq. He is a chap of this century. It is an insult to proffer the views of a kaafir to halaalize the haraam stunning system of the kuffaar. Just imagine! The Shiah says that stunning which Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) prohibited, is “an act of excellence”. But our Nabi (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said that all acts of injury on the animal before slaughtering it are cruel and haraam. Even sharpening the knife in the presence of the animal is haraam. As long as there is some form of life in the animal or bird being slaughtered, it is permissible for Halāl consumption. Our Comment The issue under discussion is not the hillet (being halaal) of the meat at the end of the brutal, kuffaar system of slaughter. The issue is the act of pre-slaughter stunning. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 6 The halaalizers of the kuffaar brutality of pre-slaughter stunning invariably attempt to obfuscate the issues to spin their narrative of „halaal‟ motivated by the chimera of lucrative haraam earnings which the kuffaar chicken merchants dangle infront of these culprits who plunder the Deen for the sake of their monetary lusts. The Holy Qur‟ān declares, “Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allāh, and [those animals] killed by strangling, by a violent blow, by a head-long fall, by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death].” – (See: Qur‟ān 5:3[12]) Ibn Ka`b bin Mālik reported from his father, “We had some sheep which used to graze at Sala‟. One of our young girls saw a sheep dying and she broke a stone and slaughtered the sheep with it. My father said to the people, “Do not eat it until I ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it [or until I send someone to ask the Prophet]. So, he asked or sent someone to ask the Prophet, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted him to eat it.” – (Sahīh Bukhārī 2304[13]) It is documented in Al-Fatāwā Al-„Ālamghirīyyah, “Animals injured by a head long fall, strangulation, a violent blow, a sickly sheep, a jabbed animal, an animal whose stomach is torn, when [any of these] are to be slaughtered, if there is the presence of on-going life, the animal is rendered permissible through the act of slaughter by consensus. If life in the animal is diminishing, the animal is permissible for consumption regardless if the animal is able to live on further or not. This is the verdict of Imam Abū IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 7 Hanīfah (may Allāh have mercy on him). This is the correct position and the fatwā is issued on this.” – (See: Al-Fatāwā Al- Hindiyyah, Vol 5, Page 286, Dār Al-Fikr[14]) The great Syrian Hanafī jurist, Imam Ahmad Ibn Muhammad (may Allāh have mercy on him) has written, “Imam Al-Sarakhsīy (may Allāh have mercy on him) has mentioned that when it is known that an animal has life, during slaughter, it is permissible for halāl consumption, whether it can be ascertained that it will continue to live on or not.” – (See: Lisān Al-Hukkām Fī Ma‟arifat Al-Ahkām, Page 373, Al-Bābīy Al-Halabīy[15]) The famous Hanafī fiqh manual, Badā‟i Al-Hanā‟i states, “As long as there is some life present, a little or a lot [during slaughter], the animal will be deemed permissible as per the fatwā of Imam Abū Hanīfah (may Allāh have mercy on him).” – (See: Badā‟I Al-Sanā‟i, Vol 5, Page 50, Dār Al-Kutub Al- „Ilmiyyah[16]) Our Comment All of these citations proffered by Badat are for obfuscation. These quotes from the Hanafi Fuqaha and the Qur‟aanic Aayat are all unrelated to the issue of stunning and infliction of injury. None of these quotations lend any support whatsoever for the haraam stunning act. There is no relationship between these rulings and stunning. The meat at the end being halaal is not a daleel for the validity and permissibility of an act made haraam by Allah Ta‟ala. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 8 The „evidences‟ proffered by Badat and Darul Uloom Canada are in reality not evidence for proving permissibility for the act of pre-slaughter stunning. Whatever the entities have presented to justify stunning applies to the meat being halaal after haraam injury has been inflicted on the chickens and animals. Furthermore, the meat being halaal in this haraam scenario which they are labouring to halaalize is the view of only the Hanafi Math-hab based on the ruling of Imaam Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah alayh). However, according to the other Math-habs as well according to the illustrious Hanafi Fuqaha, Imaam Abu Yusuf (Rahmatullah alayh) and Imaam Muhammad (Rahmatullah alayh), the meat will not be halaal in these circumstances. Be that as it may, the issue is not the end product. The issue is the first act – the act of stunning, which is HARAAM. The attempt to divert attention from the primary premises by means of hoodwinking, kicking up dust and blowing much hot air about the end product is despicable. It provides not a semblance of evidence for the act of stunning nor is it ever permissible to issue a halaal licence to the kuffaar chicken-mafia entrepreneurs for establishing their system of killing dubbed Shareetatush Shaitaan by our Nabi (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It must be understood that the objective of the Ahkaam and of Taa-at (obedience) is for our success and salvation in the Aakhirah. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 9 said: “The dunya has been created for you, and you have been created for the Aakhirah.” It is most despicable to use loopholes, obscure masaa-il and issues pertaining to exceptional circumstances as latitude for promoting the wares, products and enterprises of the kuffaar, and for one‟s pecuniary designs and objectives. Among the Signs of Qiyaamah mentioned in the Hadith is that “the dunya will be acquired with the acts of the Deen.” The manifestation of this particular Sign prevails today intensely in the ranks of Deeni personnel. The deen is proffered as cover for worldly and nafsaani objectives. This is in particular to entities who halaalize the Shareetatush Shaitaan (Shaitaan‟s system of slaughter) of the kuffaar. Farfetched technicalities are dug out from the Fiqh Kutub to proffer totally baseless arguments to justify and halaalize the brutal, haraam slaughtering systems of the kuffaar. And, this evil is camouflaged with texts from the Fiqh Kutub. Understand well that the Fuqaha have explained these technicalities for application in exceptional circumstances. The hillet of the meat acquired from breaking the neck of a chicken/goat prior to slaughter NEVER abrogates the major sins of brutality banned by Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The ahkaam applicable to exceptional circumstances do not cancel the standing Sunnah system. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 10 It is pure shaitaaniyat to vindicate performance of Salaat with the entire body naked except for the Satr being covered on the basis of the validity of Salaat with Satr covered, then to produce a plethora of references to „prove‟ validity. Salaat being valid if the Satr is covered does not halaalize performance of Salaat with the entire body being nude. Wudhu by observing only the four Fardh acts is valid according to the Hanafi Math-hab. But to legalize the abandonment of the Sunnah method of wudhu on the basis of the Fiqhi technicality that wudhu is valid if the four Fardh acts are observed is pure shaitaaniyat, a major sin and never valid. In the same way, the kuffaar‟s systems of slaughter may not be licensed and halaalized on the basis of the shaitaani argument of the end product being halaal. The meat being halaal in exceptional cases does not halaalize stunning and the kuffaar‟s systems which Islam prohibits. There is not a single valid daleel for halaalizing stunning even if it be assumed that the shaitaan‟s stunning act does not kill the animal. The entire system of the Devil‟s Slaughter from A to Z is haraam. Such a haraam system may not be employed and halaalized to satisfy the monetary objectives of the kuffaar and the lust for boodle of these halaalizing outfits. Thus, it is a major sin and in total conflict with Imaani logic for the Darul Uloom Canada to say: IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 11 “After thoroughly reviewing the relevant data and studying the works of Hanafī jurists, the DārulIftā is of the opinion that the controls implemented by HMA are sufficient to ensure that the animal is alive at the time of slaughter, thereby meeting halāl standards.” Indeed, the Muftis of the Darul Uloom have miserably failed to constructively apply their Aql in the interests of Islam and the Ummah. What are these “halaal standards” which are met? These „standards‟ are in total conflict with the Sunnah. It does not befit a Darul Uloom to promote „standards‟ which are in conflict with the Shariah and which in reality are inspirations of Iblees. Instead of concentrating on the impermissibility of the act of stunning which is the subject matter under discussion, the Darul Uloom has made the end product – the meat acquired in exceptional cases - the issue of argument. The primary question is: Is pre-slaughter stunning permissible or not? The question is not: “Will the meat be halaal if the Shar‟i system of Thabah is discarded due to exceptional circumstances? Only a munaafiq would say that pre-slaughter stunning is permissible. May Allah Ta‟ala keep our Imaan intact until the very last moment of life. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 12 THABAH: THE STANDARDS OF THE SHARIAH The miserable entities who halaalize the carrion produced in the animal-killing facilities of the Yahood and Nasaara, have fabricated their own so-called „halaal standards‟ on the basis of which they halaalize the carrion of the Yahood and Nasaara. Islam has its own unique divine Halaal Standards which are as follows: (1) The animal and the Thaabih (slaughterer) must face the Qiblah. (2) The Tasmiyah must be recited simultaneously with the stroke of the knife. (3) The knife must be sharp, and it may not be sharpened in the presence of the animal. (4) Pre-slaughter injury of whatever kind is haraam. (5) Immersing the chicken in hot water prior to removal of entrails is not permissible. It renders the meat haraam. (6) Skinning may not begin while there remains the slightest vestige of life in the animal. (7) An animal may not be slaughtered in front of another animal. (8) The blood of an animal slaughtered must be washed away before another animal is slaughtered in the same place. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Ihsaan (kindness/mercy) has been made incumbent on everything. Therefore when you kill, then render the IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 13 killing with ihsaan, and when you slaughter, then render the slaughtering with ihsaan, and sharpen the knife, and be merciful to the animal.” Once when Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) saw a man sharpening the knife whilst the goat had been laid down (ready for slaughtering), he (Nabi –Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “You have intended to kill the goat with several deaths. Why did you not sharpen the knife before laying down the goat?” In other Hadith narrations it is mentioned: “If you have mercy on the goat, Allah will have mercy on you.” “On the Day of Qiyaamah Allah will have mercy on the one who was merciful to even a bird which he slaughtered.” Thabah is the Islamic system of slaughtering animals. It is a divinely ordained System explained in detail by Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It is never permissible to mutilate and adulterate this System of Allah Ta‟ala with vile acts of injury, etc. for the sake of halaalizing the killed animals of the kuffaar. This sacred System of the Deen has its Sunnah rules and regulations which may not be set aside to accommodate IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 14 the pecuniary objectives of the kuffaar entrepreneurs and for the mercenary objectives of the certifying entities who are all, without any exception, the illegitimate progeny of Iblees, hence without any qualms do they halaalize the killed animals. It is nothing other than the boodle factor which has motivated these villains and agents of Iblees to licence the kuffaar killing plants with fake „halaal‟ certificates. It is most lamentable that Ulama and Darul Uloom personnel who inspect the killing plants of the kuffaar overlook and in entirety ignore the wholesale violations of the Shariah‟s system of Thabah and focus only on the end product which they then abortively labour to halaalize on the basis of Fiqhi technicalities intended for exceptional cases and circumstances. The molvis, muftis and sheikhs who participate in the bogus inspections organized by the killing facility management, enter the plants with the notion of finding justification for the kuffaar system to sustain the abominable halaalization process. Thus, from the very inception of the inspection, the Shariah‟s Standards are ignored. They concern themselves with only the end product which they proclaim „halaal‟ by some hook and crook. If the Imaan of these molvi inspectors and halaalizers of carrion was healthy and vibrant, the very first major sin they would have observed when they set eyes on the myriad of chickens arraigned for merciless killing, is that IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 15 all the chickens are hung upside down, limp and moving on a conveyor belt at speed – speed which was fraudulently reduced to soothe the ideas and conscience of the morons inspecting the facility. Then they would have observed the haraam reckless manner in which the chickens are killed in motion, not in accord with the Masnoon Thabah system. Then they would have observed the chickens with their slit throats entering hot water prior to removal of the entrails. They would have observed that the entire system is rotten, stinking, brutal and satanic. That is if their Imaan was healthy and vibrant, and if Ridha Ilaahi was uppermost in their minds. But by intentional design do they overlook all the infractions of the Shariah for the sake of validating the carrion of the kuffaar. Thus, their one and only focus is on the end product which they baselessly halaalize on Fiqhi examples pertaining to exceptional circumstances which may not be proffered to cancel the sacred Islamic system of Thabah. The focus of the carrion-halaalizing molvis, muftis and sheikhs is on only two aspects of this brutal Shareetatush Shaitaan – devil‟s slaughtering: (1) The stunning (2) The end product They maintain that the stunning does not kill the chickens. The chickens revive after some minutes, hence at the point IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 16 of slaughtering the chickens are alive. Since the chickens are alive when slaughtered, the end product is halaal. Firstly, all inspections are pre-organized. The morons who are hooked by the carrion certifying entities, tag along like poodles on leashes. The line speed of the conveyor belts is substantially reduced. The temperature in the scalding tanks is reduced to enable the morons to dip their hands into the water. The slaughterers will be on guard regarding the Tasmiyah. In this manner are all the moron molvis and muftis befooled. In fact prior to being befooled they were already fools for agreeing to participate in the inspection of a system which they know is 100% kuffaar – 100% in violent conflict with the Shariah. Numerous slaughterers have testified in written affidavits, and many inspections undertaken by genuine Ulama have established the following shenanigans perpetrated at the killing facilities: (1) The line speed is substantially faster than the speed at the time of the planned inspection. (2) The temperature in the scalding tanks is much higher than the temperature at the time of the planned inspections. (3) And worst of all is the fact that it is impossible for the slaughterers to recite Tasmiyah on hundreds of thousands of chickens daily moving upside down on a belt at speed. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 17 (4) Due to shenanigan No.3, it is not possible to always slit the requisite number of neck vessels. This then is the reality of the carrion chickens which the moron molvis and muftis halaalize for the sake of the boodle. Just what is the imperative need to halaalize the kuffaar system of killing, even if it be assumed that the end product is halaal? Is it among the objectives of a Darul Uloom and of Molvis and Muftis to promote the business empires of the Yahood and Nasaara by halaalizing their absolutely brutal satanic system of killing? The Darul Uloom Canada preposterously states: “…… the Dārul Iftā is of the opinion that the controls implemented by HMA are sufficient to ensure that the animal is alive at the time of slaughter, thereby meeting halāl standards. Although the stunning method is not ideal, the conditions for halāl slaughter appear to be fulfilled.” Here in South Africa too, the miserable agents of Iblees such as SANHA, MJC, NIHT, etc., proffer similar claims. Their „controls‟ are all bogus and designed to hoodwink a carrion-devouring ignorant community, the members of whom are carrion-addicts just as others are drug-addicts. The Darul Ifta should elaborate on the “halaal standards” which they claim to be complying with. What are these so- called „halaal standards‟? Are they the standards of the IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 18 Shariah as commanded by Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)? Do their so-called „halaal standards‟ comply with the Standards of the Shariah and the Sunnah as mentioned in the beginning of this discussion? Every Muslim, be he a moron, knows that not a single one of the halaal standards ordained by Allah Ta‟ala is met and fulfilled by the Devil‟s system which is the standard practice in all kuffaar animal killing facilities. It is absolutely necessary for the Ulama to engage in muraaqabah of Maut, the Qabr and Qiyaamah, and to understand that the Shariah is not for satanic manipulation to accommodate the pecuniary objectives of the Yahood and Nasaara who are today massacring Muslims on a daily basis in horrendous genocides. The objective of the Shariah is to provide the Pathway for success and salvation in the Aakhirat. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “The dunya has been created for you while you have been created for the Aakhirat.” Our destination of the Aakhirat, i.e. Jannat, can be safely reached only by the implementation of the Shariah in the Sunnah way. The purpose of the obscure narrations, rules and acts pertaining to exceptional circumstances may not be manipulated to cancel, mutilate and abrogate the Systems ordained by Allah Ta‟ala. Thus, the obligation of IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 19 the Ulama is to zealously safeguard and defend the Shariah and the Sunnah by focusing on the Pleasure of Allah Ta‟ala and the Aakhirah. For a certainty, the Pleasure of Allah Ta‟ala cannot be acquired from the satanic halaalizing of kuffaar animal-killing facilities where every aspect of the System of Allah Ta‟ala is displaced and substituted with the methods of Iblees. The objective of Darul Ulooms imparting the knowledge of Hadith, Tafseer, Fiqh, etc. is never to benefit the monetary enterprises of the Yahood and Nasaara. It is utterly miserable and contemptible for Darul Ulooms, molvis and muftis to be enlisted in the programme of promoting the pecuniary objectives of the Yahood and Nasaara. They should hang their heads in shame, regret and repent for their dastardly crimes of promoting the businesses of the Yahood and Nasaara by means of the haraam manipulation of the Ahkaam which they mutilate for the accommodation of Shareetatush Shaitaan. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 20 ‘AKIN TO KUFR’ The issue of concern is not a matter of a casual or forgetful omission of Istiqbaal-e-Qiblah by a Muslim who has slaughtered an animal for his home consumption. We are looking at a satanic and a horrendous kuffaar system of torturing and murdering billions of Allah‟s defenceless makhlooq to produce „halaalized‟ haraam carrion. We are looking at the complete displacement of the Islamic system of Thabah which is among the Shi-aar of Islam. While the kuffaar killing plants are not expected to introduce the Islamic system of Thabah, it is not expected of Muslims in general, and of Muftis and Darul Ulooms in particular, to endorse and halaalize a kuffaar system of savagery which is the current system of slaughter at all commercial plants – the system which Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (rahmatullah alayh) and other Akaabir Ulama have labelled, „akin to kufr‟. The Shariah is targeting the whole rotten brutal system which produces maitah for human consumption. Every step in the actual killing system, as well as every step in the pre-killing breeding system is brutal and haraam. A Mufti has to look intelligently with his brains and Imaan at the entire system about which the mas‟alah has been posed. If a solitary Muslim out of ignorance slaughters his chickens in his backyard while facing them away from the Qiblah, for example, he too will be rebuked for his negligence which causes omission of Istiqbaal-e-Qiblah. If such a person seeks a fatwa regarding his omission, the IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 21 Mufti will inform him correctly and offer naseehat to induce practical adoption of the Islamic system even if he believes that Istiqbaal-e-Qiblah is Mustahab. No Mufti who has some fear and who is diligent in cultivating taqwa will encourage the Muslim to entrench and perpetuate his omission of Mustahabbaat. The whole system, every step of it, is haraam. Even if we have to assume that the „end product‟ is halaal, this hallucinated „hillat‟ does not render halaal the whole brutal haraam system of torturing chickens to death, and breeding chickens in horrendous and cruel conditions which necessitates crushing to death hundreds of thousands of day-old live male chicks and feeding this rotten carrion to the same broiler chickens which are marketed as „halaal‟. But the muftis overlook all of these major Shar‟i infractions and kabeerah sins and focus on only the end product to validate the haraam „halaal‟ certificates issued by the villains. If prior to committing zina with a prostitute who is paid for her immoral services, a contract is made stipulating that at the end of the zina process, the zaani (fornicator) has to marry the prostitute, then the „end product‟, namely, Nikah which is halaal, cannot be cited in justification of the entire system or process of prostitution. This is what in effect the Darul Uloom Canada and other moron muftis are doing. They claim that because the „end product‟- the slaughtered chickens – are halaal, therefore the whole haraam savage system of killing the chickens is acceptable and halaal. Every intelligent Muslim can easily understand IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 22 the corrupt brains which halaalize a haraam system on the basis of a halaal „end product‟. The matter is aggravated by the fact that the „end product‟ is not halaal. It is haraam, rotten, diseased carrion. It is our dua that Allah Ta‟ala opens up the blinded eyes and the fossilized hearts of those who have sold their souls for the haraam riba money which they acquire from the haraam carrion industry. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 23 STUNNING AND ELECTROCUTING It is electrified water which shocks the daylight out the chicken and which horrifically pains them, shocking them into immobilization while their senses remain intact. The chickens are waterboarded in the same way as abducted and rendered detainees are waterboarded during the torture process at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S.A. black torture centres. The entire heads of the chickens are submerged in the electrified water to ensure that the current horribly shocks (not stuns) the chickens into immobilization, not unconsciousness. The experts and the experienced, who have a thorough knowledge of this brutal haraam process proffer the following description of the electrical shocking method: “There are three main methods for immobilizing birds to prepare them for slaughter… (3) Electrical, in which a live current is shot through the bird by means of an electric knife, plate or electrified water to which sodium chloride (salt) has been added to improve the conductivity of the charge. The electrified brine-water bath is the method that is used in the large commercial slaughter plants. After the birds have been manually jammed into a movable metal rack that clamps them upside down by their feet, known as “live hang”, about thirty seconds later their heads and necks are dragged through a 12-foot brine-bath trough called a stun cabinet for approximately seven seconds. Between 20 and 24 birds occupy this cabinet at a time. 180 birds pass through the trough every minute. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 24 The purpose of this method of stunning broiler chickens is to relax neck muscles and contract wing muscles for proper positioning of the head for the automatic killers (or for the human killers), prevent excessive struggling of the birds as the blood drains from their necks, promote rapid bleeding (under 90 seconds), and loosen feathers. During electrical water-bath stunning, currents shoot through the birds‟ skin, skeletal breast muscle, cardiac muscle, and leg muscles causing spasms and tremors, reducing heartbeat and breathing, and increasing the blood pressure. The birds exit the stunner with arched necks, open, fixed eyes, tucked wings, extended rigid legs, shuddering, turned up tail feathers, and varying amounts of defecation. Problems identified with this method include birds missing the stun bath by raising their heads to avoid it, and shocking of birds splashed by water overflowing at the entrance end of the stun cabinet. Electrical resistance of the circuits can vary between and within a single slaughter plant reflecting differences in stunners and circuits, and a wide range of other variables including the birds‟ own bodies, like the amount of fat and skull density…This means that they are being painfully shocked and paralyzed, the opposite of being rendered insensible to pain and suffering. According to researchers, a major problem with electrical stunning, even under “ideal” conditions, is that birds who are stunned (rendered unconscious) and birds who are merely paralyzed look the same. A bird or a mammal may be unable to move, struggle, or cry out, while experiencing intense pain and other forms of suffering including the inability to express outwardly a response to pain perception. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 25 (At this juncture it will be salubrious to remind the muftis and others of like-thinking that about 90 years ago, long before the researchers and experts had published their findings, Hakimul Ummat Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi – rahmatullah alayh – expressed the very same concept which is presented in the highlighted words above. The Darul Uloom should refer to Imdaadul Fataawa.) “No one really knows the kind of pain and overall suffering involved. Various indicators have their proponents: visual, auditory, evoked versus spontaneous somatosensory, physical activity, brain waves, breathing, etc…One slaughter operator notes: “It is possible that the electric shock, even as it renders the bird unconscious, is an intensely painful experience.” (Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs by Karen Davis PhD) A slaughterer who was employed by Rainbow Chickens of Hammarsdale in a sworn and signed affidavit states: “The chickens are shackled by the feet and hung upside down in a conveyor line. In this position the chickens become excited and fearful. They wildly flap their wings. As a result of this agitation some chickens are caught on the conveyor contraption, and this causes their wings to break and skin to tear. This mutilation happens prior to the birds being electrically stunned.” “When chickens arrive at the stunner there are already 37 to 40 chickens whose heads are fully immersed in the electrified water which results in some chickens dying in IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 26 the shocking process. When these electrically stunned chickens reach the slaughterman, he is not always able to detect whether the birds on the line are dead or alive. The mask which fully covers his face and eyes blurs his vision. The dead bird is slaughtered and continues on the line.” “In a situation whereby there is a power failure or a stoppage due to mechanical failure, etc., the line comes to a standstill. This results in the drowning of the chickens whose heads are submerged in the electrified water in the stunner.” We quote verbatim from a written statement of another Rainbow ex-slaughterer: “In Rainbow Chickens, the bird is being tortured before getting to the slaughterer. Being hung on shackles upside down, blood rushing to its head instantly, swinging along the line at ridiculous speed causing the skin to tear, going into the stunner which is a container with filthy water, built to electrocute the chicken. After between 26 to 38 seconds in the electrical water container, the chickens come to the slaughterers. They slaughter the chickens irrespective of the condition, even if dead………If dead, it makes no difference. Even if it was dead before being slaughtered. It goes all the way into the blood tunnel filled with blood that is washed away after every 2 to 3 hours. It takes the bird two minutes to enter the scalding tank which is filled with boiling water, filthy, dirty and smelling… …Chickens have also fallen from the shackles into the scalding tank. Some are thrown in by workers on duty. These chickens cook in that tank… IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 27 There are bins that are for dead birds. Birds that are thrown into these bins take a few hours to start rotting – worms even coming out. The chickens start turning green. …Because these birds are injected, some of them come with extra legs. Instead of two, three or four. Some come with broken or stiff necks, the neck being stuck on one side… The same applies in Rustenburg. I‟ve been there as well. These are some of the reasons why I lost my job – asking too many questions.” Another serious problem is that while the chickens‟ heads are submerged in the filthy electrical water, they inhale the filth. In this regard, the researchers, Gregory & Whittington said: “(After conducting an experiment they concluded): „Chickens can and do inhale water during the electrical stunning in a waterbath. The scientists explain that, “some birds defecate during stunning and hence foul the water of waterbath stunners”. So, at stunning, the birds inhale faeces when they are dipped into the electric waterbath. This is perceived as a particular problem from the meat hygiene perspective because fluids can leak out of the lungs and cause contamination.” As far as non-Muslims are concerned, electrical stunning should kill the chickens by cardiac arrest so that they are dead by the time they reach the slaughterer. However, although this „ideal‟ has not been achieved, innumerable birds die as a consequence of the electrical shocking. They continue on the line to be slaughtered. IS STUNNING PERMISSIBLE? 28 “The aim of modern waterbath systems is supposedly to induce a cardiac arrest in birds so that they die and have no chance of regaining consciousness. However, not all birds have a cardiac arrest and the RSPCA say that: “Many birds are improperly stunned and recover consciousness before slaughter.” Thus, innumerable chickens die in consequence of the shocking, and are slaughtered. Despite these revelations of slaughterers and the elaboration of non-Muslim researchers and experts, the mercenary muftis and the Darul Uloom cling to their absolutely baseless idea of „hillet‟. Let them all hang their heads in shame. Let them engage in some muraaqabah of Maut and Qabr, for then perhaps their blind spiritual eyes and fossilized brains will open up. Allah Ta‟ala says about such villains: “The (physical) eyes are not blind. But, the hearts within the breasts are blind.”