A Slaughtered Animal Ran Off and Drowned in Water: May It Be Eaten?

Question

A nilgai (a large Indian antelope) was being slaughtered; the slaughter was not yet complete and a flicker of life still remained in it, when it shook its body, sprang up and ran off, and, going into a stream, drowned. After that it could not be slaughtered again. Will it be lawful to eat it according to the Shari‘a or not? How much cutting is to be regarded as a Shari‘a slaughter (one that makes the animal lawful)?

Answer

If the trachea (hulqum), the oesophagus (mari’) and the two jugular veins (wadajan) — these vessels (after whose severing life does not remain) — have been cut, but the animal, convulsing, got up, fell into some water nearby and died, then it is halal: its death came about because of the slaughter — just as when a cockerel is slaughtered and, convulsing and leaping, falls into…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.