Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News-2013-05-22

Following People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) calls to boycott Burger King, The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has ruled that the Burger King branch in Cape Town should retain its halaal certificate despite the owner’s business link to gambling.

The MJC held a "fatwa committee" meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday night to decide if the Burger King outlet should have its halaal certificate revoked. This after Pagad claimed the owners of the local franchise behind the fast food giant are of “questionable morality

According to the MJC’s website, the organization said, “As reprehensible it may be for a Muslim to be in such activities, if there is no proof of any contravention of Islamic Dietary rules in the preparation of any foodstuffs, the activities of the shareholder of such businesses do not render his products haram.”

"Similarly, if the owner of Burger King is busy with haraam activities, for example gambling and selling pornography, and there is no proven allegation of wrongdoing in Burger King, Burger King will not be haraam. Where Muslims are annoyed, upset and angered by the owner’s un-Islamic activities, they are at liberty to avoid dealing with him or to boycott his business,” said the MJC

Cape Town businessman Hassen Adams who bought the franchise for R9.1m is the founder and director of Grand Parade Investments which is a stakeholder of Grandwest Casino and the parent company of Burger King SA.

The Islamic Council of South Africa’s (ICSA) operations manager and food technologist Aabied Akhewari said they had certified Burger King’s Cape Town branch, not Adams’s other businesses.  “From our point of view, if a Muslim walks into Burger King they can be 100 percent certain the food they are buying is halaal.”

Meanwhile Pagad’s spokesman Abdullah Salie said they would meet ICSA tomorrow to discuss the certification of Burger King. – IOL