Issue No.223 – March 2023 : Shabaan 1444

Over a decade ago, an extremist fringe group and their cohorts, in accordance with their intemperate views, declared all commercial poultry and meat products as Haraam.

When their raucous public campaigning failed to achieve their desired result within the community, which was to create a massive reduction in sales at butcheries, supermarkets and restaurants, they vilified and shifted blame to the certifying bodies amongst which SANHA was their most maligned target.

In their desperation, they served court papers on SANHA and threatened to go all the way, as the self-appointed saviours of Muslims, to the Constitutional court to have all commercial poultry declared Haraam. Unfortunately, they chickened out at the eleventh hour and withdrew their action. This denied us our day in court where we would have exposed their shenanigans once and for all with potential for charges of perjury on sworn statements as well as exposing a host of other illegal, deceptive, unethical and abusive tactics & tendencies used by this group.

Since then and perhaps in an attempt to remain relevant, they surface occasionally with the same old “all commercially slaughtered poultry is Haraam” narrative, especially when the blessed month of Ramadhaan draws closer. Although most people are aware of this, we get a few enquiries from concerned sisters that have commenced their Ramadhaan savoury preparations. SANHA has publicly paid tribute to our hardworking sisters – click to view:
https://sanha.co.za/mtimes/musjid_times_76.pdf

The latest such action has been a report circulated on social media, entitled, “My Visit as a Layman to a Commercial Chicken Plant” which is “Certified Halaal by one of the ‘big’ players in the South African Halaal Certificate Industry” which remains “unnamed.”

In this report, the unnamed author who had “stopped eating Commercial Chicken about 13 years ago”, visits an unnamed butcher and speaks to an unnamed manager on the Halaal status of chicken products. The manager named a few people which the author held as unnamed from an unnamed Halaal authority.

The unnamed layman then contacted the unnamed Halaal supervisor of an unnamed poultry plant to conduct his visit. His visit on an unnamed date and time covers his observation which includes interviews with unnamed slaughterers, observing the slaughter process, and concludes thereafter that, “indeed everything was above board and Halaal”.

He then arrives home, seeks “a fatwa from his heart”, and reverts to the conclusion that he began with i.e. that all commercially slaughtered chickens were Haraam. This purely because he deems it “physically impossible and mentally taxing” to recite the Tasmiyah 16 800 times over a period of 7 hours. The reality is that it can easily be recited up to 40 times in a minute. Why don’t you try it? His sarcastic claim that slaughterers would have to be “Awliyya of this time is both demeaning and disrespectful”.

Levelling an accusation without bringing a charge is a most heinous sin in Islam with a grievous penalty. Muslim Jurists have established that the law of evidence be applied. The person imputing the guilt has to bring the charge and on him rests supplying the burden of proof, not upon the party who denies it. The process includes the compulsory right of the accused to challenge the evidence given against him or her, interrogate the testimony and cross-examine the witnesses. When a witness testifies anonymously it is improper and an infringement of this right.

It is Shaytaan’s strategy to defeat the Believers by circulating malicious rumours and harmful news. Allah Ta’ala says in the Noble Qur’an, “When news concerning peace or fear comes to them, they go about spreading it. Had they referred it to the Messenger and to those having authority among them, the truth of the matter would have come to the knowledge of those among them who have the ability to investigate. Were it not for the Grace and Mercy of Allah unto you, all but a few of you would have followed Satan”. (Chapter 4 – Verse 83)

Click here for a reading on tall stories:
https://sanha.co.za/flashnews/2020/flashn156.html

In keeping with the above criteria, the report circulating on social media is in the realms of hearsay and thus rejected as lacking credibility, reliability and veracity.

All processes at abattoirs certified and approved by SANHA are supervised, monitored and audited to ensure compliance with Halaal assurance protocols for safe consumption.

LIES SOUND LIKE FACTS TO THOSE WHO’VE BEEN CONDITIONED TO ACCEPT FALSEHOOD AS THE TRUTH.