As American Muslims gather on Thanksgiving to enjoy their halal turkeys and assorted trimmings, some of the food they may consume is likely to come from Al-Safa Halal, North America's largest manufacturer of halal food products. Al-Safa, a Canadian company started in 1999, grew rapidly due to the increased demand for zabihah halal meat from the continent's 4-8 million Muslims. But the company was shrouded in controversy for many years for reasons few spoke openly about - the owners were not Muslim. In fact, they were Jewish.

The consensus view on the ownership of zabihah halal meat production is one of irrelevance - only the method of slaughter (though by a Muslim) is explicitly stated. As Al-Safa's sales (along with the vast number of non-Muslim owned halal restaurants) testify, non-Muslims can be involved anywhere else in the food chain and most Muslims won't blink. In the UK, Muslim youth (and their parents) feasted on Ramadan chocolates produced by an Orthodox Jew with scarcely a negative word. But given Al-Safa's pioneering status in North America, the creeping opposition started to gain traction, affecting the company's ability to operate.

Shortly after its founding, Al-Safa's halal certification by the Canadian branch of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA-Canada) was withdrawn (or not sought, depending on who is asked) because of Al-Safa's use of machine-slaughtered chicken (not permitted under some interpretations) and the alleged low pay of the slaughtermen. Al-Safa quickly changed to hand-slaughtered meat and obtained certification from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, a Chicago-based organization, in 2000. But unfortunately, the underlying ownership issue would not go away.

Some critics, though not explicitly arguing against the production of halal meat by Jews, framed the argument as a matter of trust and sincerity, stating that Al-Safa should have been more forthcoming about their non-Muslim ownership. More pernicious rumors accused them of donating money to Israel. These are charges that David Muller, one of Al-Safa's founders, rejects. "There is probably no Jew who has been in more mosques than I have, no Jew who has been in more Imam’s homes than I have," says Muller. "I feel that I have been given a unique insight into how similar Jews and Muslims really are." Indeed, scores of Muslims are employed by the company as slaughtermen and management.

Al-Safa eventually overcame their obstacles over the past eight years to become a common sight in many supermarkets across North America. Competition in the halal industry flourished, with a mainstream meat producer, Maple Lodge Farms, offering ISNA-Canada certification for its machine-slaughtered meat with no similar backlash about the meat or the ownership, highlighting the current unresolved debate about what proper halal procedures should actually be.

Though under no pressure to do so, the company has now been sold to a Muslim entrepreneur, Adnan Durrani. Intriguingly, Mr. Durrani built his career as the founder of the Vermont Pure Spring Water Company and financial partner of Stonyfield Farms Yogurt, which is now the largest organic yogurt brand in the world with over $350 million in sales. The thought of denying Mr. Durrani the opportunity to manage a large mainstream food business because of his religion - for reasons not codified anywhere - would be unconscionable. That Al-Safa suffered the same fate should give Muslims pause.

Now that Al-Safa is a Muslim-owned company (110% halal, as one observer puts it), Muller plans to devote himself full time to furthering cooperation between Muslims and Jews, as well as promoting a strict halal certification scheme so that the lessons he learned at Al-Safa can be passed on. "In North America, anyone can mark anything Halal and get away with it," notes Muller. "This profoundly disturbs me, and I hope that in the future the Muslim community is able to band together to put a stop to this fraud."

The Soundvision article does not take issue with Muslims doing business with non-Muslims. The issue is the deception involved, which was not known until Soundvision brought it to light in the late 1990s.

One thing your article fails to recognize is that Muslims are a minority in North America. As such, it is necessary for us, as a community, to not only build mosques, centers, schools and other institutions, but an economic presence that will provide the capital necessary for the survival of our community. Supporting Muslim-owned businesses is important because a Muslim business man or woman is more likely to give back to his/her own local Muslim community through donations to institutions, for example, versus a non-Muslim businessperson.

What I'm advocating is the kind of idea that some African-American organizations, particularly groups like the Nation of Islam, advocated in the 60s of "buying black" for the benefit of the community, as described in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. We should of course shun the kind of ghettoization the Nation advocated, however, we should not lose the message of the need for minority communities to strive towards a certain level of economic self-sufficiency to support existing institutions and build new ones.

Non-Muslims are more than welcome to the table for a slice of the Halal pie that the Muslim niche offers in business, and they have. However, in some ways, it is like the battle between big businesses like Wal-Mart versus your local mom and pop store. Non-Muslim owned businesses generally have little difficulty securing capital for and sustaining their ventures, as Al-Safa demonstrates. But can this be said for Muslim-owned businesses as well? The answer is no.

Al-Safa is the big guy, and that's fine. But when I open the freezer at my local grocery store, I will always choose Crescent Halal chicken, for example, over Al-Safa, not because David Muller is a Jew and I am an anti-Semite, but because I feel that I am supporting a Muslim venture which receives less support in the mainstream.

steepedtea, i respect your views. Being a fellow muslim and that of a minority too in another part of the world, singapore, i certainly feel your comments and opinions. However, being in a religion that is often miscontstrued and often misunderstood to many, thanks mostly to the manipulation by media, we are often more magnanimous than what we should be. I am proud to be part of a religion that is expanding at the fastest rate in the world and is the most exposed and adverse of all. I believe that it is time we start embracing muslims and non-muslims in our lifestyle chain unless it is obvious that the funds generated are used for anti-muslim reasons. Then in that case, no-one should support it, let alone us. In any case, we as muslims, embrace and welcome all human beings that we will always support.

Alhamdulillah,
livehalal.com

Attn: Shahed Amanullah
Pleased to see your commentary of the Al-Safa sale to Adnan Durrani.
Hope you keep the 'Halal' issue on your sites to create an awareness for the Muslims to make this happen for themselves.
With 86,000 products certified Kosher in the US and only around 1,000 certified Halal, how does this make sense. Only 15% of Jews eat Kosher! A higher percentage of Kosher products are eaten by Muslims in America!
It is all very well to complain about non-Muslim ownership, but why aren't the Muslims buying these organisations and controlling them themselves instead of just fighting each other about whether or not they are Halal?
Let's hope that Mr Durrani is only the first of many Muslim 'entrepreneurs' who see the potential of entering the Halal marketplace.

http://www.halalfocus.com

Let me be completely candid. When I buy, I look for what is most reliable. I look at cost and convenience. This is the human predilection. For Muslim businesses to grow, the burden does not really fall on the consumer. This is a ridiculous economic paradigm. Businesses (Muslim or otherwise) always live and die by their own decisions, acumen, and ability or willingness to compete. Many Muslim corps depend on the Muslim economic universe to base their purchasing decisions on sympathy or some "ummah" sense of duty, which really cannot be sustained. Families have budgets and if one company sells skinny chickens blessed by a stack of shaykhs, eventually people will stop buying them. Same thing with all products. It's economics, as old as the hills, whether it involves poor little minority communities.

MarkThrice, i completely agree with you. Heck, i just visited a friend yesterday who was promoting his company, stating that the revenue earned, from which a portion will be set aside to give back to the muslim society. Well, you sure hit a chord with that statement. :)

As we are all saying, the muslim community themselves have to step up and start serving themselves. It is a shame that we are so huge and so blessed, but so diversely apart and poorly segregated. No pun intended, the unison and togetherness of the Jewish community is one aspect that we can all learn from.

Wassal'aam,
Jahangir

livehalal.com

Consider it a kind of brand loyalty. All things being equal, I'll always choose "brand Muslim" over another not because I want to ghettoize the Muslim community or Muslim businesses but because our community needs to pull itself up by its own bootstraps. If Muslims don't support Muslim businesses, I don't see non-Muslims trying to do so. In fact, I know of at least one case where a Muslim business was told by a non-Muslim customer that they would no longer be doing business with them because of the 9/11 attacks.

It's interesting that other posters are disagreeing with the "buy Muslim approach" when that is exactly what other religious, ethnic and racial groups do on a regular basis.

Steepedtea,

Your sincerity is respected, but it is unfortunately misguided and foolish. If Al-Safa or any other halal meat product can provide good products, I will buy from them, regardless of who owns the company. You should 'reward' a company with your money based on performance. In fact, buying products based simply on the owners being Muslim further 'ghettoizes' their companies b/c it is less incentive for them to improve and holds them to a different standard than you would otherwise. Quite frankly, all this "Muller's Jewish" nonsense is disgusting given all the conspiracy theories surrounding him. If people don't like a company owners' views, they are welcome not to buy from him for whatever reason, but several of these links base it solely on him being a non-Muslim. Muslims have unfortunately developed a knack for further isolating themselves in America with idiotic statements like Soundvision's article.

---Yousef

Amen brother yousef.

I noticed that the issue of machine versus hand slaughtering was addressed, but no mention was made of the alleged low pay of the slaughtermen.

Personally, being raised in an american union home- that is the issue that would preclude my buying this product.

Walmart has many goods available at very cheap prices, but I've never set foot in one becuase of their labor practices.

I don't care who the owner worships, as long as they are honorable in how they treat their employees.

One can just as easily be a muslim and a weasel as anyone else.

Good point. I wouldn't buy from an unethical Muslim or non-Muslim, which is why I too avoid Wal-Mart. In the past, I have also stopped shopping at a Muslim store in my city that I found out was selling pirated videos.

Salaams All

I have personally talked to David Muller on the phone and also am friends with a Board member of Al Safa, who is Muslim, and let me tell you that Al Safa is one of the most professional and best Halal products out there. The reason is simple, the owners and board are sincere people who really went out of there way to provide a high quality product and they had left ISNA's certification voluntarily, because they said "machine slaughter" of chicken was allowed, even though majority of the scholars and the muslim public prefer hand slaughtered meat. Thus, Al Safa went with the majority of what it's customers wanted and made sure they did things properly according to Islamic laws! How many so called "Muslim businesses" would make this kind of change to their business practice, which definitely costs more money? Very few, that is for sure. I am happy that Al Safa will now be owned by a "Muslim", since that will remove some of the doubts that some people may have, but at the same time, I hope that the new owner will continue the tradition of high quality and sincere efforts to be the best Halal product out there!

Welcome to the American (Bush)way. Fraud is a way of life here.