Short answer
Meat is halal when the animal is a halal species, a sane Muslim (or a believing Jew or Christian) cuts its throat with a sharp blade while it is alive, and Allah's name is said over it. In the Hanafi school, leaving out Allah's name on purpose makes the meat haram. The Shafi'i school treats the bismillah as a sunnah.
Zabiha is valid when a sane Muslim or Kitabi cuts at least three of the four vessels of the throat (windpipe, food pipe and the two jugular veins) with a sharp tool while saying bismillah. An animal that died before the cut, or over which Allah's name was left out on purpose, is maytah (carrion) and haram.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Saying bismillah is a sunnah, not a condition, so the meat is halal even if it was left out, as long as the slaughterer is a Muslim or Kitabi and the cut is correct. Cutting the windpipe and the food pipe is enough.
- Maliki
- The windpipe and both jugular veins must be cut. Like the Hanafis, the Malikis hold that meat is haram if bismillah was left out on purpose.
- Hanbali
- Like the Hanafis, the Hanbalis hold that meat is haram if bismillah was left out on purpose, but cutting the windpipe and the food pipe is enough.
Explanation
Zabiha (also written dhabiha) means an animal slaughtered the Islamic way. It is not a brand or a style of cooking: it is a set of conditions, and meat is halal only when all of them are met.
- The animal is a halal species: cattle, sheep, goats, chicken, turkey, deer and the like. Pigs, predators with fangs and birds of prey are never halal.
- The slaughterer is a sane Muslim, or a Jew or Christian who believes in his scripture, old enough to understand what he is doing.
- Allah's name is said by the slaughterer at the moment of the cut, over each animal.
- The cut is made across the throat with a sharp blade so the blood flows out, while the animal is alive.
Islam also asks for mercy in the method: a sharp knife, no sharpening the blade in front of the animal, and no skinning or cutting until it has died. These are sunnah and good manners; breaking them is disliked but does not make the meat haram.
In the US, UK and Canada the word halal on a package is only as reliable as the body that certified it. Ask whether the meat is hand slaughtered, whether the animals are stunned, and who supervises. AmalKit covers the common sticking points in separate answers: machine slaughter, stunning, meat of Christians and Jews and kosher meat. For the wider picture, read why Muslims eat halal, and check ingredients with the halal food checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:3
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَٰمِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ۗ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ۚ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَٰمَ دِينًۭا ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍۢ لِّإِثْمٍۢ ۙ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ﴿٣﴾
Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Lists carrion and animals killed without slaughter as forbidden, except what is properly slaughtered.
Quran, Surah Al-An'aam 6:121
وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا۟ مِمَّا لَمْ يُذْكَرِ ٱسْمُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَفِسْقٌۭ ۗ وَإِنَّ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينَ لَيُوحُونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَوْلِيَآئِهِمْ لِيُجَٰدِلُوكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَطَعْتُمُوهُمْ إِنَّكُمْ لَمُشْرِكُونَ ﴿١٢١﴾
And do not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience. And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him].
The Hanafi school's main proof that Allah's name is a condition of halal slaughter.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5503
Sahih... ما أنهر الدم وذكر اسم الله فكل ...
"Whatever makes the blood flow and has Allah's name mentioned over it, eat it."
Gives the two core conditions: a cut that drains the blood, and the name of Allah.
Sahih Muslim 1955
Sahih... وإذا ذبحتم فأحسنوا الذبح وليحد أحدكم شفرته وليرح ذبيحته ...
"When you slaughter, slaughter well: let each of you sharpen his blade and spare his animal suffering."
Shows that kindness to the animal is part of the Islamic method.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih. Conditions of the slaughterer, the tasmiyah and the vessels that must be cut.
- Bada'i al-Sana'i, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih wa al-Suyud. Detailed conditions of valid slaughter and what makes it disliked.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.