When is a subsequently killed, previously wounded animal deemed lawful (halal) to eat?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Hunting and Slaughter
Primary text
The permissibility of eating the animal depends on the location of the fatal strike by the final hunter. If the final hunter strikes the animal at the designated point of slaughter (*madhbah*), the meat is lawful (*hall*). The striker is then only liable for the *arsh* (compensation) for the act of slaughtering, similar to if one slaughtered another person's sheep. This is the opinion held by Abu Hanifa, Malik, Al-Shafi'i, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad.
Supporting text
If the final hunter strikes any location other than the designated point of slaughter, the meat is unlawful. Once the animal is definitively wounded (seized), it is subject to ownership rules, and it cannot be made lawful except by slaughtering at the throat and *labba* (junction of the neck/chest). Killing it by any other means renders it unlawful, just as if one killed a sheep by striking it elsewhere.