Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.
2600. The method of slaughtering an animal is that the four main
arteries of its neck should be completely cut (jugular artery, foodpipe, jugular
vein and windpipe). It is not sufficient to split open these arteries or to cut
off the neck. And the cutting of these four main arteries becomes practical when
the cutting takes place from below the knot of the throat.
2601. If a person cuts some of the four arteries and waits till the
animal dies and then cuts the remaining arteries, it will be of no use. If the
four arteries are cut before the animal dies, but the cutting was not continuous
as is usually done, the animal is Pak and halal to eat. However, the recommended
precaution is that they should be cut in continuous succession.
2602. If a wolf tears off the throat of a sheep in such a way that
nothing remains of the four arteries which could be cut for slaughter, the sheep
becomes haraam. Similarly, it will be haraam if nothing remains of its gullet.
In fact, if its neck is torn open by the wolf leaving arteries connected
with the head or the body, as a precaution, it will be haraam. But if the sheep
is bitten on other part of the body, and it remains alive, it will be Pak and
halal if slaughtered according to the rules which will be described later.