Radio Islam International – 2019/01/16

The Halaal Foundation of South Africa says they will under no circumstances knowingly certify an outlet that uses alcohol on its premises.

This follows allegations made by the ‘Islamic Watchdog Movement’ on the ‘Durban Muslims’ Facebook page by its admin Mohammed Mall in a post on Tuesday which was widely circulated on social media.

In the post, Mall who posed as ‘Jonathan’ called the outlet and asked one of the employees of ‘The Baking Pan’ if they can use alcohol in a cake for his father’s 60th birthday, to which they agreed, however emphasising that he will have to contact the owner of the business directly to process the order.

Speaking to Radio Islam, Previn Naidoo, the owner of ‘The Baking Pan’ in Durban, Overport says he was not in the store when the call was made, and was completely shocked when he heard the clip later on.

“I reprimanded my staff. I got a new cashier Shakila, who doesn’t know much about cakes. If she heard the combination quite clearly, the guy said he wants a Jack Daniels cake, and the lady said to him that we can put a picture of the Jack Daniels bottle on the cake, which we can normally do with edible printing.”

However, Naidoo says the person who called the outlet using an alias – ‘Jonathan’ was adamant that he will supply the alcohol, with the cashier responding: “come in with the alcohol”.

“I reprimanded her and due process will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.”

Naidoo emphasised that they are a fully Halaal compliant establishment.

“We don’t consume alcohol, we don’t sell alcohol, and we follow the protocol of our foundation, we are 100% Halaal compliant.”

The Head of Theology at the Halaal Foundation of South Africa, Moulana Ashraf Ismail told Radio Islam that contrary to the allegations in the post on Facebook, there are Muslim staff on the premises.

“Brother Mohammed Mall who posted these things on Facebook was unaware of this. There is a Muslim brother working on the premises for the past three years. His name is Joomah, and he is part of the kitchen staff.”

Ml Ismail says all of the establishment’s products are sourced from fully Halaal certified suppliers.

He adds that panic was created because there was a misinterpretation of the call, and that the employee was not qualified enough to give an immediate answer.

“Which turned out to be very ugly.”

Naidoo also confirmed to Radio Islam that he has met with his attorneys this afternoon and will be taking legal action against Mall.

“For him making a statement that I don’t have Muslim staff, I am taking action against him to give my Muslim customers satisfaction and the assurance that I respect my Muslim customers to the highest levels.”

The HFSA’s Ml Ismail says Mall is “hell-bent on defaming the organisation”.

“For what, I don’t know, and who’s behind it, only Allah knows, as a Muslim I would not consent to anything that is haraam and allow Muslims to go and purchase from that store.”

Ml Ismail adds that the store is fully Halaal compliant, and that due processes will be taken to ensure that the incident does not happen again.

He emphasized that the owner and staff will be made aware that any association with alcohol including pictures depicting brands of alcohol for edible printing are not permitted.

The Chief Executive of the Halaal Foundation of South Africa, Naushaad Khan, confirmed to Radio Islam that the organisation’s staff is on the ground to ensure that all protocols are followed and adhered to by the staff of ‘The Baking Pan’.

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