FAQs & Fatwas Islamic Law

Question on Slaughtering

The Question:

During the last `Eid, I went to slaughter. However, and this may sound strange, I forgot to say bismilLah (in the name of Allah) over the animal. Some of my friends told me that there was no problem with this and that the meat was halal. Were they correct?

The Answer:

Insha’Allah your slaughter was accepted and the meat was permissible.

The Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) said, “A mistake due to forgetfulness is excused from my community.” Related by Ibn Majah.1

Ibn Abdu al-Barr wrote in al-Kafiyah:

“If a person forgets to pronounce the name of God at the time of slaughtering, there is no harm.2

And Allah knows best.


  1. Shaiykh al-Aranout considered this a good hadith (a saying or tradition of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.) Jam’i al-Usul Vol. 7 Pg. 607.
  2. Al-Kafiyah, Vol. 1 Pg. 428.

About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • Salam alaykom,

    I have searched the whole website and cannot find an answer to the question of whether we can eat the meat of ahl kitaab in the US or Europe. Can we eat the beef and chicken in supermarkets restaurants ? I know there are differences but some folks are saying that chicken is not allowed but lamb is! Sheikh Qardawi book was clear but apparently he has changed his fatwa. Can you help share some guidance ?

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