I found this interesting. By Gany Auye and team about Halal food. RE WE EATING HALAL MEAT? السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم IN THE NAME OF ALLHAH THE MERCIFUL AND BENEFICIENT. الحمد لله رب العالمين ALL THE PRAISES TO ALLAH THE LORD OF THE WORLDS. وما توفيقى إلا بالله INDEED MY SUCCESS IS FORM ALLAH ALONE BY GANY AUYE, (Researcher, PPIM) AND TEAM The week-long Halal Frenzy is over in Malaysia but about to start elsewhere on the globe. After having taken a breather we can now recapture the most interesting moments and analyze what has been achieved and what not. THE HALAL WEEK in Malaysia began with the World Halal Forum, 2-day industry led gathering, followed by 5-day International Halal Showcase, the biggest exhibition of Halal products and services in the world. After making the debut last year, the World Halal Forum gathered again key industry players in an attempt to bring the industry closer to a unified global halal standard. The organizer, Kaseh Dia company, deserves the thumbs up for their professionalism and commitment in promoting Halal in these difficult for the Ummah times as both a life-style and global market force. We thank them for the high level of organization of the forum as well as the first-class publications, Halal Journal and Halal Food Guide Series. These projects are definitely pushing Halal industry forward on the global stage and we are proud to know they are made in Malaysia. Nevertheless, we wish to see in the Forum a bigger participation of Muslim entrepreneurs, independent scholars of Fiqh and sciences, who cherish Halal as the uniquely Islamic concept – they must shape the future of global Halal industry not the multinationals and certification agencies. At this historical time of the formation of the global Halal standard the representatives of all major schools of thought of the Ummah must be involved in hammering out a Standard that will not only be accepted by all Muslims but surpass all other existing standards in providing wholesome, safe and ethical products for all human beings. Wishing the World Halal Forum success in propagating and harmonizing global Halal industry, we would like to share our view on the global Halal standard which has been the central theme of the forum. We think the global halal standard must be developed phase by phase. It’s very difficult at this juncture to come to a global consensus on halal standard for the entire food industry as it is incredibly diverse let alone non-food consumables. The tremendous development of agriculture, food technology, chemical industry in the past 100 years brought about a vast number of food ingredients whose origin as well as health effects often can’t be ascertained even by scientists. What about financial aspect of Halal? Most of the capital today stems from usurious sources and even so-called Islamic financial system for many Muslims is not free from Riba. It will take another 10 halal forums and we will still not have a comprehensive global halal standard. The most practical approach to harmonization of the global halal market, in our opinion, is to narrow down the discussion from general halal standard to halal meat standard only, as the Phase N1. Let’s sort out the most crucial product in the whole range of halal foods. Meat is the main and best source of protein and iron, two most fundamental elements for human wellbeing. The law of Allah the High is clear about halal meat. There is total consensus among Muslims as to what kind of meat is halal. However there seems to be a dispute about slaughter methods. But if one looks closely, there is no stand-off between fundamentally different viewpoints on the matter but rather difference in the level of compromise. For instance, stunning of animals prior to slaughter is opposed by every muslim who knows what stunning is, be it mechanical or electrical, nevertheless some scholars and certification bodies approve it because they say they have got no choice albeit they don’t like it too. “If we ban stunning there will be shortage of meat in Malaysia since our import mainly comes from Australia and New Zealand where stunning is compulsory“, said a government official. “Muslims, instead of being emotional, should make scientific studies and prove the superiority of Islamic way of slaughter to modern one, in terms of animal pain level and bacteria growth”, was the advice of an insider of the Forum. “If we ban stunning we will not be able to export our meat-based products overseas, especially to EU and also the price of imported meat will increase”, was the expert opinion of a food economist. “The Muslims should create an alternative stunning-free slaughter line that will prove to be as productive and hygienic as the one we have”, authoritatively stated an Australian meat manufacturer. Thus – because the government is afraid that we may go hungry and because Muslims can’t prove that the way Allah’s Messenger treated and slaughtered animals is better than the Western one, and because we will not enter Western markets and become the world’s halal hub – the 1400 years old Shariah rule has been easily sacrificed. What shall we, emotional Muslims, say about it? Firstly, it is possible in Australia to slaughter without stunning; we were told by The Australian Federation of Islamic Counsel (AFIC), one of the most reputable certification bodies in Australia, there is a clause in the Australian legislation which, if properly exercised, allows traditional Islamic slaughter method. “It is the buyer’s will that ultimately determines whether the animals are stunned or not, for example Australian Jews are allowed to slaughter and sell non-stunned meat”, explained the CEO of AFIC, Mr. Mohamed Rahman. “We don’t want cattle to be stunned but at the moment we do certify stunned meat as Halal because you, Malaysians, allow. If Malaysia say ‘NO’ to stunning, we will be the first to stop certifying abattoirs which use stunning methods of slaughter”, he added. This information was further corroborated by the Acting Director of Agriculture of Brunei, Mrs. Normah Jamil, who also mentioned about the clause in the Australian law. She said the Brunei Halal Standard permits only mechanical stunning for cattle on condition the skull is intact and animal is alive after stunning; stunning of chickens is banned altogether in the Kingdom. “It is next to impossible to continuously meet this condition; as a result Australia exports to us either meat of non-stunned animals or live cattle. Our Religious Council will not compromise Shariah for the sake of commercial interests”, proudly said Normah. Secondly, the stunning of animals has been controversial with regard to animal’s welfare from the outset of its introduction into slaughter system. It must be remembered, the stunning practice was introduced at the turn of the 20th century in Europe as an alternative method of slaughter to the one of Islamic and Jewish faith. The experts from animal protection organizations proclaimed ritual slaughter as cruel while declaring stunning (at that time only captive bolt) more humane with regard to pain & fear factor. In other words, they said the way of Prophet Muhammad to slaughter animals is no good, they’ve got better one. However, representations of this kind have long been challenged by other established scholars from their own kinship. As early as in 1927 German scientist Bongart with his team conducted a thorough study on ritual slaughter of calves and reached the conclusion that if ritual slaughter carried out properly no cruelty of whatever kind can be found. Another European scholar Spoerri came to a similar conviction in 1964 when he made a research on ritual slaughter of some 50 animals under laboratory conditions: the ritual slaughter caused at least no more pain than slaughter after electric, gas or captive bolt stunning. Later on there were more scientific findings of a similar nature using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring of brain function and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring of heart function during both methods of slaughter. In each and every case the result was the same: EEG had severe disturbances after stunning and no change after ritual cut; the zero line in EEG (loss of consciousness) was registered earlier in stunning-free slaughter; the heart frequency rose directly after stunning and gradually after ritual cut; even the body cramp was longer in the stunned animals. Did JAKIM (Malaysian Muslim Organization appointed by the Government of Malaysia) and other clerics who approved stunning know about these expert opinions? Did they conduct their own studies before endorsing the new way of halal slaughter? Isn’t it irresponsible to keep on saying for years “we don’t encourage stunning due to lack of scientific facts” while flooding the whole country with dubious meat? Wouldn’t it be proper for our government to finance scientists in veterinary and microbiology fields to study the impact of stunning on the animal’s welfare as well as quality of meat meanwhile proscribing the stunning altogether until the scientists reach a certain conclusion? Isn’t it outrageous when we, Muslim consumers, are told by authorities elected and paid by us and by meat tycoons who make billions from selling meat to us, to calm down, study Fiqh and science and come up with alternative slaughter solution? Do we, Muslim consumers, have an interest in stunning animals?! Are we, Muslims, obliged to scientifically prove the Shariah, especially to non-muslims? We are obliged to eat meat of a healthy grass-fed animal slaughtered by a professional Muslim who does it as an act of worship to the Creator; we know this is Halal. We are not against scientific progress but cautious with profit-driven science which is often destructive. If the non-muslim animal welfare organizations and industrialists want stunning, thoracic sticking, machine slaughter, animal protein feed, hormone injections, good luck to them. But when they want to sell us their meat products – it’s their job to convince us beyond any doubt that their state-of-art technologies are Halal and Tayyeb. And the most convincing way to know the truth about stunning is to hang its advocates upside down and immerse their heads in the bath with low electric current, same as they do for chickens. We will know the truth after they gain consciousness. As for starvation threat, the job of our religious authorities is not worry about daily meat intake of every citizen but to guard the Shariah. We would rather consume less meat but surely Halal and Tayyeb; one will never go hungry in Malaysia with abundance of seafood and poultry. The shortage of meat will naturally stimulate the local industry and give opportunity to foreign ones who place customer above greed. We heard the Chinese supplier of beef to Malaysia is using stunning-free turning box device similar to one used in Kosher slaughter line; Allana, the biggest exporter of buffalo meat in the world from India, doesn’t use any type of stunning too. However, we strongly recommend in case of importing meat from non-muslim countries that the abattoirs, cold-storage and transportation facilities within the country must be owned (at least partially) and run by Muslims in order to secure Halal quality in long-run. Appointing Muslim organizations just to monitor and certify Halal slaughter processes is not enough. Time and again we hear about cases when non-muslim manufacturers violate Shariah rules although complied at the time of getting Halal certification: slaughter by non-muslims, severing more vessels than required, mixing Halal and Haram meat and offal, non-recital or taped recital of Tasmiyah (Bismillahi Allahu Akbar). There are many prominent Muslim personalities in Australia, New Zealand, China or India who can be entrusted to discharge the duty of controlling Halal Assurance System: slaughter, storage, transportation to the port. Our government can assist them with capital to set up abattoirs on joint venture basis; surely such an investment will be returned. Thus the Malaysian government will help our brothers in non-muslim countries and at the same time have clear conscience about Halal status of imported meat. We also believe the license for importing Halal meat should be given only to Muslims. At the end of the day “Halal” is a personal pledge based on trust between Muslims provided Muslims are in charge at every link of the chain. How much can you trust a non-muslim manufacturer who claims the thoracic sticking is done only after animal is dead? And of course the Halal committee chairmen and members must be only Muslims. It is unacceptable that a non-muslim is the Chairman of Halal Committee of Australian Meat Industry, moreover being a speaker in that capacity at the World Halal Forum. If we tolerate this kind of moves then we shall see non-muslims issuing Halal certificates before long; (it is happening) have we lost self-respect or direction? We decided to see with our own eyes how stunning looks and works like. Still unpopular stunning is not widely used in Malaysian cattle abattoirs but not in all. We visited the biggest slaughter house in Selangor located in Shah Alam and observed huge bulls sliding down from stunning box, bodies and legs cramped as though frozen due to paralysis caused by electric current applied to the chin, eyes open and rolled back; one strong bull had to be stunned a few times while uttering heartbreaking sounds. We left vowing to never eat meat of stunned animals. Poultry industry in Malaysia seems to be more “modern”. The giant factories such as Ayamas and 5 Star are using low current stunning which according to them makes chickens “tired” before slaughter. Our request to visit the slaughter factory of AYAMAS Company during MIHAS (Malaysian International Halal Showcase) was turned down on the reason, the CEO was overseas. We were not explained why the presence of the CEO is necessary in showing the on-going slaughter process which is supposed to be Halal with or without CEO in place. 5 STAR company was more affable and allowed us to see their factory without CEO sitting on the throne. 10-minutes observation of the slaughter house didn’t permit us to conduct a thorough check-up but we noticed that the Muslim slaughtermen didn’t say Tasmiyah at every bird, not even 10 birds. When asked if this was Halal, the Halal Committee representative informed us, the Tasmiyah is pronounced once in a while as it is not easy to do it at every bird. “When you eat, do you say Tasmiyah every time you put food in the mouth?”, smartly argued the Guard of Halal. Quite understandable: two men slaughtering 40 birds per minute; where got time for seeking Barakah of Allah? But the most interesting thing we found in the 5 STAR factory was that they don’t use stunning machine when slaughtering for export to Brunei. What they do is they remove stunning bath from the line, reduce the speed of the conveyer and hang chickens in every other or two shackles leaving more space between the birds as they flap when non-stunned. The productivity drops from 40 to 30 birds per minute but allows longer blood-bleeding and perhaps… more time for slaughtermen to remember Allah. The vice-president of the company, Mr. Prasong Chanyingyong, said, it is the consumer choice that determines his company’s manufacturing practices. “If you tell us not to stun we will not stun like we do for Brunei, we have no problem”, he confidently stated. According to Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) of England, even low current stunning kills some chickens due to their poor health and small size. “There is no way the producer can ensure that no chickens die during stunning and there is no way he can ensure the dead ones are taken out of the line during daily routine. I myself found dead chickens after being stunned, in those factories that claimed to be Halal”, said Mohamed Benkhelifa, Chairman of HMC. “HMC is totally against all types of stunning and do not certify as Halal, abattoirs which employ stunning”, he added. HMC is not alone in their categorical stance on stunning; Muslim Council of Britain, Halal Monitoring Authority of Canada are but a few Muslim organizations in the West who strongly oppose stunning. They argue that stunning is more traumatic for the animal than simply cutting the throat and the meat of stunned animals retains more blood as compared to the meat from non-stunned animals. The truth is most people in Malaysia simply have no idea of what stunning is, since it had never been discussed publicly. It is unfair when consumers are not helped to make an informed choice. From our experience one thing we know for sure, once they are well-informed about stunning, next thing they do is start looking for non-stunned meat. Although the local meat industry is small it is rising slowly but surely. Most of local producers are not keen to experiment with stunning: for instance, Hadhari Cattle in Kedah slaughtering 150 cows a day and achieving in 2 years time the capacity of 400 heads/day; there are many smaller ones like HS Nada of Selangor slaughtering 5-10 a day. HS Nada uses automatic tilting device to lay cattle down and makes its own vegetarian feed. There will be more healthy choice in the market if Muslim consumers demand it. It’s in our hands. But the Halal standard and certification is not in our hands. And the more those in charge of it continue yielding under the pressure of industrial heavyweights the less credibility Halal certification system will have among consumers, thus rendering the whole idea of the global halal standard meaningless. Lately we hear a lot about emerging global Halal market and its potential; which is true. Along this line Malaysian government set forward its intent to become the World Halal Hub; so we’ve got MIHAS, (Malaysian International Halal Showcase) Halal Journal, World Halal Forum, Halal Industrial Food Parks and of course MS1500:2004 – Malaysian Halal food standard which makes a bid to become internationally recognized standard similar to ISO or HACCP. While the efforts of our government to become the leader of global Halal industry are highly commendable, the point of our criticism remains: how can we become a world halal center when we haven’t succeeded in own country? MS1500:2004 is a very good basis but needs further development. It must protect Muslim consumers in the first place hence, outlaw stunning, machine slaughter, hormone injections, GMO and animal feed. Once we have a strong standard next step is a powerful federal law that will provide firm footing for the Standard to be put into practice. It is hard to forget how British Muslim exhibitors in MIHAS (Malaysian International Halal Showcase) were eating only fish because they knew virtually all meat and poultry around was from stunned animals and birds. Welcome to Halal Hub, brothers!
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 02:37:48 +0000
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