As I am in food business and currently buy most of meat from Desi bazar. My problem is that I can get HMA or HIC certified chicken here (Farm Fed and Superior brands) but I am looking for better options for Beef because I noticed that most of the stores do local butchering of cow which I believe is not certified (both from govt and halal perspective).
I did get a suggestion from mufti Ahmed through 1 of our beloved brother and Imam, mufti sahab suggested Al Hasan halal meat which does local slaughter and my biggest problem is to explain him the part of meat I need and size of the pieces as he has very limited understanding of English.
So, long story short, can you recommend at least 1-2 shops that I can buy beef with confidence?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,
I am not the correct person to advise on specific meat shops or restaurants, as I do not conduct audits or checks. Mufti Ahmed Saheb has been involved with these audits and is most suitable individual in our locality.
That being said, I can give generic advices based on my experience in the market as a casual observer.
- As an individual involved in Food Business, you are right to have these concerns. Insha’Allah due diligence and concern will earn you great rewards in court of Allah.
- That being said, while you focus on HIC and HMA sourced meat for yourself, when you say that you purchase from a meat shop, there is an additional concern of cross contamination. If the meat shop sources its meat from multiple suppliers, and then preps them in store, then all those meats get mixed and contaminated with each other. Even though those meats may hold “some” certifications from here and there, your conservative limitation to only these certification would be jeopardized.
- So, I would suggest to only get pre-packed meats from HIC or HMA suppliers, although being bought through proxy of a specific meat shop.
I completely agree that there are not many solutions in this area for our local community, and I dare not resort to pick “relaxing the rules” as an avenue for “solution”.
Our community needs to become active in setting up local butchering avenues which can be vetted and endorsed. I am certain that pious and cautious fellow Muslims would be willing to pay that additional costs, if it meant that they can acquire absolutely halal and tayyib meat from local sources.
May Allah Ta’ala help and aid our community, Ameen
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi