In response to Muslim Weekly Article on 28th Sept 2012,
"Board of Ulemas’
HFA Halal
Standards &
Criteria"
Number of point I would like to raise which are very important as far the definition of halal is concerned and roles and responsibility of FSA .
As far as learned Muslims and Jews are concerned definition of halal is clear and concise within the statute Law, and has been since time memorial in their religious scriptures and embedded in statuary law since 1925 under the definition of religious slaughter Method (food for jews and Muslims without stunning) therefore no need for a certification body to decide what is halal.
The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995. PART IV
SLAUGHTER BY A RELIGIOUS METHOD
Additional requirements relating to slaughter by a religious method
21. Schedule 12 shall have effect in relation to the slaughter of any animal by a religious method.
Exemption for slaughter by a religious method
22. Schedule 5 (which relates to the stunning and killing of animals) shall not apply to any animal which is slaughtered in accordance with Schedule 12 (which relates to slaughter by a religious method).
This forms a clear definition of religious slaughter method, food for Jews and Muslims.
Food produced by any other method is not deemed as Religious slaughter method (statuary law) therefore not halal or kosher.
Please Note: No certifying body is above FSA Guide line/statutory law: As they are private limited company offering services at a cost and often one man bands.
It appear that the government has colluded with certifying bodies such as HFA and Both HFA and FSA are blatantly disregarding the law that governs the religious slaughter method for the sake of commercial benefits and doing so have they
themselves
have
opened
up the industry to abuse and
fraud and easy pickings for the unscrupulous traders
.
What has been published in the Muslim Weekly is totally incorrect example;
-
Rendition of Shahadah or Tasmiya has to be done at the time of slaughtering individually?.
Ans; How can you slaughter 20000 chicken per/hr and recite the Shahadah or Tasmiya individually?
-
So far Halal Food Authority has licensed more than 140 Muslim Slaughterers?.
Ans; Only Meat and hygiene services are allowed to issue Slaughter man license in the UK.
-
The fact is that that for the last eighteen years HFA as a pioneer and standard bearer of UK Halal endorsement system has achieved what others in the field are still aspiring to?
aNS; HFA cannot endorse any systems they can only certify.
If the official FSA guidelines (see attached) on halal were followed, machine slaughter would not be deemed to be halal.” FSA’s guidelines − set out in its Guidance Note on Halal Food Issues, by Sarah Appleby, head of enforcement and local authority delivery division in September 2010 − specifically ruled out the machine slaughter of stock.
Annex 1 of the guidance note stated: “The slaughter man must use a sharp knife (which must not be sharpened in front of the animal).”Sharp knife The annex goes on to state: “At the time of slaughter he [the slaughter man] must pronounce Bismillah Allahu Akbar (in the name of God, God is the Greatest) on each animal or bird.” The definition of a Knife: an instrument composed of a blade fixed into a handle and not a rotary blade fixed to a machines.
Since machine slaughter could meet neither of the three conditions, meat from stock slaughtered using machines could not be considered halal.
The guideline took over eight years of Muslim community consultancy and over £5M of British tax payer resource to compile only to be
ignored by officers who are
incompetent or refuse to act on official guideline.
Sorry state of tick box exercise, I believe officers have never been trained in inspecting halal, if they don't have guidelines or a policy for halal, then how can they carry out inspection or investigations.
In saying that officer who understood the current legislation and guidance have been reprimanded and sided track to other duties
Within the statuary law, the slaughter regulation a definition exists to defines halal meat so, therefore the argument that is presented by FSA that stunning method are accepted within Muslim community in fact don't fulfill the legal definition.
The Food Standards Agency statuary duty is to enforce the law for by protecting all consumers and by brushing Muslims off, merely tells me:
1. That officer don't understand the subject matter.
2. That officers are openly not prepared enforce the law, furthermore the FSA halal guidance for enforcement officer give the lowest common denominator for halal requirement.
3.With regards to different slaughter methods, it reasonable for consumer to expect the local authority to determine whether the different methodology actually fulfills the halal requirements for consumers to be told that different matter are one for the community to decide is blatant disregard of the law.
4.I suggest that as an authority who is legally bound to up hold it's duty and protect unsuspecting Muslims consumers, who have been systematically raped of their basic religious rights over the years, by issuing enforcement forthwith against all companies and organisation who have breached the statuary law will give assurance and peace of mind required.
It is well known fact that "Scholars Reject Mechanical Or Machine Slaughter of Animals which defines stunning as Mechanical slaughter as it is conducted through tongues".
In the one of the largest independent survey of Muslim Scholars conducted in the UK concerning Halal and Halal standards, there was a unanimous rejection of mechanical slaughter in the UK from all scholars.
In June 2009, an independent online survey was commissioned by HMC(Halal Monitoring Committee) through Ajax Consultants to understand the scholarly opinions on Halal in the UK.
The community has moved on from the days of 'Citizen Khan' and are well versed on what is right and wrong.
In a recent gathering in Birmingham Muslims from all branches signed a historical "Birmingham Declaration" which was organised jointly by ANSA and MCB agreeing anonymously to the prophetic method of zibihah(Non Stun)as halal.
Nadeem Adam, Operations Manager at HMC said, “People will be surprised to learn of the widespread use of mechanical slaughter in the provision of "Halal" poultry(chickens) in the UK. There are many UK superstores that need to take heed of the message from the UK scholars and carefully address and provide meat to acceptable standards for all”.
Malaysia, a country at the forefront of Halal, known as the Halal Hub of the World, listened to the scholars of the world has removed mechanical slaughter from its Halal standards. Now we wait and see if a Halal certifier in the UK (HFA) can heed to the views of Muslim scholars and public and remove mechanical slaughter from its standards.
Muslims, as a community have been historically let down by self serving individuals who sold their soul and religious values for a petty price, and the same may have been repeated here in the UK by those putting forth arguments in favor of ‘Jhatka" (stunned) meat.
All the scholars agree that Muslims have a moral duty to safeguard Islamic dietary laws determined by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) which is the cardinal tenet of Islamic faith as mentioned in Surah AI—Ma’idah 5:3 in the Quran.
They say that laws of "Halal" and "Haraam” were divinely given to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be and blessings Upon Him) by Allah and the rules governing "Zabihah", ensuring a swift and painless dispatch of the animal, are just as binding and valued today According to these scholars, any infringing the laws of “Zabihah” will render the meat unconditionally forbidden to Muslims as stunning is a new "Bida’a" (invention) and is contradictory to the Islamic faith.
The Halal Food Authority (HFA) accepts mechanical slaughter and stunning and has
continually been probed and has become blatantly clear that they would not listen to the views of the Muslim community who they claim to serve.
Haji Mohammed Akram Gill, Chair ANSA (Association Of Non Stun Abattoirs) "Stresses that Islam's concerns for animal welfare goes beyond the physical cruelty, and mental cruelty equally important, Islam Advocate and commands that all animals be treated with consideration, kindness and respect. When we are allowed to eat pure and true halal in manner prescribed by our Prophet (peace and blessing on Him) then why are being persuaded to eat haraam in the good country by so called Muslims, Where money is a primary interest anything goes!