Ka‘b b. Malik told that he had sheep which were pastured at Sal‘, and when a slavegirl of his saw one of their sheep which was dying she broke a stone and cut its throat with it. He questioned the Prophet and he ordered him to eat it.
Rafi‘ b. Khadij told that he said, “Messenger of God, we shall meet the enemy tomorrow and we have no knives; may we kill animals with canes?”* He replied, “When God’s name is mentioned you may eat what is killed by anything which causes the blood to flow, except tooth and claw. I shall tell you about it. The tooth is a bone and the claw is the knife of the Abyssinians.” We got some camels and sheep as booty, and when one of the camels ran away a man shot an arrow at it and prevented it from escaping, whereupon God’s messenger said, “Among camels there are some which bolt like wild animals, so when any of them get the better of you do thus to them.”
Shaddad b. Aus reported God’s messenger as saying, “God who is blessed and exalted has decreed that everything should be done in a good way, so when you kill use a good method, and when you cut an animal’s throat you should use a good method, for each of you should sharpen his knife and give the animal as little pain as possible.”
Abut Tufail said ‘Ali was asked whether God’s messenger had given them* any instruction for themselves alone and replied that he had given them none which did not apply to all the people except what was in the scabbard of his sword. He then drew out a document containing, “God curse him who kills an animal mentioning anyone other than God, and God curse him who steals a landmark!” A version has, “who changes a landmark; God curse him who curses his father; and God curse him who protects an innovator!”
*i.e. the members of the Prophet's family.
