Is there a specific age at which animals may be slaughtered?
Question

                Is there a specific age at which animals may be slaughtered? Because there is a debate here in India about the age at which it is permissible to slaughter animals. What I mean here is slaughter for food and daily consumption, not udhiyah (sacrifice). They say that the appropriate age for that is two years, and it is not permissible below that age. Is this correct?
Praise be to Allah.
      There is no 
      stipulated age for slaughter of any of the an‘aam animals (camels, cattle, 
      sheep and goats), if the purpose is only for food. If someone were to 
      slaughter a lamb that was only one day old or less, it would be 
      permissible for him to eat that meat, because there is no evidence in 
      Islam to indicate that this is not allowed, and because the basic 
      principle concerning what Allah has created for us is that it is 
      permissible. Anyone who says that something is haraam has to provide 
      evidence. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
      “He it is Who created for you all that is on earth” [al-Baqarah 
      
      2:29]. 

    There are 
    saheeh hadeeths which indicate that the Prophet (blessings and peace of 
    Allah be upon him) ate lamb. 

    Al-Bukhaari 
    (4101) and Muslim (2039) narrated that Jaabir (may Allah be pleased with 
    him) said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, come with me to my house. Then I 
    said to my wife: I have seen something (i.e. hunger) in face of the Prophet 
    (sa) that caused me concern; do you have anything? She said: I have some 
    barley and a kid (young goat). So she slaughtered the kid and made dough 
    with the barley, and we put the meat in the pot. Then I went to the Prophet 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) … And he narrated the hadeeth, in 
    which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his 
    Companions ate from that kid (young goat). 

    According to 
    the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah 
    be upon him) visited Abu’l-Haytham, along with Abu Bakr, and ‘Umar, 
    Abu’l-Haytham went to make some food for them. The Prophet (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not slaughter any animal that is 
    producing milk. He said: So he slaughtered a kid (young goat) or lamb for 
    them and brought it to them, and they ate.

    Narrated by 
    Muslim (2038); at-Tirmidhi (2369). 

    The word 
    translated as kid here refers to a female baby goat that has not reached the 
    age of one year. 

    End quote from
    an-Nihaayah, Baab al-‘Ayn ma‘a an-Noon. 

    The scholars, 
    may Allah have mercy on them, have stated that if the foetus of an an‘aam 
    animal comes out of its mother’s womb alive and is slaughtered in the 
    prescribed manner, it is permissible to eat it. 

    Ibn Qudaamah 
    said in al-Mughni (9/321): If it comes out alive and in a stable 
    condition, and it is possible to slaughter it, but it is not slaughtered 
    before it dies, then it has not been slaughtered properly. Ahmad said: If it 
    comes out alive, then it must be slaughtered properly, because it is another 
    soul. 

    Ibn Nujaym 
    said in al-Bahr ar-Raa’iq (8/198): If it is known that the sheep was 
    alive at the time of slaughter, it becomes permissible (halaal) by 
    slaughtering, whether it moved or not.

    End quote. See 
    also al-Bahr ar-Raa’iq (8/195). 

    If it is 
    proven that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has made it permissible 
    to His slaves to eat that without restricting it to a specific age, then any 
    condition or restriction that is added to that is an innovation in religion 
    and is a transgression against what Allah has prescribed for His slaves. 

    Allah, may He 
    be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And say not concerning 
    that which your tongues put forth falsely: ‘This is lawful and this is 
    forbidden,’ so as to invent lies against Allah. Verily, those who invent 
    lies against Allah will never prosper” [an-Nahl 16:116]. 

    And the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “What is the matter 
    with men who stipulate conditions that are not in the Book of Allah? Any 
    condition that is not in the Book of Allah is invalid, even if there are a 
    hundred conditions. What is ordained by Allah and the conditions stipulated 
    by Him are more deserving of being adhered to.” 

    This hadeeth 
    was narrated by al-Bukhaari (2168) and Muslim (1504). 

    But if the 
    animal is intended for udhiyah (sacrifice) and the like, then it is 
    essential that it reach a certain age. This has been discussed in detail in 
    the answer to question no. 41899.

    And Allah 
    knows best.