2. Ali has narrated from his father from Safwan who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah , about slaughtering of cows in the upper part of the chest. He (the Imam) said, ‘Cows are slaughtered by cutting the throat; and if it is Nahr (a cut in the upper part of the chest) in the case of cows, it is not lawfully slaughtered.’”

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad and Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from and Ali ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn abu Nasr from Yunus ibn Ya’qub who has said the following: “I once said to abu al-Hassan , that people of Makkah in the case of cows do Nahr (make a cut in the upper part of the chest); so what do you say about using it for food? He (the Imam) said, ‘They slaughtered it but they almost failed to do so thus, you must not eat unless it is slaughtered and it is not killed by means of Nahr.’”

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from abu Hashim al-Ja’fariy from his father from Humran ibn ’ A‘yan who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah , has said, ‘When you slaughter an animal, do not tie down all the legs, do not push the knife under the throat and veins then turn it to cut upward. You must allow the bird to remain loose especially, but if it falls in a well or a hole, then do not use it for food or feed; you do not know if the fall has killed it or slaughtering. If it is a sheep, then hold it by its fur or wool and do not hold its legs. In the case of cows tie down the front legs and leave the tail. In the case of camels tie down its hoofs to its armpit and leave its legs. If a bird turns loose when you want to slaughter it and escapes and flies away, you can shoot it down with your arrow, if it falls down it then is like hunting.’”

5. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from al-‘Ala’ ibn Razin from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I once asked abu Ja‘far , about slaughtering. He (the Imam) said, ‘You must turn the animal to be slaughtered toward al-Qiblah (al-Ka‘bah) and do not cut its spinal cord before it dies. You must not use for food what is not properly slaughtered from the proper place.’”

6. Abu Ali af-Ash‘ariy has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd af-Jabbar from Safwan from ibn Muskan from Muhammad af-Halabiy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah , has said, ‘Do not cut off the spinal cord of the animal you slaughter before it dies; and when it dies, then you can cut off its spinal cord.’”

7. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Yahya from Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah , has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘Do not slaughter a sheep near another sheep or a camel near another camel when it is looking to the one being slaughtered.’ ”

8. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from in a marfu‘ manner the following: “Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ , has said, ‘When you slaughter a sheep and remove its skin or a certain part of its skin before it dies, it then is not lawful to use it for food.’”