UK Muslim Scholars Unanimously Reject Mechanical Slaughter

In 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 through Ajax Consultants to understand the scholarly opinions on Halal in the UK. Responses were received from 282 imams and muftis from over 25 towns and cities covering, London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Leicester, Manchester, Blackburn, Reading, Preston, Dewsbury and many more cities across the UK. The survey asked several questions covering issues on the acceptance of mechanical slaughtering, stunning of animal prior to slaughter, recitation of tasmiyah, and views on the current exemptions in UK and European law.

The Summary of the findings are outlined below:

• 95% of the Ulama do not accept “mechanical slaughter” as an accepted method of Halal slaughter in Islam (2.1% want to understand the issue further)
• 99.7% stated that Bismillah should be prayed individually by person slaughtering (not taped or person standing on the side)
• 90% rejected electrical stunning of chickens (9% welcomed further research)
• 85% rejected electrical stunning of larger animals (9% welcomed further research)
• 99% expressed preference for non-stunned
• 100% saw the need for the continuation of religious exemption allowing Muslims and Jews to practice their religious beliefs (prophetic method of slaughter)
• The survey included responses from 32 Muftis, 201 Ulama and 49 Imams.

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 in the UK. There are many UK superstores that need to be aware of the message from UK scholars and should ensure their Halal products are at a standard acceptable to their Muslim consumers. HMC’s universal standard is the only way to ensure acceptance by all”.

The Halal Food Authority (HFA) accepts mechanical slaughter and has continually been probed and asked to provide views from Muslim scholars for their accepted practices. To date no response and views have been received from HFA Scholars. We also ask HFA to listen to the views of the UK Muslim community who they claim to serve.

Earlier this year, Malaysia, a country at the forefront of Halal, known as the Halal Hub of the World, listened to the scholars of the world and removed mechanical slaughter from its Halal standards. It will be interesting to see if a Halal certifier in the UK (HFA) will listen to the views of Muslim scholars and the public and remove the use of mechanical slaughter from its halal standard.

KFC introduces controversial Halal

After McDonalds in Southall introduced a Halal menu with standards that are not accepted by the majority of Muslims in the UK, another multi-national corporation has joined the bandwagon to exploit the growing Muslim consumer market.

KFC introduced its so-called Halal menu in eight of its branches across London in May on a trial basis. HMC has received scores of e-mails, texts and phone calls asking us about the Halal status of these eight branches. On making enquiries to KFC and the certifying body, it becomes apparent that not much has changed at the slaughter house in order to introduce Halal certification, with the mechanical slaughter method still continuing at the plant. The certification body who has issued KFC with the certificate seems to have been bombarded with complaints from the Muslim community, with regards to controversial standards in terms of the mechanical slaughter method they employ. Their standard reply has been, ‘please be advised that mechanised slaughter does not render the chicken/bird Haram!’ But many Muslims who have contacted HMC have been appalled by the lack of integrity shown by KFC and the certifying body in light of the fatawa and rulings from senior scholars around the world. Brother Kelvin, a Muslim revert from East London sent us a lengthy e-mail about his experience which has been reproduced on page 11.