Are machine slaughtered chickens on which tasmiyah is said by a person regarded as halal?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
No, such chickens will not be halal, because for an animal to be halal the tasmiyah (taking Allah’s name) must be done by the slaughterer. The jurists have stated that if the slaughterer does not take the name of Allah at the time of slaughtering and instead a person standing next to him takes the name of Allah, the animal will not be halal. In the case of machine slaughtered animals, the slaughterer is the machine. Therefore, if a person standing next to the machine takes the name of Allah, the animal will not be halal as the person taking the name of Allah is not the slaughterer. For more details, read this previous answer (please click here).
And Allah knows best.
Mufti Faizal Riza
16/9/2011