The following is a verbatim reproduction of a report by Brother who has recently undertaken an inspection of one of the halaalized Carrion Chicken Plants – halaalized by the Agents of Iblees: 

As Salaamu Alaikum Respected Hazrath Moulana AS Desai Saheb

Making Dua that you are in the best of Health. Please find below my recent visit to a Commercial Chicken Plant here in Kwa Zulu Natal. This Plant is Certified Halaal by one of the “big” players in the South African Halaal Certificate Industry.

My Visit as a Layman to a Commercial Chicken Plant

First and Foremost I would like to state that I am not affiliated to any Islamic Body. I am an ordinary Muslim who is concerned about what I ingest and will take all precautions to ensure that I am eating Halaal. I have stopped eating Commercial Stunned Chicken about 9 years ago purely because of being educated about Haraam Carrion chicken.

A few weeks ago I was at a Muslim Owned Butchery in Durban and I asked one of the Managers if the Halaal Certified chicken he was selling was 100% Halaal. He gave me a “thousand assurances” that he is happy with the Halaal status of his chicken. He mentioned the name of a few people from the Halaal Authority that give him feedback twice on a weekly basis. He mentioned their names. This is an outwardly Pious Mutaqqi Manager with Beard and Sunnat Libaas so I felt a little comfortable that he must be speaking the truth. However this was bugging me so a few days later I googled the telephone number of the Chicken Plant and asked to speak to the Halaal Supervisor. 

Over the phone he (the Halaal Supervisor) was quite polite so I asked if I could visit the Plant. His response was Yes because he would like me to see for myself that his chickens are 100% Halaal. On the said day, I arrived at the Plant early in the morning. He took me through the whole Process. The one thing that stood out was that the Hygiene Standards of the Plant were very high. 

At the start of the Process, there are 3 people loading chicken onto a Conveyor Belt. Surprisingly there wasn’t much sound from the chickens at this stage. I am not sure if they were fatigued or sick.

The chicken then move shackled, head facing downwards onto the next Process which was the Stun Bath. This is a concealed process so one is unable to witness exactly what happens as the Conveyor Belt passes through this Process. The Voltage of the Stunner is set at 45 Volts. Thereafter, 7 to 10 seconds later the Slaughtering takes place at a rate of 80 birds per minute.. Everything is driven by the speed of the Conveyor Belt. The Slaughterers wear Masks so one cannot physically see whether they recite Tasmiyah. I questioned whether chicken die after stunning and was told that it is a rare occurence and if it does, it turns a specific colour and is removed from the Line. I physically touched and felt a few chickens after slaughter and they exhibited signs of life. As long as the chicken is slaughtered within a minute of stunning they will not die. All “good”. After slaughter the dead chicken then go into a defeathering process which removes all feathers. I witnessed quite a few chicken without necks after this Process. Thereafter the packaging of chicken takes place. 

I confirmed that the Slaughterers were all Muslim and that they recite Tasmiyah on every bird. I was super impressed with Hygiene of the Plant and the Halaal Supervisor was very open and honest. He didn’t seem to be hiding anything. I thanked him for allowing me a visit to the Plant and then proceeded home. With all this in mind, I was happy that the Manager at the Durban Butchery was honest and indeed everything was above board and Halaal. 

HOWEVER, when I reached home I asked Allah for guidance because this would mean that if I accept these chicken as Halaal, I would go back to eating Commercial Chicken after 9 years. The following was my decision thereafter (after SEEKING A FATWA FROM MY HEART).

The Slaughter Rate is 80 chicken per minute (based on 2 Slaughterers). 

This equates to 40 chickens per Slaughterer per minute.

In an hour (60 minutes) this equates to 2400 chickens per Slaughterer.

They work 8 hour days with a 30 minute lunch break. Lets assume a further 30 minute break for Toilet etc, the Net Operating Time Per Slaughterer Per Shift is 7 hours.

In one day EACH Slaughterer has to slaughter 16 800 chicken.

All good and well. 

Now (Lets put the Stunning issue aside for a minute) -  for the Chicken to be Halaal, the Slaughterer has to recite Tasmiyah (Bismillaahi Allahu Akbar) on every single chicken. This is physically impossible. So if Tasmiyah is not recited on every chicken, then it means that those Chicken are HARAAM. 

Stunning - I was told that if the chicken was not stunned then it would be impossible to slaughter the chicken on the conveyor belt as it would move around making slaughtering impossible. The stunning at 45 Volts incapacitates the chicken. It is akin to a Human Being receiving a violent blow to the head with a brick. He will be alive but incapacitated. Also, the fact that the Chicken has to be slaughtered very quickly after stunning to prevent them dying implies that this Stunning Process is NOT reversible and is in fact a slow torture to the animal. 

Discussion

Stunning is a cruel process and unfortunately cannot be in keeping with Islam. Islam does NOT promote cruelty to  Animals. I have read many Fataawa stating that if one is certain that the animal is alive after Stunning and if Slaughter is carried out with Tasmiyah then the animal will be deemed Halaal. To me the animal might be deemed “Technically Halaal” but the effects of eating the meat of such animal can only be such that it brings about ruination to Imaan. There can be no Barakah and Spiritual upliftment from eating such food. 

For those that are not convinced then I propose that you conduct the following “acid test” and allow your Imaan to guide you into making the correct decision. I humbly ask you to make Dua to Allah to guide you on this matter.

Take a Tasbeeh Counter and  while standing recite 2400 times Bismillahi Allahu Akbar - time how long it takes you to recite this bearing in mind that you cannot read this in your mind but you have to move your lips. My guess is that many people would tire after reading a few hundred Bismillahi Allahu Akbar.

Assuming that you are able to recite the first 2400 Bismillahi Allahu Akbar with ease, try to recite another 2400. 

You get my point - now imagine a poor Slaughterer reciting 2400 Bismillahi Allahu Akbar per hour for 7 hours ( a total of 16 800). It is physically impossible and mentally taxing. For him to do this day in and day out would mean that these Slaughterers are Wali’s of this time. 

If you are true to your Imaan you will realise that one cannot accept Commercial Chicken as being Halaal. 

Our Ulema have done a great disservice to the Community of South Africa by not speaking out openly about this topic. In their own homes they do not purchase Commercial Chicken but they give vague Fatwa’s promoting the permissibility of Stunning and Commercial Chicken. 

In conclusion - it might not be easy giving up your Juicy Chicken Tikka, Nando’s, KFC etc but understand well that the wholesale consumption of Haraam is resulting in our Duas not being accepted. The Kuffaar are trampling on us and our Imaan is so weak that we blame everything on our Governments. Let the change begin NOW. Let us make an intention this Ramadaan to stay away from Haraam and Doubtul food. We will see the Barakah and Noor in our Lives by turning towards Allah and giving up Sin. There are many Muslim’s that have home Businesses selling unstunned chicken. Let us support them and challenge our Nafs. This is not an easy Journey giving up Commercial Chicken but trust me, you will see the difference in your Lives and the Lives of your Children.

One last point - in Ramadaan many Masaajid, Businessmen and Muslims in general distribute Haleem in Durban. I can say with certainty that ALL of the Chicken Haleem that is distributed is prepared using Commercial Chicken. Do you really want all of your Ibaadat ruined for the sake of pleasing your Nafs with Haleem prepared with doubtful ingredients?

May ALLAH GUIDE US ALL TO THE PATH OF EARNING HIS PLEASURE.

(End of the Brother’s report)

OUR COMMENT

At this stage there is no need for further comment.

9 Shawwaal 1440 -13 June 2019