Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: “All praise is due to Allah, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful, and peace and blessings on His Final Messenger Muhammad and his family, and companions!
The rules of Islamic slaughter are quite simple and precise. They can be summed up as follows: invoking the name of Allah, cutting the throat/arteries with a sharp knife/instrument, thus administering a quick death and sparing the animal unnecessary torture and suffering. This is to be done in such a way that the blood is drained. These are the rules of slaughter as clearly outlined in the pristine sources of Islam, namely, the Qur’an, and the Sunnah; these are essentially the same rules that have been formulated by the great Imams and jurists in all the authentic schools of jurisprudence. There is virtually no disagreement among them, irrespective of the divergence of their mahhabs (schools of jurisprudence), in regards to the lawfulness of consuming such meat.
In light of the above, one may safely conclude that all animals that have been slaughtered in this manner, as long as they are fit for Muslim consumption, are considered halal (lawful) for Muslims to eat, irrespective of whether they are hand-slaughtered or machine slaughtered.
Therefore, to make a distinction between hand slaughter and machine slaughter, rendering the latter unlawful, is clearly unwarranted as there is no evidence in the sources of jurisprudence for such an artificial distinction.
Furthermore, since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has warned us against hair-splitting and rigidity in matters of religion, Muslims are advised not to create dissensions based on trivial matters, as one’s energy can be used on far more important issues that are vital for the survival of Islam and Muslims.