“ Cut the vejfels •with what thing foever thou pleafejl." With refpeft
to the faying quoted by Shafei, it alludes to nails and teeth fixed in
their native place; for it was a frequent cuftom amongft the Abyjftni-
ans to flay cattle in that manner.— Nails, moreover, when removed
from their place, are inftruments for cutting; and the object of Zabbab,
namely, the effufion of the blood, may be accomplilhed with them,
whence they are the fame as a {harp iron or ftone. But when they
are in their place they flay by means of the force or weight applied to
them, and the animal fo flain is, in effeft, Jlrangled.
or with any I t is lawful to flay with the rind of a reed, with a {harp ftone,
rU" and with every thing that is {harp and capable of cutting the vef-
fels and drawing the blood, excepting teeth and nails fixed in their
native place.
Precautions I t is laudable in the flayer to {harpen his knife; for the prophet
by'theflayerf has faid “ G o d has enjoined us to be merciful to all: wherefore, when ye
“ Jlay, let it be done in the mojl merciful manner; and when ye perform
“ the Z a b b a h , let one o f ye Jharpenyour knife and do it in the eajiejl
“ manner fo r the animal.”
It is abominable firft to throw the animal down on its fide, and
then to {harpen the knife; for it is related that the prophet once ob-
ferving a man who had done fo, faid to him, “ How many deaths dq
“ you intend that this animal Jhoulddie ?— Why didyou not Jharpen your
“ kn fe before you threw it down?'
I t is abominable to let the knife reach the {pinal marrow, or to
cut off the head o f the animal. T h e meat, however, in either of
thefe cafes, is lawful. T h e reafons of the abomination in cutting
into the fpinal marrow are, F i r s t , becaufe the prophet has forbid
this; and, S e c o n d l y , becaufe it unneceflarily augments the pain of
the animal, which is prohibited in our l a w .— In fhort, every thing
which
which unneceflarily augments the pain o f the animal in Zabbah is
abominable.
I t is abominable to feize an animal deftined for {laughter by the
feet, and drag it to the place appointed for flaying it.
I t is abominable to break the neck of the animal whilft it is ftill in
the ftruggles of death; but when the ftruggles are over, it is not
abominable to break the neck and ftrip off the {kin, for then it is in-
fenfible to pain.
If a man flay an animal by firft cutting it in the back o f the neck,
doing it however in fuch a manner as to cut the veflels whilft the
animal is ftill alive, the meat is lawful, becaufe the animal dies by
v Zabbah: but the aft itfelf is abominable, as it unneceflarily augments
the pain of the animal, being in effedt the fame as if he had firft:
wounded the animal, and afterwards cut its veflels. If, on the contrary,
the animal die previous to the cutting of the veflels, the meat
is not lawful, becaufe in this cafe the animal dies before the Zabbah
has taken place.
In the cafe of all animals attached to man, and which do not fly
from him, the Zabbah is performed by cutting the veflels:— -but in
.the cafe of thofe which have become wild, and fly from him* the
Zabbah is performed by chafing and wounding them; becaufe where
the Zabbah Ikhtibree, or Zabbah o f choice, is imprafticable, there is
occafion for the Zabbah Iztiraree, or Zabbah o f neceffty; and there is
fuch an impracticability regarding the latter clafs of animals, but not
regarding the former. T h e Zabbah Iztiraree is alfo lawful regarding
an animal which has fallen into a well, provided the other fort of
Zabbah be imprafticable.— Malik maintains that the meat is unlawful
in both the foregoing cafes,—that is, in the cafe of a wild animal, and
of one which falls into a well,— becaufe fuch inftances are rare... We,
The animal
is lawful although
it be
woundedpre-
vious to cutting
its throat.
All tame animals
mull be
flain by cutting
the
throat;.and
wild , animals
by chafing or
ihooting
them.
again.