We Muslims should be appalled by the sale of halal meat by stealth

From Taj Hargey in the Daily Mail:

When I walk into a restaurant, I’m usually a hungry customer. It shouldn’t be important to the waiter what my religion is. I could be a Muslim, a Christian or a Jedi warrior. Whatever my beliefs, I have a right to enjoy my meal without any hidden agendas. 

Pizza Express, one of Britain’s favourite food institutions, admitted this week that all the chicken it serves has been killed according to traditional halal methods. The blood was drained from the bird and prayers were recited during the slaughter. 

Now it turns out that the meat in many supermarkets is also halal — though there is no recognisable label to indicate this fact to consumers. 

This is covert religious extremism and creeping Islamic fundamentalism making its way into Britain by the back door. 

It is completely wrong that the food sensitivities of Britain’s Muslims — who amount to just 4.8 per cent of the population — should take precedence over the other 95 per cent. 

Halal meat should never be forced on customers without their knowing, surreptitiously and using clandestine methods. It’s unfair to everyone, non-Muslims and Muslims alike. 

It’s deception on a grand scale for the former, while it could fuel bitter resentment against the latter. 

Of course I understand that many of my fellow Muslims, who are moderates not militants, will feel strongly that they wish to eat meat that has been killed by customary halal methods — and they have a perfect right to do so. 

But many misconceptions need to be clarified, because I am certain that most people don’t understand where these rules about food came from, and who benefits from them. 

First of all, if you’ve just tucked into a chicken pizza without knowing it was halal meat, it hasn’t done you any physical harm. 

But it hasn’t done you any spiritual good, either. Muslims don’t believe that religious observance can be used as a holy shortcut or a ticket to paradise. 

Furthermore, the idea that Muslims cannot eat non-halal food — food that is suitable for Christians — is completely wrong, and it has no theological basis in the Koran, the supreme text of Islam. 

I’m a dedicated Muslim, a devout religionist, an imam and intellectual scholar of Islam, but I eat whatever food is placed before me, with the obvious exception of pork. If you’re kind enough to invite me to your home, I would eat whatever meat you chose to serve: turkey, lamb, chicken, beef … anything except pork. 

This is perfectly permissible in Islam, and the crucial thing is that it doesn’t have to be halal meat. 

No one wants an imam to be quoting chapter and verse of the Koran over the turkey sandwiches, but it is important that everyone understands how clearcut the teaching is. Chapter five, verse five of the Koran states: 

‘This day all good things are made lawful for you. The food of the People of the Book [meaning the Jews and the Christians] is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them …’ 

There are no ifs and buts about that. The Koran does expect us to be thankful for our food, however. I teach in Oxford, and when I go to dining halls in the university, I eat what is available. I must say, I’m partial to a slice of steak. 

At the point of consumption, before I put the food in my mouth, I give thanks, with a brief prayer that Muslims have been saying for more than 1,400 years. 

I say: ‘In the name of God, the most Merciful, the most Gracious.’ Christian readers will recognise what I’m doing — it’s very similar to the concept of saying grace. 

The Koran says we cannot eat slaughtered meat unless the name of God exclusively has been pronounced over it, not any other deity or idol. So, it does not really matter if, when that cow or lamb was slaughtered, the abattoir workers were saying prayers or playing heavy rock music at full blast on their radios. 

The individual prayer just prior to actual consumption makes the meat fit — halal — to eat. 

But if the Koran does not insist on what have become the customary halal methods, why are they now so prevalent in Britain? 

One reason is that religious zealots and theological ideologues are deliberately promoting confusion about halal to sow discord and resentment. 

Three of the main fundamentalist Muslim sects — the Wahhabi fanatics in Saudi Arabia, the Salafi extremists of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and the Deobandi zealots from India-Pakistan — are foisting their fabricated notions about it down our collective throats. 

Muslim fundamentalist insistence on halal meat does not come from the Koran itself — it derives from a secondary and often suspect source, called the Hadith. 

The Hadith consists of the reputed sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, only compiled some 300 years after his death, and it is replete with gross contradictions and anti-Koranic statements.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

Housewife and mother of three believes Halal certification goes against Australian values and is pushing for an investigation into whether the profits fund terrorism

From the Daily Mail:

An Aussie housewife claims to have discovered ‘deception and corruption’ within the food industry, campaigning to uncover the truth about the relationship between Islam and some of Australia's major food companies. 

Kirralie Smith is concerned that Australians are unknowingly funding Islamic bodies every time they do the grocery shopping. 

She is seeking full disclosure from food companies so Aussie shoppers are fully informed so they have a choice on whether or not to buy from companies are allegedly giving funds to Islamic organisations. 

She is also calling for an investigation of these Australian organisations, alleging that the international counterparts of the Islamic bodies were found using the proceeds to fund terrorism. 

Ms Smith is the director and founder of ‘Halal Choices' and has made a shopping guide to inform shoppers about which companies are 'Halal Certified' - meaning their foods are appropriate for Muslims to consume. 

To become Halal-certified, a company must pay an ongoing fee to an Islamic body to gain certification. This certification deems that the product is acceptable to be prepared in accordance with Muslim law. 

She argues that Australians are being ‘deceived’ by food companies who are not open about funding Islamic bodies through ‘Halal certification’. 

‘I believe that as non-Muslims we should have a choice of whether or not we want to practice and fund Islamic religious ritual practices with our everyday grocery purchases,’ said Ms Smith. 

Dr Muhammad Khan, the CEO of Halal Australia, said the fact that the money from Halal certification went to mosques was not an issue. 

'It is absolutely not necessary to talk about this subject matter,' he told The ABC. 'Don't [Kosher certification organisations] fund their own synagogues? Why can't the Islamic certification body give donations to mosque projects?' 

Ms Smith insists that she does not encourage any boycott of the products, clarifying that she is ‘all about choices and giving people information so they can make their own informed decisions.' 

‘As a wife and a mother of three who does the shopping, I thought I should do something to take responsibility for what we bring into the household.’ 

The mother-of-three feels that at present Australia’s culture and core values are at risk. ‘I’m passionate about Australia – our values, our culture and especially our freedoms that have been hard fought for. 

'In Australia, we generally have freedom of speech, equality, democracy and freedom of religion,' she said during a speech at a forum in March this year. 

‘I believe Halal certification is in opposition to these values.’ 

On her website, Ms Smith encourages people to lobby the companies and government, suggesting they send the message: 'I do not wish to support any brand that pays an Islamic religious tax to have their product halal certified. 

'Less than 2% of this population is Muslim and I do not want to fund special religious rituals or political campaigns to increase the presence of Sharia Law in Australia. 

'Please respect consumers and give them/us the necessary information so we can make our own choices.' 

Ms Smith is also concerned about the impact of the extra expense of Halal-certified production on the cost of the final product. 

‘In chicken processing plants at Steggles, six fulltime, Muslim-only slaughtermen are employed,’ claims Ms Smith. 

‘Two of these employees who do not actual slaughter the chickens, but their jobs are to say prayers over them.' 

‘From my point of view, I don’t need people there, paid on a fulltime basis, to pray over the chickens.’ 

Ms Smith is questioning how much these processes cost considering it is a service that she, as a Christian, does not want nor require. 

‘The figures are huge but companies won’t disclose them because they have signed non-disclosure forms.’ 

Ms Smith argues the companies are failing to disclose what fees are being paid, their involvement with Halal Cerification authorities, where the money is going and even frequently failing to label their product as ‘halal-certified’. 

‘I have a problem with funding being imposed upon me. ‘People shouldn’t be paying money towards those causes every time they buy groceries.’ 

Ms Smith is concerned about how the funds are being used Islamic Certification authorities and is advocating for an investigation. 

‘The reality is that overseas it has been proven that the certification fees are going towards funding terrorism,’ said Ms Smith. 

‘I feel so passionate because big companies, like Nestle and Sanitarium, pay big halal certification fees but don’t make it publically known so consumers can’t make a choice of whether or not they want to pay more. 

‘We give information to the consumer because Australians have every right to buy or not to buy the products. She is deeply concerned, alleging that many companies are paying unnecessary fees for food products that are already Halal. 

‘Capilano honey pays certification fees, yet honey is universally considered halal. 

It is the same with white milk and yet Parmalat pays fees for certification,’ said Ms Smith. 

Ms Smith eamiled Capilano regarding the halal certification, and received a response which said that while honey was already considered halal under Islamic law, 'it is our customer's requirement to provide halal certification in order for us to conduct business with them,' reported The Sydney Morning Herald. 

'This sounds like extortion to me. 

Halal Infiltration: Food Sacrificed to Idols

I Corinthians 8:

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.  

Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. 

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 

But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 

For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 

So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 

When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

As the video above demonstrates, Muslims are doing what they need to do to make sure food sacrificed to idols (Allah) is introduced into our society. There are multiple reasons for this, some having to do with money, some with Stealth Jihad.

Allah is not the God of the Bible.. To those of us who believe in the God of the Bible, Allah is an idol.

This Halal food is not harmful to us, either physically or spiritually. The God of the Bible is not cowed by Allah. Allah is nothing to the God of the Bible.

And therefore, Allah is nothing to us.

That being said, MUSLIMS KNOW that the food has been sacrificed to Allah, AND THEY KNOW WE KNOW.

Muslims are weak. They are among the weak ones spoken of in I Corinthians 8. They are in bondage to Allah, who is a God of power and submission, blood, and death. This is why Muslims kill, each other, cut themselves up, beat their heads on the ground, play with entrails, and all the other abominations that are part of the worship of Allah.

Therefore, if we eat of their food, we are causing them to stumble.

If we eat of their food, they are destroyed by our knowledge.

If we eat of their food, we sin against Christ.