12th Annual General Meeting of World Halal Council was held in Cape Town. Various member representatives from different countries have attended. GIMDES President and the patron of WHC Dr. Huseyin Kami Buyukozer gave a speech. Due to its importance, we publish the speech copy as the following;
ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻢﻋﻠﻴﻜﻢ
My dear honourable brothers,
The Islamic Ummah has been without a leadership for over a century and seeing that some Muslim organizations from different countries unite their efforts on halal and tayyib foods under the roof of WHC make me think positive that the efforts will not be wasted inshaallah. I pray for these dear brothers and thank Allah. Your services are efforts are really important and may Allah reward you for all what you have been doing for the Ummah.
The superiority of the western-led imperialist, materialist and atheist world, that began 100 years ago, does no longer show its previous effective oppression upon the believers. The world has changed, and it can no longer be colonized as before. The sleeping giant has awaken, and even the ground underneath the imperialist powers is shattering; are they still unaware? The new world order is approaching, so when will they come to their senses?
Regrettably, from time to time, we have been witnessing some embarrassing cases regarding halal certification. We all remember shocking stories that appear in in Western media like “Pork meat found in Halal certified sausages”, “Horse meat found in Halal certificated foods in school”, “Pork meat found in the Halal certificated foods of an XXX company”. It is not possible for a Muslim to abuse the system and do all these exploitations. However, as Muslims, we should not remain silent to all these incidents.
Halal Food at the moment, like many other strategic issues, is a serious matter not to be neglected, yet to be given high attention. It’s an inescapable reality that if you have no weapons to confront with the power of the world of the bandits, in the end you’ll be enslaved. Having thoughts of consuming food that is haram or doubtful is directly connected to the future of a nation.
The morsel is seed, and thoughts are its fruit; the morsel is the sea, and thoughts are its pearls.
Therefore, halal food is as significant as the water and the air which are indispensable elements for the life a person, even more, since non-halal food may cause the live of Muslims to lose the hereafter (Ahira) forever. It is time to take responsibility of understanding the obligation of feeding ourselves with Halal and tayyib foods for the sake of our lives on this world and in ahirat.
It is a huge responsibility for a Halal certifying body to issue Halal certifications. He will give an account of what he did directly to Allah. I invite all my WHC member brothers to think and contemplate. For two billion Muslims to regain consciousness and to become a strong Ummah, they have to make their daily lives Halal. And the first step that should be taken in this regard is to feed themselves with Halal and tayyib foods.
Please remember that ‘Muslims are brothers’ above individual and national interests. This means we are also responsible for each other. If you see my mistake, you should warn me and I should do the same. We all have to be united under this roof.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
‘Verily the most honourable among you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most righteous” (Surah 49:13).
“Verily, each of you is a mirror to his brother: then if he seeth a vice in his brother he must tell him to get rid of it.”
On the authority Abi Ab’dillahi al-Nu’man ibn Basheer (ra) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:
“That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear and between the two of them are doubtful [or ambiguous] matters about which not many people are knowledgeable. Thus, he who avoids these doubtful matters certainly clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor. But he who falls into the doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily every king has a sanctuary and Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibition. In the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it be diseased, all the body is diseased. This part of the body is the heart”.
WHC must work in the most ideal and it must be the best example in itself as organization and as individual members. Others should look at WHC members and should want to be like us. Our standard must be away from any doubt and it must be as strict as possible.
Halal is a pure Islamic term and only belongs to Muslims. Halal isn’t just a technical issue which non-Muslims can make up standards, formula and regulations as much as they wish. Muslims have responsibilities to Allah (swt). Allah has already set up all necessary rules and regulations clearly. As you know, some non-Muslim bodies have been setting about projects on Halal Standards for food products’ packages in Europe and International markets. They pass laws in their parliaments without consulting Muslims. This is unacceptable for us.
Brothers, consider that WHC must be the only address where Halal related matters can be reviewed and decided upon. For this, WHC must be strong and firm and united. We must stay away from gossip and from anything that might cause fitnah. Our members should build strong cooperative relations with each and with other reliable Halal certification organizations in the world to protect the rights of Muslims. Don’t think small. You are not a member just to get the rights of using the WHC logo. If you are a member, stand up and do something for your brother Muslims. Inactivity, useless silence.
We serve Muslims in our living countries, but we have extra responsibilities as a member of World Halal Council.
I would like once again to ask what we want to do? Why did we establish WHC? How do we like to give an account to Allah? Please ask these questions to your individual selves.
Brothers, I will give you the clue: Our goal is not to help a producer who is desperately seeking a permit to export its products to an Islamic country. Our mission is to serve Muslims. To do this, we must be as strict as possible to allow a Muttaqi (devout Muslim) to consume Halal certified products without any concerns. What does this mean? This means that we must be very strict so as not to allow any doubtful material and we must stay away any easy fatwas. Same goes for laws and regulations in a country, Muslim or non-Muslim, doesn’t matter. If and when a country accepts a regulation which is against Islamic was of life, we must protest and must not comply.
Look at Netherlands: they made those ridiculous laws for killing animals by gas or electric and their goal is only to reduce the industrial costs. They don’t care for our religious requirements. In such a case, an HCB that certifies in such a country must stop certifying. That HCB cannot say that he has to follow the laws of that country.
More vital example is the mechanical slaughtering. Now we all know that there is no need for mechanical slaughtering and that mechanical ways of slaughtering is not accepted any more by many of the esteemed Ulama. So what is the reason for insisting for mechanical means? In any case, the devout Muslim will stay away from chicken slaughtered mechanically.
Or remember the gelatine, the infamous real headache of Halal certifying. Brothers, it was possible and it is possible to produce quality products without gelatine. When you accept gelatine, you are helping the non-Muslim industry and feeding Muslims with doubtful products. Remember the goal is to feed the Devout Muslim. He will not eat anything that contains gelatine.
Our work should be to serve to Muslims rather than to industry and trade. Yes, we can help people to develop new formulas by showing them what to use and what not. We can teach them the ways for Halal production; Halal logistics, Halal way of life. This is our responsibility. We can’t just sit at our offices and wait for Halal certificate applications.
Don’t tell me you don’t know how to do this or that. All members of WHC must have an adequate number of qualified technical staff that will do the research and assist applicants in their inquiries. So whenever an inquiry comes, we must be both mentally and physically ready to answer. We can do the technical research and then consult our Ulama for their advice.
But if you insist on becoming a one-man operation or operating from your bedroom office without any staff, you will not be able to do this and it will be your responsibility again as you will not do your job properly.
Remember again: Halal certifying requires real hard work; it requires full time experienced and skilled auditors, technical staff and of course, qualified Ulama who will guide you for the religious issues. If you operate without these, you may think you can do some easy money but you will be the loser at the end of the day. You can deceive poor Muslims but you will not be able to deceive Allah.
Brothers, as members of WHC, our organizations must be perfect and we must be only good examples to fellow bodies and to the industry.
Many multinational companies ask for our advise for some technical matter on Halal issues and we lead them to the right path. I am proud to say we managed to convince them to change many of their formulas by omitting problematic ingredients from their formulas.
Don’t be afraid of the applicant. If you believe you are stronger. Allah will help those who help Allah.
“O you who have believed, if you support Allah , He will support you and plant firmly your feet.” (Sura 47/7)
May Allah guide us all to the right path.
I would like to finalize my letter with the following verse.
وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللّٰهِ جَم۪يعاً وَلَا تَفَرَّقُواۖ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْكُمْ اِذْ كُنْتُمْ اَعْدَٓاءً فَاَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَاَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِه۪ٓ اِخْوَاناًۚ وَكُنْتُمْ عَلٰى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَاَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَاۜ كَذٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّٰهُ لَكُمْ اٰيَاتِه۪ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate. And remember Allah’s favour unto you: How ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations unto you, that haply ye may be guided.[3:103]
May Allah bless you.
Best regards.
Dr. Eng. Hüseyin Kami BÜYÜKÖZER
GIMDES President
Patron of WHC
