by Tracy, No Compromise Media
America is beginning to see the introduction of halal certified food products and certified companies thus the need for this exposition.
Halal is arabic and translates to legal or permitted. Haram translates to forbidden and mushbooh translates to unknown. Food has to be prepared a certain way to meet Sharia Law/ Halal standards.
Halal is not necessarily only a food item but it can also define an individual as well as an individual company. sFor example, a tomato is halal, but it may not be processed according to Sharia Law thus making it haram or mushbooh.
In order for a company, which is defined as farms, ranches, fisheries, and food processing plants, to become Halal Certified, another process has to take place, which we will discuss that later.
Don’t think that halal only applies to food. It also applies to all non-food products such as lotions, hair sprays, make-up, etc.
However let’s just focus on food. Halal foods are foods that have no pork, blood, or alcohol within the product. If the food product is a meat then halal extends to how it is processed. The animal has to be alive at the time the animal is slaughtered.
This answers the question as to why Muslims want certification on fish and poultry products.
Sharia law demands that food processors add other components in order to get the Halal Certification of the product, or the company itself which includes the Halal Certification logo, see below
To get a certification, a company must:
- Have Halal employees who are involved in the production which “includes the person in charge, those who order the raw materials, and those in charge of packaging.” In other words, the company must hire halal compliant employees. Does this mean the company can only hire koranic observant muslims or will employees of the company have to submit to Sharia compliant rules including conversion to Islam?
- Slaughter the animal according to Sharia Law. This means that the animal is either hung up, or placed in a position so that the head is pointing towards Mecca, alive, and then ONLY a muslim can take a sharp knife, and slice its jugular vein allowing the beast to be drained of its blood while a muslim of “sound mind” screeches “allah akbar” over the animal.
- Once the animal has been drained of blood then the animal is processed in a plant free from pork, blood, or alcohol processing.
Not only do companies have to comply with the rules above but they will also have to change recipes they may have had for 100 years or more. The Campbell’s Soup Company, which was established in 1922, or the Cocoa Cola Company which became incorporated in 1892 will have to strip itself of the way they do business. Companies seeking halal standards will have to have an entire wing just to deal with halal standards i.e. hiring, building of plants, food processing, etc. This begs the question: Will these companies have to submit to Sharia compliant financing as well including giving zakat?
Currently, if an observant muslim wants to know if a food product is halal they can go to one of two websites,
- the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America’s website, or
- the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), logo below.
The customer can scan the 100s of products listed for halal status and or certification. ISNA IS working towards advancing its cause of certifying as many Canadian and American companies as possible.
One argument they use is:
Islam is the fastest growing religion, and the American muslim population is growing, thus, don’t you want to get involved with this yearly 170 billion dollar market? Sure you do! Here’s how to do it!
What they don’t tell you at the time of the company’s multicultural submission is that the companies have to build set part plants and hire only muslims.
The companies named above are going Halal in European markets including Canada. McDonald’s Company just announced that its British stores are selling halal products. When this writer wrote to the American McDonald’s Company announcing her boycott of all future McDonald’s sales, the representative stated
McDonald’s USA has no connection to the European menu selections.
A closer examination of her assertion states otherwise as the stock isn’t segregated by national markets and that it is still ALL one global company, so make sure when you write to any of these companies be aware of this future talking point.
In conclusion, what starts in Europe soon becomes advanced on the North American continent and I for one don’t want to spend my money on products that comply with a regressive political ideology that wants to do to me, and what was done to Nick Berg, in the same manner that they slaughter their meat.
Source: http://muslimbusinessusa.com/muslim_companies_america.php
Source: http://www.ifanca.org/index.php
Look for the Halal Label!
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