No comprising on Halal principles and methods by pioneer certifier ISA

July 20, 2010
Cedar Rapids, February 2010: At Islamic Services of America (ISA), we take pride in being the oldest and most well known US Halal Certifier in the world. For over 35 years, we have employed the most stringent standards to ensure that food, pharmaceutical, health and beauty, ingredients and other products are without doubt Shariah compliant. This has earned us the trust of Muslims in the Middle East, SE Asia, North America and beyond.

With regards to the Halal Process, let’s take for example the most well known and sought after halal product – Meat. Any meat that bears Halal designation must be qualified by a few basic principles, 

  • Animal Welfare – this has been a part of Islam long before animal rights activists began lobbying for humane slaughtering methods. In Islam, farmers are instructed to feed animals proper diets and to treat them humanely. We do not slaughter ‘pen raised’ cattle. The cattle must be able to graze in a pasture occasionally.
  • Muslim Slaughtered – the slaughtering process must be conducted by a practicing Muslim who is of sound mind and who has the explicit intention of performing a slaughter. The person doing the slaughter is clearly instructed in Islam to “Slaughter with mercy and slaughter swiftly.”
  • The person who is slaughtering must make the intention of performing the slaughter and then must recite “Tasmia” which is typically “Bismillah and Allahu Akbar” or “In the name of Allah and Allah is Greatest”. This must be done out loud during the slaughter.

At ISA, all of our slaughter men are Muslim, and are capable of slaughtering 1000 head of cattle a day. The cattle are raised up to our standards and are the same breed from the same genetics. Absolutely no animal product is fed to Iowa Cattle. This is the law and part of the Iowa Cattleman’s Association Legislation.

ISA only accepts Halal methods that follow Shariah in its purest form. It is important for Muslims to know the difference. When we say it is halal, it is halal based on the Islamic understanding of what is behind the meat. That means no tolerance for deviance in the form of “Tasmia” by tape recorder, phone, or by driving around the processing facility. We take a committed hard line approach and do not compromise. In the end, we understand our accountability to Allah SWT, our creator. For more information see www.isahalal.org.
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