Aslam

Praise be to Allah.The scholars of Islam are agreed that it is permissible

to eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by a woman, because of the general

terms used in the wording of the Qur’aan and Sunnah. Among the evidence

that it is permissible are the following:

The aayah in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Forbidden for you (for food) are: al-maytatah (dead animals –

cattle-beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and the meat of

that which has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allaah, or

has been slaughtered for idols, etc., or on which Allaah’s Name has mot

been mentioned while slaughtering, and that which has been killed by strangling,

or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns –

and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal – unless you

are able to slaughter it (before its death)…”

[al-Maa’idah 5:3]. The evidence in this aayah is the phrase where

Allaah has permitted us to eat of any animal that we are able to slaughter

before it dies; this is general in application, and does not specify as to

whether the person who manages to do this is a man or a woman – so it

could be either.

Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported in his Saheeh

from ‘Ubayd-Allaah from Naafi’, that he (Naafi’) heard Ibn

Ka’b ibn Maalik narrating from his father that they used to have sheep

which they allowed to graze on the mountain of Sala’ in Madeenah: one

of the slave-women noticed that one of the sheep was dying, so she broke a

stone and slaughtered it. He said: “Do not eat it until I ask the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or

I send someone to ask him. So he asked the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or sent someone else to ask,

and he told him to eat it. ‘Ubay-Allaah said: “I liked the fact

that she was a slave-woman and she managed to slaughter it.”

Commenting on this hadeeth, Ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy on

him) said: “This shows that it is permitted to eat meat slaughtered by

a woman, whether she is free or a slave, old or young, Muslim or of the People

of the Book (i.e., Jewish or Christian), in a state of purity or otherwise,

because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah

be upon him) told them to eat the meat she had slaughtered and did not ask for

further details.”

This hadeeth also answers the question about whether any of the

Sahaabiyaat (female Companions of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) slaughtered animals.

The discussion above also makes it clear that a woman may slaughter

animals, because of the general terms used in the texts, and there is no difference

in this regard between meat slaughtered as a sacrifice or meat slaughtered for

regular food.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: “It is permitted to eat from an animal

which a man or a woman slaughters Islamically before it dies, or from meat slaughtered

by a woman, even if she is menstruating, because her menstruation is not in

her hand. It is permissible to eat meat from an animal which a woman slaughters

Islamically before it dies, by the consensus of the Muslims.” (Al-Fataawa,

35/234).