Nawawī’s Arbaýīn

A Collection of Forty Traditions of the Prophet ﷺ

§

Kindness - Hadith 17

عَنْ أَبِي يَعْلَى شَدَّادِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم قَالَ: إنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْإِحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، فَإِذَا قَتَلْتُمْ فَأَحْسِنُوا الْقِتْلَةَ، وَإِذَا ذَبَحْتُمْ فَأَحْسِنُوا الذِّبْحَةَ، وَلْيُحِدَّ أَحَدُكُمْ شَفْرَتَهُ، وَلْيُرِحْ ذَبِيحَتَهُ. رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ

Narrated by Abū Yaálā Shaddād ibn Aws from RasūlAllāh ﷺ that he said:

Allāh táālā has commanded that you be good and kind towards everybeing. When you have to kill, [1] then do it in a good manner; if you slaughter [an animal], do it in a good manner. Let one of you sharpen the knife well so that the animal can be [slaughtered swiftly and thus] relieved quickly. [2]

Reported by Muslim. [3]

Notes:

[1] In cases when one encounters an enemy [or a terrorist] and one has to kill him/her to save oneself or others; or when executing a person in a death penalty; or for any legitimate reason such as killing a mad dog or a wild animal posing a threat to humans. In all these cases, “kill them in a good manner” means to do it swiftly and in a manner that pain is minimised as much as possible, without torturing the creature [Al-Fat’ĥ al-Mubīn].

[2] Yuriĥ: to relieve; by swiftly slaughtering the animal with a sharp knife, you spare it unnecessary pain – and thus ‘relieve it quickly’.

[3] Muslim 1955.

References:

1. Nawawī’s Arbaýīn, Collection of Forty Traditions of the Prophet ﷺ, Hadith 17

[ English Translation ]

Mawlana Abu Hasan Ridawi,

Ridawi Press.