OnIslam.net

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother in Islam, thanks a lot for your question, which reflects your care to have a clear view of the teachings of Islam. Allah commands Muslims to refer to people of knowledge to become well acquainted with the teachings of Islam in all aspects of life.

It should be clear that stunning or applying electric shock to animals before slaughter will not in itself render the animals unlawful for Muslim consumption. If the animal is still alive after electric shock and then it gets slaughtered, then it is slaughtered in an Islamic way and, thus, there is nothing wrong in eating it. However, if the animal happens to die through the electric shock before being slaughtered, then it is carrion, which is forbidden for Muslims to eat.

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following:

Animals slaughtered in this way are considered as halal and therefore lawful for us to consume as long as they did not die before slaughter. This has been the position of the World Fiqh Council. For after due deliberations, the council concluded that stunning or applying electric shock to the animals before slaughter will not in itself render the animals unlawful for Muslim consumption as long as the animals are still alive while they are slaughtered. Of course, the slaughter thus made must fulfill conditions of halal slaughter: The major arteries are to be cut with a sharp knife or instrument in such a way that the entire blood is drained off; the name of Allah should also be invoked at the time of slaughter.

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from www.islam.ca.