Free Republic

Aldi has landed in hot water after selling black pudding that contained pork, which is forbidden in Islam. The supermarket has apologised for stocking the item which lists among its ingredients pork blood, pork skins and pork stock. The black pudding had received the UK Health Code stamp saying it was suitable for Muslims.

Who says Islam is not adapting to the times? Fatwas issued by top clerics in Turkey and Saudi Arabia this week might be shocking to much of the civilized world, but they do indicate change. In Turkey, the top religious authority, known as the Directorate of Religious Affairs or Divanet, proclaimed that though water is the preferred method of cleansing oneself after using the toilet, paper is now an acceptable alternative if a water source is unavailable, reports the nation’s Hurriyet Daily News. [Snip] Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia the grand mufti has reportedly found a new definition of halal –...

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has denied issuing a fatwa that states it is permissible for a starving man to save himself by eating the flesh of a woman. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday, Al-Asheikh said the religious edict was false and created by Islam’s enemies to slander him and “keep the community busy squabbling over irrelevant issues instead of standing united behind the rightly guided rulers.” “The fatwa attributed to us is wrong. It is nothing but lies ... It has been circulated to distort the image of Islam, which has elevated...

Just when you thought you’d heard it all: A report circulating throughout the Arabic-language media claims a leading Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa (religious ruling) permitting husbands to eat their wives (yes, eat them) in the event that they are really, really hungry. The report appeared among other places in the major pan-Arab, London-based Al Quds Al-Arabi, which cited the alleged edict by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Asheikh permitting a husband to eat his wife if he is afflicted with “severe hunger”. It claimed Al-Asheikh clarified that the husband could choose to eat...

Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority has issued a fatwa allowing a starving man to eat his wife in order to save himself, causing a stir among the Kingdom's residents, London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, according to the report, said that the act would display the wife's obedience to her husband and her willingness to become one with his flesh. Saudi Twitter users quickly took to the social network to express their shock at the strange fatwa attributed to the Grand Mufti. Following the report Saudi media accused Iranian media of fabricating the fatwa, noting...

We apologise for this aneurysm inducing news, but seriously a Mufti in Saudi Arabia has just declared that a Muslim can cannibalise his wife. You heard correctly: Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, a man of religious power in Saudi Arabia, believes it is halal to eat your wife. Clarifying his stance, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah explains that literally eating your wife is permitted only if you're extremely hungry. Translating what appeared on multiple Arab websites (here, here, here, here and here): “A fatwa attributed to the Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, which allows a man to eat his...

A turf war is brewing between a Jewish food cart vendor and Muslim competitors vying for prime real estate in midtown Manhattan, according to the New York Post. Dubbing it an "intifooda," the Post reports that Yisroel Mordowitz, who serves kosher brisket and pastrami sandwiches, is being blocked from setting up near Rockefeller Center by by the "hallal mafia." “This guy is hungry – hungry for money,” said Mohamed Mossad, one of the Muslim food purveyors fighting to keep Mordowitz and his cart, the Holy Rollers, off the corner of 48th Street and Sixth Avenue. “Why doesn’t he go to...

Grub Street never needs a reason to celebrate our city's esteemed roster of delicatessens, but since this week marks the New York release of the new documentary Deli Man, we're going all in on the subject today.There’s an elaborate backstory behind every venerable deli in New York City, but the story behind David’s Brisket House, which has been serving brisket and pastrami sandwiches to the good people of Bedford-Stuyvesant for more than half a century now, is more elaborate and convoluted than most. The original Dave was a Russian Jew who sold the deli to a Romanian Jew, who inherited...

There is no peace in the Mideast — or Midtown. A Jewish kosher-food purveyor says he’s being prevented from settling in the heart of Manhattan by the “halal mafia.” Yisroel Mordowitz insists he just wants to peacefully peddle sandwiches piled high with brisket or pastrami from his Holy Rollers cart in the lucrative Rockefeller Center area, 48th Street off Sixth Avenue. But a group of irate Egyptian competitors block the kosher vendor from setting up on the sidewalk, literally squatting on the curb or placing umbrellas and beverage cartons to cordon off the space. Modal Trigger“This guy is hungry —...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa • A food supplier for several years falsely marketed beef to Muslims around the world as meeting strict halal standards, exporting products that weren't slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law, federal prosecutors allege in a major fraud indictment.http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/u-s-says-halal-food-supplier-misled-muslims-on-beef/article_4555debe-2a67-56dc-a050-2c440a818e92.html

Could this be why Lindt was targeted? Lindt refused Halal certification

Ah, the joys of tolerance. Sydney, Australia has begun to learn them after opening several Muslim-friendly restaurants that serve only halal food that is permissible to be eaten under Shariah law. One of those restaurants is featured in this video of a Muslim man who completely loses it when a customer, apparently unaware that he was in a halal-only KFC, asked for bacon on his sandwich. The video shows the KFC employee yelling — screaming, really — about being recorded. He also threatens the customer. Apparently he really, really doesn’t like the word “bacon.” Great customer service at those halal-only...

CEDAR RAPIDS — Corporate officers of Midamar Corp. and Islamic Services of America in Cedar Rapids were indicted on 92 federal charges Friday, involving mislabeling of Halal beef products and falsifying documents. Jalel Aossey, 40 and brother William “Yahya” Aossey, 44, both of Cedar Rapids, and each of the businesses are charged with one count of conspiracy to make and use materially false statements and documents; sell misbranded meat; and commit wire fraud. Their father William Aossey, 73, founder of Midamar, was charged with 19 similar counts last month. His trial was just reset to March 9. According to the...

Rapper Big Paybacc has been shot dead while eating his lunch in a McDonald's near Los Angeles. The star, whose 2011 track Gangsta Luv has been viewed more than 250,000 times on YouTube, was gunned down by an attacker who walked in and opened fire. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Deputy Guillermina Saldana said: "It appears to detectives that the victim was the intended target and that this was not a random shooting." The victim was identified officially as 38-year-old Habeeb Ameer Zekajj, the rapper's real name. Big Paybacc was connected to former G-Unit artist Spider Loc.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel took another step into open antisemitism today when student activists in South Africa placed the severed head of a pig in the kosher meat section of a Woolworths store in Cape Town. The shocking gesture was aimed, the perpetrators said, at preventing “people who will not eat pork to pretend that they are eating clean meat, when it is sold by hands dripping with the blood of Palestinian children.” Jewish leaders were quick to condemn the act, organized by the Congress of South African Students (COSAS,) a body affiliated with the...

... “I’m about to put a smack down on my brothers and sisters,” Dedic wrote in her Facebook post on Oct 20. “Why on earth [do] they think it is okay to look into the eyes of the already generous US taxpayer and say your charity is not good enough for me. I demand special treatment.” ...

Confusion about what constitutes halal meat sparked a blunder at a community barbecue in Fairview on Saturday. After failing to provide halal meat, event organizers tried to remedy the oversight by having a local politician bless regular hotdogs. Patricia Arab, Liberal MLA for Fairview-Clayton Park, said a prayer over the hotdogs, mistakenly thinking this would make the meat halal. Meat that is halal, which means “permissible” in Arabic, is prepared following precise instructions detailed in the Qur’an. A halal animal must be healthy and fed a natural diet that does not contain animal byproducts. When it’s slaughtered, it is blessed...

Muslims advocates gathered at the California state capitol. Photo courtesy of the Council on American-Islamic Relations CA. Sacramento, Calif., Jul 10, 2014 / 04:07 am (CNA).- Proposed California food safety rules for butchering animals have raised concerns among the state’s Muslims, who say the rules would prevent them from practicing their religious beliefs. “Religious freedom is an important issue for all Americans. It is at the core of the freedoms our country was founded on and a value we pride ourselves on,” Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council of Islamic Relations’ San Francisco Bay Area Office, told CNA July...

The Ministry of Defence admits it does not label food as halal or kosher in its UK or overseas bases, with only soldiers who request these meals told what they are eatingSoldiers are unwittingly being fed halal meat in military bases , the Ministry of Defence has admitted. The MoD has confirmed that only troops who request specific meals are told the source of the meat they are eating. Food served in MoD canteens in both UK and permanent bases abroad is not routinely labelled to indicate it has been slaughtered using religious methods to ensure it is halal or...

Cadbury chocolates sold in Malaysia have been cleared of containing pork, the country's top Islamic body said Monday in a statement that should lessen calls for a boycott of the British confectionary company after earlier tests suggested two types of chocolate bar contained pig DNA. The now apparently discredited findings last month by the Ministry of Health sparked outrage among some Islamist groups in Malaysia, who called for a boycott of all Cadbury's products. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, is also testing Cadbury chocolates, although the two products at issue in Malaysia are not sold there. Under Islamic...