- Whats does Halal mean?
- What makes food Halal?
- What is the difference between certifying and monitoring?
- I am a from different school of thought, does that make a difference to the way meat is slaughtered?
- I trust my local butcher, so is it still possible that he may be selling Non Halal meat as Halal?
This is a very commonly asked question and the definition can vary greatly. However the basic answer will always remain the same.
Halal food is something that is not forbidden directly by Allah SWA in the Holy Quran or by His Beloved Prophet PBUH. It will also require at most times the name of Allah SWA to be invoked when slaughtering the animal concerned.
A precise definition is not given on this site as it requires all elements of a situation to be presented and assessed.
These definitions then become rules which are given by scholars as Fatwa’s and guides for the concerned parties. These must be adhered to at all times by the companies involved for a product to be labeled Halal.
Certification is simply confirming that the abattoir or distributer is slaughtering to correct Halal methods. This is usually done by an initial inspection and followed up by annual checks of the abattoir . This means you do not have any guarantee what may take place between the inspections. This can leave room for failures at the abattoir on a daily basis.
Monitoring is when an abattoir is monitored on a daily basis and is checked on throughout the slaughter process. This ensures that there is no room for any failures in religious requirements of slaughter and distribution.
The Sharia Halal Board certifies and monitors all accredited businesses registered with us. We believe certification and monitoring must go hand in hand and both are required to ensure Halal slaughter, distribution and sale.
As Halal and Haraam are an issue of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), rulings are found to be same throughout all schools of thought in Islam. There is a slight variance with the Shia’h school however this is taken into account by the Sharia Halal Board.
The Sharia Halal Board have found that many trusted butchers were seen to be selling Non Halal meat. This may have been in the form of being from a Non Halal abattoir or maybe from a abattoir which carries out methods deemed unsuitable by the Sharia Halal Board.
However it is to be noted that at times it was found that the butcher concerned had little or no idea that the meat they were supplying was Non Halal. This is a key issue that the Sharia Halal Board will address in its aims. This would be done by raising awareness.
