I am a passionate muslim hunter in Canada like many muslim brothers here in Canada and throughout the world. I hunt to consume the meat of the animal….

I am a passionate muslim hunter in Canada like many muslim brothers here in Canada and throughout the world.  I hunt to consume the meat of the animal.  I need clarification and correction of my understanding of the rules regarding hunting wild animals from the Shariah in light of the passages below from Legal Rulings on Slaughtered Animals by Respected Maulana Mufti Taqi Usmani (attached).

1)      From the excerpts below I understand that hunting big game, that can’t be subdued such as deer, moose, elk, caribou etc, with a rifle is permissible as the bullet would be considered a piercing object which causes blood to flow until the animal dies.  Furthermore, it is not necessary to cut the throat after and make the blood flow.  Please confirm if this understanding is correct.

2)      Hunting of ducks, geese, grouse and other birds is not normally hunted with a rifle but with a shotgun (A shotgun is a firearm, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot (Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead), or a solid projectile called a slug.  The use of a shotgun shot does pierce and penetrate the flesh of the animal with the pellets at high speed and the animal normally dies soon after.  Using this method is the animal lawful in respect to excerpt 2?

Excerpt 1

Page 16

Chapter 2: The Procedure for Killing the

Animal

The method of killing an animal in Islamic law differs according to the category of the animal. If the animal cannot be subdued either because it is a wild animal or domesticated animal which runs wild, then it is sufficient to wound it with a sharp, piercing object which causes its blood to flow until it dies. It is not necessary to slaughter or pierce the lower chest of these animals. This type of slaughter is called “Adh-dhaktih Al- Idhtirdry,” i.e. the method of slaughter which is resorted to only at the time of necessity. This method can only be used for hunting. It is not the objective of this treatise to explain the laws of this type of slaughter.

If the animal can be subdued – either because it is domesticated or a wild animal which humans can overpower – then it is necessary  to make the blood flow by cutting the vessels.

Excerpt 2

Page 24

It is narrated that A’diy Ibn Hatim (Radi-Allahu anhu) said,  “0 Rasulullah, I hunt animals using a mi’radh³¹ and I shoot the animals with it. “

Rasulullah (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam)answered, “If the mi’radh  which you shoot pierces and tears the flesh of the animal, then you  can eat from it. However, if the thick middle part of the arrow strikes the animal, then this will be an animal killed by a violent blow and you should not eat from this animal.”³² Rasulullah (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam) has differentiated between the those animals which are hit by the sharp edge of an arrow or javelin and those animals which are hit by the broad-side of an arrow; he has declared the first category to be lawful and has declared the second as being an animal which was ‘killed by a violent blow,’ making it unlawful. All the scholars of Fiqh have agreed on this point.

31 A mi’ridh is an arrow which does not have a blade or feather. Such an arrow strikes the animal with its thick middle part and not with its straight, sharp edge. The edges of this arrow are thin and the center is thick, similar to those sticks which are used to grind cotton. When a person shoots this arrow, it goes straight and strikes the animal with its thick middle part and not with its edge. If it is shot from a close distance, it will hit the animal with its edge and wound it.

32 This hadith is narrated in the S a r i Sittah (6 authentic books of ahldith) by various Sahlba and with various chains of narrators.

In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh

1) If a person hunts an animal using a bow and arrow or a rifle, there are four essential things for the animal to be considered Halaal.
a) To recite Bismillah before or at the time of releasing the arrow or bullet.
b) The death of the animal was due to the wound caused to the animal and not due to the impact or drowning.
c) To pursue the animal once it is shot.
d) To slaughter the animal if there are traces of life in it.

If a person recites Bismillah and shoots the animal, immediately thereafter, he pursues the animal. If he retrieves it after it has already died, there is no need to slaughter it. The meat will be Halaal to consume and to give to others.
However, if he does not pursue the animal immediately or does not slaughter the animal after finding it alive, the meat will be Haraam and impermissible to give to others.

 (Hidayah, vol.4, pg.510, Shirka)^[1]
(Hidayah, vol.4, pg.505, Shirka)^[2]
(Ad Durrul Mukhtaar, vol.6, pg.468, HM Saaeed)^[3]

Hence, it is absolutely necessary to search for the animal after it is shot and to slaughter it. Not slaughtering the animal after finding it alive will render the animal Harām.
The bleeding caused by the bullet or any other sharp object will only suffice in the case when the animal was pursued and found lifeless.

2) It will be permissible to hunt Halāl birds (which cannot be caught) using a shotgun as long as the above four conditions are met.

And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum 

Ml. Rayhaan Docrat,
Student Dārul Iftā

Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā, Madrasah In῾āmiyyah

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