I am living in Montreal, Canada. I buy chicken products from a certified Halāl chicken farm, which is reputed to slaughter chicken mechanically. Some Islamic sites point out the verdicts of scholars that mechanically slaughtered chicken is not Halāl save the first as the Takbīr is said only for the first chicken slaughtered. What is your opinion in this regard? Some people also say that mechanically slaughtered animals are not slaughtered properly. The Halāl chicken that I buy from a Halāl store has lately had a lot of blood coming out even when I wash it for quite sometime. This continues in cooking as well for some while. The store owners, whom I know to be very good Muslims, claim that the slaughtering is done by an Egyptian Muslim himself, not by any machine. But that information obviously doesn’t make the blood go away. So what do I do?

Mechanical slaughter of animals, it should be noted, is a matter that pertains to ijtihād and there is bound to be difference of opinion in this. Personally, I do not see any harm in this. Taking the takbīr once at the start suffices for the whole lot since the same machine is going to actually slaughter all the chickens. Defective machines obviously must not be used and it should be made sure that they are properly slaughtering the animal.

We must also remember that the Qur’ān prohibits ‘poured forth blood’ (damun masfūh). Blood which is left or held back in veins and arteries after the slaughter is not prohibited. The blood that slowly oozes out while cooking is the one which is left in the arteries. So this cannot be objected to.