What Is Halal Slaughter? Requirements, Stunning and Halal Certification

The word "halal" on a supermarket shelf, the phrase "slaughtered according to Islamic rites" at the butcher's and a halal certificate do not say the same thing. To see what each one means, it helps to start with the slaughter itself.

We took the religious rulings from the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Supreme Board of Religious Affairs and from an academic article, and we marked the points where the schools of thought differ. For questions about your own situation, the best person to ask is a local mufti.

The basic requirements

According to Diyanet's explanation, which follows the Hanafi school, the procedure is this: the bismillah is said, the windpipe, the gullet and the two jugular veins are cut, and the blood is then allowed to drain fully. Cattle and sheep are slaughtered by cutting the throat. For camels the cut is made at the base of the neck, which is called nahr.

How many of those structures must be cut differs from school to school. An article in the Journal of Islamic Law Studies (Koşum, 2017) summarises the views like this:

• Abu Hanifa: at least three of the four (gullet, windpipe and the two jugular veins) must be cut.
• Shaybani: the majority of each must be cut.
• Abu Yusuf: the gullet, the windpipe and one of the two veins are enough. This is the view preferred in the Hanafi school.
• Shafi'i and Hanbali: the minimum is cutting the gullet and the windpipe.
• Maliki: the windpipe and the two jugular veins.

One point is shared by all of them: the animal must be alive at the moment of the cut. An animal that dies on its own (maytah) is considered haram.

Who may slaughter, and when the bismillah is required

Under a Diyanet ruling from 2017, the person slaughtering must be of sound mind and able to discern, and must be Muslim or one of the People of the Book. Meat slaughtered by an idolater, a fire worshipper, an atheist or an apostate may not be eaten. Whether the person is a man or a woman makes no difference.

The schools differ on the bismillah. For Hanafis, if it is left out deliberately the meat is haram, and if it is forgotten the meat is halal. For Shafi'is, the meat may be eaten even if it was left out deliberately. In plants where poultry is slaughtered by machine, the bismillah of the person who starts the machine is considered sufficient. If slaughter stops and restarts, it is repeated.

What is required and what is customary

Facing the animal toward the qibla is recommended (mustahab), meaning that skipping it does not invalidate the slaughter. A sharp knife is also part of proper conduct. The academic article says that sharpening the knife before the animal is laid down is recommended, that sharpening it in front of the animal is disliked, and that jurists agree on this. Dragging an animal by its ear or leg, or slaughtering one animal in view of another, is also frowned upon.

Turkish law says something similar. Under Article 12 of the Animal Protection Law No. 5199, slaughter is carried out in one stroke, taking into account the special conditions required by religious rules, without frightening the animal and causing as little pain as possible. The article also requires that slaughter be done by competent persons.

Stunning

This is the most debated topic. According to a Diyanet decision of 24 February 2010, there is no religious objection to stunning, numbing or shocking an animal to ease the slaughter and reduce its resistance and pain, as long as the animal is still alive when it is cut. But an animal that dies from the effect of that procedure before being cut may not be eaten. A 2017 ruling also permits slaughter after electrical stunning or anaesthesia, again provided the animal is alive when its throat is cut. For poultry, passing the birds through a low-current water bath and then cutting them by machine is permitted in the same rulings.

Not everyone agrees. The article reports that some contemporary jurists are cautious because the animal might die before the cut, and that some allow only reversible methods under conditions. Others, such as Hayreddin Karaman, accept it on the condition that the animal is slaughtered while still alive. So "stunning is absolutely haram" and "every stunned animal is halal" are both too categorical. What decides the matter is whether the animal is alive at the moment of the cut.

We did not find any Turkish regulation that either requires or prohibits stunning. Law No. 5199 says nothing on the subject.

Veterinary inspection at the slaughterhouse

In slaughterhouses, animals are examined by a veterinarian before and after slaughter. This is set out in the Regulation on Specific Hygiene Rules for Foods of Animal Origin (2011). An amendment to the same regulation was published in the Official Gazette on 21 July 2026: hanging conscious animals by their legs is banned, and slaughterhouses must have a camera system that keeps recordings for at least one month. These rules enter into force on 1 January 2027, so they are not yet in effect.

Where a halal certificate comes from

Law No. 7060 defines the Halal Accreditation Agency (HAK) as the only body that accredits halal conformity assessment bodies in Turkey. In other words, HAK does not issue certificates; it accredits the bodies that do. Under a 2022 amendment, bodies that carry out halal assessment of products placed on the Turkish market must hold HAK accreditation, or an accreditation that HAK recognises mutually. For producers, getting a halal certificate is voluntary.

You can check whether the body behind a certificate is accredited in the list of accredited bodies on HAK's website. TSE, among others, is on that list, and it issues a batch-based "Halal Slaughter Certificate".

Is "slaughtered according to Islamic rites" the same as "halal certified"?

No. The first describes how the animal was slaughtered. A certificate is the result of an audit by an independent body. The law has a defined route for the certificate. For the phrase "slaughtered according to Islamic rites" we found no separate legal definition or mandatory certificate. If the label says "halal", look at the certificate. If it does not, it is reasonable to ask the producer who did the slaughtering and where.

How we work at Boğaziçi

Since 1974 we have put Islamic compliance first, alongside hygiene and quality. Animals that arrive from various parts of Turkey are slaughtered by our expert butchers, under the supervision of our veterinarians, in accordance with Islamic rites. If you have questions, you can contact us.