South African media has been awash with revelations that the Halal certificates on show in shops, supermarkets, restaurants and butchers may not be as trustworthy as their green colour and Arabic inscriptions declare. Islamic religious scholars who have issued them since the 1980s may not be able to guarantee their Halal status.
The furore started late in 2011 when an allegedly disgruntled ex-employee of a meat importer presented a mobile video of workers pasting Halal certificates on pork products in its warehouse. This ex-employee, allegedly working for a rival meat importer, presented the video clip to a Halal authority.
This revelation caused a minor furore within the Halal industry. It was soon discovered that the Cape Town-based Muslim Judicial Council had issued certificates to the meat importer. It was also revealed that other Halal authorization bodies had refused to issue certificates to such importers.
In spite of their differences, Muslim religious authorities tried to limit the damage. They recognized the danger to the Halal certificate that had grown in leaps and bounds. It was now not only pasted on meat and meat products, but was present on milk, face wash, sweets, chocolates, vegetable soup, and even bottled water. The certificates ensured a steady stream of revenue to the issuing bodies. More importantly, it ensured a steady flow of Muslim consumers to retail chains, restaurants and fast-foods.
The Halal certificate heralded the coming to age of the Muslim consumer.
In January 2011, the intrepid Deborah Petta of 3rd Degree (ETv) recognized a good controversy. She soon arrived at the staid offices of the Muslim Judicial Council of Cape Town, to see how this revelation rocked "the sacred tenets of the Islamic faith."
As usual with 3rd Degree, there was more heat than light as the cameras followed the officials of MJC refusing to be interviewed. But where there is smoke from the heat, there is a fire that cannot be ignored.
3rd Degree presented a binary image. Negligent officials of the Muslim Judicial Council were not doing their job. In contrast, the cameras turned to the South African National Halal Authority (SANHA) as it explained its more cautious position. We got cameo shots of the pious officials of SANHA reading the Qur'an and raising their hands in prayer.
The media was doing it again: Good Muslim vs. Bad Muslim. Binary, contrasting images is the stuff that apparently made our world.
Understandable, Muslim consumers have been angry about the incident. Some have felt embarrassingly exposed. Others have felt a deep sense of betrayal in the Halal certification process. Others have gloated that they have the correct approach.
The controversy has been highlighted but its key significance obscured. The controversy reveals a deep transformation of Halal through certification.
What is a Halal certificate? At root, it is a promissory note made to the consumer that the produce being sold is fit for Muslim religious consumption.
It takes the place of at least two personal engagements. It takes the place of a person going to a local market, and buying an animal for slaughter and consumption. The animal might even have been reared in the backyard, or a Common. It also takes the place of a person approaching a local food producer or supplier who attests by word and deed that the food is halal (literally permissible; not sacred and thus exposed to slaughter).
With modern food production, including the global distribution and flow of goods, these engagements are placed out of the reach of most people. And this is where Halal authorities are born. The Halal certificate speaks for the self, and for an intimate relation between self and Other.
The Halal certificate demands faith in its ability to make a decision for a Muslim, and to replace these deep engagements with self, animal and other human beings.
This personal relationship includes one's ability to decide what to consume, and where to consume. It also includes the essence of a relationship with the other.
A certificate that was invested with so much meaning had failed. The controversy exposed the hasty faith in a piece of paper that promised that one no longer needed to make a judgment, or one no longer needed to build a relationship of trust with another.
Perhaps this is what the rage and disappointed is all about in the Muslim community. Companies and Halal authorities have not yet said fully what they were doing. Like other consumer goods, their transparency is often veiled under so many layers of half-truths, enticements and assurances.
The controversy has been useful in a way. But anger and disappointment should therefore not only be directed at the offending meat importer, or the negligent Muslim official, or the indecent media. It should be cause enough to mourn a hasty faith in a piece of paper, and the loss at a deeper individual and inter-personal relationship.
The furore started late in 2011 when an allegedly disgruntled ex-employee of a meat importer presented a mobile video of workers pasting Halal certificates on pork products in its warehouse. This ex-employee, allegedly working for a rival meat importer, presented the video clip to a Halal authority.
This revelation caused a minor furore within the Halal industry. It was soon discovered that the Cape Town-based Muslim Judicial Council had issued certificates to the meat importer. It was also revealed that other Halal authorization bodies had refused to issue certificates to such importers.
In spite of their differences, Muslim religious authorities tried to limit the damage. They recognized the danger to the Halal certificate that had grown in leaps and bounds. It was now not only pasted on meat and meat products, but was present on milk, face wash, sweets, chocolates, vegetable soup, and even bottled water. The certificates ensured a steady stream of revenue to the issuing bodies. More importantly, it ensured a steady flow of Muslim consumers to retail chains, restaurants and fast-foods.
The Halal certificate heralded the coming to age of the Muslim consumer.
In January 2011, the intrepid Deborah Petta of 3rd Degree (ETv) recognized a good controversy. She soon arrived at the staid offices of the Muslim Judicial Council of Cape Town, to see how this revelation rocked "the sacred tenets of the Islamic faith."
As usual with 3rd Degree, there was more heat than light as the cameras followed the officials of MJC refusing to be interviewed. But where there is smoke from the heat, there is a fire that cannot be ignored.
3rd Degree presented a binary image. Negligent officials of the Muslim Judicial Council were not doing their job. In contrast, the cameras turned to the South African National Halal Authority (SANHA) as it explained its more cautious position. We got cameo shots of the pious officials of SANHA reading the Qur'an and raising their hands in prayer.
The media was doing it again: Good Muslim vs. Bad Muslim. Binary, contrasting images is the stuff that apparently made our world.
Understandable, Muslim consumers have been angry about the incident. Some have felt embarrassingly exposed. Others have felt a deep sense of betrayal in the Halal certification process. Others have gloated that they have the correct approach.
The controversy has been highlighted but its key significance obscured. The controversy reveals a deep transformation of Halal through certification.
What is a Halal certificate? At root, it is a promissory note made to the consumer that the produce being sold is fit for Muslim religious consumption.
It takes the place of at least two personal engagements. It takes the place of a person going to a local market, and buying an animal for slaughter and consumption. The animal might even have been reared in the backyard, or a Common. It also takes the place of a person approaching a local food producer or supplier who attests by word and deed that the food is halal (literally permissible; not sacred and thus exposed to slaughter).
With modern food production, including the global distribution and flow of goods, these engagements are placed out of the reach of most people. And this is where Halal authorities are born. The Halal certificate speaks for the self, and for an intimate relation between self and Other.
The Halal certificate demands faith in its ability to make a decision for a Muslim, and to replace these deep engagements with self, animal and other human beings.
This personal relationship includes one's ability to decide what to consume, and where to consume. It also includes the essence of a relationship with the other.
A certificate that was invested with so much meaning had failed. The controversy exposed the hasty faith in a piece of paper that promised that one no longer needed to make a judgment, or one no longer needed to build a relationship of trust with another.
Perhaps this is what the rage and disappointed is all about in the Muslim community. Companies and Halal authorities have not yet said fully what they were doing. Like other consumer goods, their transparency is often veiled under so many layers of half-truths, enticements and assurances.
The controversy has been useful in a way. But anger and disappointment should therefore not only be directed at the offending meat importer, or the negligent Muslim official, or the indecent media. It should be cause enough to mourn a hasty faith in a piece of paper, and the loss at a deeper individual and inter-personal relationship.
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