About HMC | Industry Problems

A common problem found in abattoirs is the apathy and disregard of slaughtermen when it comes to reciting the Tasmiyah. Recitation of the name of Allah at the time of each slaughter is a condition for the animal to be Halal and yet HMC has encountered many slaughtermen not fulfilling this condition (an indirect contravention of the Qur`an) due to a variety of reasons. Some are busy chewing gum during the slaughter, others are engaged in chit chat with their co-workers. In fact some simply ignore the recital of tasmiyah because they are unaware of its importance.

Some slaughterhouses have introduced the practice of playing pre-recorded Bismillah. Hundreds and thousands of animals in particular chickens are being slaughtered as Halal with a tape playing ‘Bismillah Allahu Akbar’ in the background. This totally contravenes the requirement of the slaughtermen reciting the tasmiyah at the time of slaughter and is unacceptable in all traditional Islamic schools of thought.

The blessed blade is simply a blade or rotating mechanical blades which have been blessed. This is done in one of two ways; a) ‘Bismillah Allahu Akbar’ is inscribed on the blade making it blessed through the writing or b) a Muslim is called to pronounce the words and then blow on the blade making it blessed through the act of blowing. These blades are then used for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of animals, again a clear contravention of the Quranic injunction "and eat not of meat over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned – truly it is sinful" (6:121) and, according to all traditional schools of thought, meat slaughtered in this manner is Haram. HMC has for some time known of this practice being quite prominent in European slaughterhouses, but now we can reveal shocking news that this practice is also used in UK slaughterhouses for chickens destined for the Halal market.

Non-Muslims have been found to be slaughtering animals destined for the Muslim market either when a Muslim slaughterman is unavailable or when the tasmiyah is being recited by the tape. Also, meat slaughtered at non-Muslim abattoirs non-Islamically is also passed on labeled as Halal!

The most common practice found in a majority of the larger abattoirs is machine slaughter or mechanical slaughter. This is when the slaughter is carried out by a mechanical rotating blades with no Muslim slaughterman present either to perform the slaughter, or to recite the ‘Tasmiyah’ on each individual slaughter. Thousands of chickens are slaughtered in this manner daily. Again, the practice of blessing the blades, playing prerecorded bismillah or even appointing a Muslim to recite bismillah as he switches the machinery on, is common instead of reciting bismillah on each and every animal slaughtered manually. This practice is directly against the teaching of Islam and will not serve to conduct a Halal slaughter.

According to the majority of Fuqaha (Jurists), at least three out of four veins must be severed for a Halal slaughter. Unfortunately, due to the speed of the slaughter in many abattoirs or due to the sheer ignorance, many times the required amount of veins are not severed and as a result it would be unlawful to consume meat of such birds. At present, even with HMC inspectors, this is the most common problem found for which inspectors reject the animal.

Stunning the animal before slaughter leaves a huge doubt into the halalness of the animal as many could be killed by the stunning especially in the case of poultry, it prevents the drainage of entire blood resulting in it being retained in the animal and retained blood causes germs and bacteria, it deprives animals from the benefits of tasmiyah due to it being unconscious, it is inhumane to animals and causes unnecessary pain and suffering, it is in reality done not for animal rights purposes, but in order for the industry to kill more animals quicker so as to increase profits. According to the majority of the Ulama stunning is not accepted in Islam and stunning could render the meat Haram in many cases.

The government has exempted the Muslims and Jews from stunning prior to slaughter in order that we may practice the pure sunnah method of slaughter which can only be the best and merciful way of slaying an animal yet it is commonly practice amongst Muslims. More than 80% of the meat and poultry slaughtered in Muslim abattoirs is stunned!.

Chickens are dunked in dip tanks (de-feathering process) which has temperatures over 60c. This
causes impurities to permeate the flesh, again rendering the meat Haram.

Even worse some slaughterhouses and suppliers in the U.K. are deliberately importing meat and poultry from abroad which do not meet Halal criteria and then deceive the unsuspecting consumer by re-packing these into their own Halal boxes. This type of mixing is not confined to only imported products as some abattoirs/suppliers/distributors are mixing meat and poultry from Haram sources in the U.K.

The broadcasting of the Panorama programme "The Chicken Run" tore open a vicious secret of imported meat and poultry, marked Halal. It disclosed that chicken products whilst being processed were injected with or soaked in water containing enzymes from beef and/or pork. These products were then shipped to the U.K. marked Halal for the consumption of the unsuspecting Muslim public. This practice was prevalent at the time of the broadcasting of the programme and there are still no guarantees to ensure it even now does not happen. The other issue is anonymous meat and poultry imported from around the world labelled Halal is entering the market without the importers even knowing what slaughter methods are being used. Many of these when scrutinised and checked do not even come close to being Halal.

Meat and poultry being processed on an un-sanitised lines thus causing non-dhabiha leftovers to be mixed with the dhabiha meat on the machinery.

HMC exposes the corrupt practices found in the ‘Halal’ meat industry highlighting the potential dangers for Muslim consumers who freely buy meat and poultry from non certified sources and which necessitated the formation of HMC. What is even more worrying is that despite many slaughter - conditions being violated, the consumables are falsely labelled as ‘Halal’ and consumers are led to believe that they are genuinely Halal whereas in many cases the consumables would be Haram!

We can divide the industry into four areas:

Abattoirs & Slaughterhouses
Processing Plants
Outlets (Butchers, Restaurants, Takeaways etc)
Other Certifications

Abbatoirs & Slaughterhouses
Many Muslims who originate from the Indian sub continent, Africa or Arab countries naively think that all meat and poultry is slaughtered in a simple manner which they saw practised in the countries they came from. What we have failed to realise is the demand for Halal meat and poultry has dramatically increased in the west and the companies supplying the meat and poultry have had to look for ways to increase the output. This has meant finding quicker ways of slaying the animals and at the same time keeping within the Halal laws. With this proving difficult, many slaughterhouses have looked for shortcuts in the Halal rules, many disregard the Halal slaughter prerequisites and many have no knowledge of the prerequisites whilst the main aim has become the increase of production and its returns. The corrupt and non-islamic practices prevalent within slaughterhouses supplying to the Halal market are as follows:

Place your cursor on the items below to read more on the issue

Processing Plants
A large amount of meat and poultry slaughtered in the abattoirs is then passed on to the processing plants. The processing plants can range from processing, cutting, de-boning to preparing ready made meals and preparing frozen packed or canned consumables. In our experience many of the processing plants are not very particular in verifying the methods of slaughter and are accommodating any meat or poultry which is labelled Halal whether from the U.K or abroad. This is leading to problems similar to those at the abattoirs where verification of the halalness of the products is very difficult. In fact, although sometimes the processing plants may be unaware of the source, some are deliberately sourcing from Haram. The other issue is anonymous meat and poultry imported from around the world labelled Halal is entering the market without the importers even knowing what slaughter methods are being used. Many of these when scrutinized and checked do not even come close to being Halal.

Outlets (Butchers, Resaturants, Takeaways etc)
The butchers and outlets receiving the meat and poultry from the abattoirs and processing plants are just as negligent in verifying their sourcing as the rest of the chain above. Many of them are genuinely unaware of the problematic industry and they would merely place the trust in and take the word of the supplier just because it is claimed to be Halal.

Other Certifications and their Flaws
The only way to help Muslim consumers make an informed choice and help them consume genuine Halal meat and poultry was to introduce a certification system which covers all the chain from source to outlet. There have been quite a few attempts in the past and currently to certify this problematic industry. The sad thing is that some of the systems put in place by a number of certifying bodies are very weak and have only increased the problem. Some organisations issue Halal certificates for life, others issue Halal certificates over the phone, other abattoirs are inspected once a year and issued a Halal certificate, and other certifiers do not even have knowledge of what are the correct standards for Halal. Sadly, stunned and mechanically slaughtered meat and poultry is also being certified by various bodies in the UK.

THE MOST ABUSED WORD ‘HALAL’!
The above problems highlighted lead to the biggest dilemma of all, Muslim consumers buying meat, poultry, kebabs, samosas or anything else labelled as Halal from butchers, takeaways, or restaurants are not and can not be certain about the genuineness and authenticity of the Halal label, either through ignorance in the chain of suppliers or either through unscrupulous, deceitful, corrupt and greedy meat traders.

In conclusion, the word Halal has become the most abused word equally misused by Muslims and non Muslims. The word ‘Halal’ is displayed anywhere and everywhere without any kind of regulation and corroboration and the consumers are made to believe that it is genuinely Halal.

The questions we leave you with are:

How confident are you about the Halal status of the meat and poultry you are consuming today?
How sure are you that the meat and poultry you are buying today is not slaughtered in the above mentioned methods?
Is the word Halal displayed sufficient for you, or do you require some kind of assurance?
Make an informed choice! Refuse to be conned in Haram in the name of Halal.

Let’s clean up the Halal industry!

This state of affairs urgently dictated that a committee be setup which monitored every phase of the processing of meat and poultry to ensure their suitability for the Muslim market. Enter HMC