Halal and humane slaughter; Comparison between Islamic teachings and modern methods

Islam permits the consumption of meat of halal animals/birds, only when these have been slaughtered in the prescribed manner. This involves, while reciting the name of Allah, making a quick incision on the front of the neck to cut carotid arteries, jugular veins, windpipe and oesophagus. The prerequisites include laying the animal on its left flank, preferably facing towards Kibla. This enables maximum bleeding, and easy unpainful death in a few seconds. Preslaughter management of the animals requires that they should be healthy, and not stressed, fatigued, excited or neurotic. The current slaughtering method, or the humane slaughter, follows these Islamic guidelines. The only difference is that Muslims recite the name of Allah while making an incision , whereas the modern method followed by non-Muslims does not include this in the procedure. This paper discusses the halal slaughtering method and provides the Islamic teachings in comparison with modern slaughtering methods.