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Fatwa CenterThe Time of Reciting the Basmalah upon Slaughtering the Animal Sacrifice
Question
if someone make mistiming in saying bismaillah before slaughtering, that means if someone say bismillah just after starting slaughtering, is that meat halal?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
It is prescribed to recite the Basmalah at the beginning of the slaughter. Al-Mardaawi 
wrote, “The preponderant view according to our School of Fiqh is that the name of Allah should be mentioned when the person starts to move his hand against the animal's throat during the slaughter. Al-Ghazaali stated that this is the most likely correct view in this regard in his book Al-Wajeez and other books. Ibn Muflih emphasized it as the favored by him in his book Al-Furooʻ and others. A group of the Hanbalis stated that the name of Allah should be mentioned during the slaughter or shortly before it.” [Al-Insaaf]
Ibn Hazm wrote, “The prescribed time for reciting the Basmalah is the very beginning of the slaughter or when the knife touches the skin of the animal before cutting it ... These are the principles of the lawful slaughter. If it is prescribed to start the slaughter before reciting the Basmalah, the name of Allah would not have been mentioned over a part of the slaughtered animal and accordingly, it would not have been slaughtered as prescribed as per the Shareeʻah.” [Al-Muhalla]
Hence, if the person carrying out the slaughter does not recite the Basmalah except after starting the slaughter that a part of the animal's throat was already cut before he recites the Basmalah, this situation is considered the same as not reciting the Basmalah to begin with. However, if he was acting out of forgetfulness, it is allowable to eat the flesh of this animal according to the view of the majority of the scholars. However, if he did so deliberately, only some scholars held that it is allowable to eat the flesh of this slaughtered animal.
An-Nawawi wrote, “The opinion of Muslim scholars on reciting the Basmalah upon slaughtering the animal sacrifice and sending the dogs off of throwing the arrows and like during hunting is the same view of our School of Fiqh; it is an act of Sunnah in all these situations. If the person carrying out the slaughter neglects the recitation of the Basmalah out of forgetfulness or deliberately, the slaughtered animal is deemed lawful and he bears no sin for it. Al-ʻAbdari said, 'This opinion was narrated on the authority of Ibn ʻAbbaas and Abu Hurayrah 
and ʻAttaa' . Abu Haneefah held that reciting the Basmalah is a condition for deeming the flesh of the slaughtered animal lawful when the person carrying out the slaughter deliberately neglects to recite the Basmalah and not in case of forgetfulness. This is the view of the general majority of scholars.” [Al-Majmooʻ]
Allah knows best.
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