Q&A: Meat of Cows Stunned at Abattoirs

Q. I heard that cows are brutally stunned before slaughtering? Is it haraam to stun? And does the beef/meat become ‘haraam’?

A. The brutal practice of shooting a captive bolt into the skull of cattle at abattoirs around the country render the meat unfit for consumption. No Shar’i Thabah takes place. Expert evidence abounds that this torturous method kills numerous animals out rightly. The slitting of the throat thereafter is therefore irrelevant in so far as the hurmat (prohibition) of consuming the meat of such animals is concerned.