{"id":2628,"date":"2007-11-22T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2007-11-22T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2007-11-22T00:00:16","modified_gmt":"2007-11-22T05:00:16","slug":"110_halal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Trust me, this one\u2019s ok<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

As American Muslims gather on Thanksgiving to enjoy their halal turkeys and assorted trimmings, some of the food they may consume is likely to come from Al-Safa Halal<\/a>, North America\u2019s largest manufacturer of halal food products. Al-Safa, a Canadian company started in 1999, grew rapidly due to the increased demand for zabihah<\/i> halal meat from the continent\u2019s 4-8 million Muslims. But the company was shrouded in controversy<\/a> for many years for reasons few spoke openly about \u2013 the owners were not Muslim. In fact, they were Jewish.<\/p>\n

The consensus view on the ownership of zabihah<\/i> halal meat production is one of irrelevance \u2013 only the method of slaughter (though by a Muslim) is explicitly stated. As Al-Safa\u2019s sales (along with the vast number of non-Muslim owned halal<\/i> restaurants) testify, non-Muslims can be involved anywhere else in the food chain and most Muslims won\u2019t blink. In the UK, Muslim youth (and their parents) feasted on Ramadan chocolates<\/a> produced by an Orthodox Jew with scarcely a negative word. But given Al-Safa\u2019s pioneering status in North America, the creeping opposition<\/a> started to gain traction, affecting the company\u2019s ability to operate.<\/p>\n

Shortly after its founding, Al-Safa\u2019s halal<\/i> certification by the Canadian branch of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA-Canada) was withdrawn<\/a> (or not sought, depending on who is asked) because of Al-Safa\u2019s use of machine-slaughtered chicken (not permitted under some interpretations) and the alleged low pay of the slaughtermen. Al-Safa quickly changed to hand-slaughtered meat and obtained certification<\/a> from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, a Chicago-based organization, in 2000. But unfortunately, the underlying ownership issue would not go away. <\/p>\n

Some critics, though not explicitly arguing against the production of halal meat by Jews, framed the argument as a matter of trust and sincerity, stating that Al-Safa should have been more forthcoming about their non-Muslim ownership. More pernicious rumors <\/a> accused them of donating money to Israel. These are charges that David Muller, one of Al-Safa\u2019s founders, rejects. \u201cThere is probably no Jew who has been in more mosques than I have, no Jew who has been in more Imam\u2019s homes than I have,\u201d says Muller. \u201cI feel that I have been given a unique insight into how similar Jews and Muslims really are.\u201d Indeed, scores<\/a> of Muslims are employed by the company as slaughtermen and management.<\/p>\n

Al-Safa eventually overcame their obstacles over the past eight years to become a common sight in many supermarkets across North America. Competition in the halal industry flourished, with a mainstream meat producer, Maple Lodge Farms, offering ISNA-Canada certification for its machine-slaughtered<\/a> meat with no similar backlash about the meat or the ownership, highlighting the current unresolved debate about what proper halal procedures should actually be.<\/p>\n

Though under no pressure to do so, the company has now been sold to a Muslim entrepreneur, Adnan Durrani. Intriguingly, Mr. Durrani built his career as the founder of the Vermont Pure Spring Water Company and financial partner of Stonyfield Farms Yogurt<\/a>, which is now the largest organic yogurt brand in the world with over $350 million in sales. The thought of denying Mr. Durrani the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion \u2013 for reasons not codified anywhere \u2013 would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause. <\/p>\n

Now that Al-Safa is a Muslim-owned company (110% halal<\/a>, as one observer puts it), Muller plans to devote himself full time to furthering cooperation between Muslims and Jews, as well as promoting a strict halal certification scheme so that the lessons he learned at Al-Safa can be passed on. \u201cIn North America, anyone can mark anything Halal and get away with it,\u201d notes Muller. \u201cThis profoundly disturbs me, and I hope that in the future the Muslim community is able to band together to put a stop to this fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Note: As of early 2009, the Al-Safa deal has amicably fallen through and ownership of the company has reverted to the previous party)<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":530,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings"],"yoast_head":"\nMuslim-owned businesses: 110% halal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/al_safa_halal.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/\",\"name\":\"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\",\"name\":\"Shahed Amanullah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shahed Amanullah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal","description":"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal","og_description":"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/al_safa_halal.jpg"}],"author":"Shahed Amanullah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shahed Amanullah","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/","name":"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2007-11-22T05:00:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945"},"description":"The thought of denying a Muslim the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2007\/11\/110_halal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Muslim-owned businesses: 110% halal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945","name":"Shahed Amanullah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shahed Amanullah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}