Muslims sue Popeyes for sharia-compliant chicken

Posted on November 4, 2011 by creeping

Popeyes has been serving halal chicken for 25 years? via Toronto News: Popeyes in fight over Halal chicken – thestar.com. h/t Doctor Bulldog

A group of Muslim restaurant franchisees is fighting fast-food chain Popeyes Louisiana Chicken in court over the right to sell hand-slaughtered Halal meat for religious reasons.

The battle in Ontario Superior Court comes after the Atlanta-based franchise moved to replace the chicken supply with machine-killed birds in 14 Toronto restaurants. The company says it’s still Halal-certified; the franchisees claim the machine method is against the beliefs of a majority of Muslims.

“If I begin selling machine-slaughtered chicken, I will immediately lose an enormous segment of my customers,” reads the sworn affidavit from Abdul Haffejee, who owns eight Popeyes in the GTA.

Haffejee, who donates Popeyes chicken to mosques and sponsored Muslim Day at Canada’s Wonderland, said between 50 and 80 per cent of his customers are Muslim.

“All of the members of the Muslim community that I have worked so hard to attract will be gone instantly. They cannot be replaced,” he said in his affidavit, claiming tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars at stake.

Halal is a term used to denote if something is lawful in the Islamic faith.

There are specific requirements for killing animals: a slaughterer who is Muslim or a believer, a blessing, and certain arteries cut before the slaughter.

How apropos, a slaughterer who is Muslim – and screams allah akbar while killing.

For over 25 years, Popeyes sold hand-slaughtered Halal meat in all of its 59 southern Ontario stores, according to court documents. This occurred without major incident until January this year, when the long-time supplier announced it would be getting out of the hand-slaughtered chicken business because it was moving on to larger birds, an industry trend.

Thus began an 11-month saga that continues today.

It’s a 1,400-year old saga that continues today.

In a court affidavit, a Popeyes representative said the problem stems from the current hand-slaughtered Halal supplier, which uses birds larger than Popeyes’ specification and also has “quality” and quantity problems.

Alice LeBlanc, chief of supply chain management, said that selling hand-slaughtered meat to only a few store owners would amount to discrimination against the other franchisees. She also argued the meaning of Halal is fluid, and Muslims may accept a certified machine-slaughter bird.

“Having multiple suppliers would undermine the advantages of bulk purchasing,” said LeBlanc.

Now, lawyers on both sides have reached a tentative agreement by court order to continue the Halal supply until a resolution can be reached. A commercial trial is tentatively scheduled for February during which the franchisees hope to compel Popeyes to continue supplying hand-slaughtered Halal chicken for their restaurants.

“Both sides have common interest in working together towards a resolution,” said Jonathan Lisus, lawyer for the franchisees. Counsel from both sides released a joint statement to the Star that said the hope is “that the matter will be resolved amicably in the near future.”

But a Toronto Imam, who has consulted with the restaurant owners and also made a presentation to Popeyes’ executives in Toronto, said the only solution is to keep Halal chicken supply as is.

“It seems that (Popeyes) is just not ready to comply or compromise,” said Imam Yusuf Badat at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto.

In other words, Muslims want Popeyes to submit to Islam and sharia – they don’t want accept any kufr compromise.

“I believe it’s all about the bottom line. It’s about the money.”

He explained that for many Muslims, machine-slaughtering cannot be considered Halal because it’s impossible to bless each bird at such a high speed and there are questions surrounding who turns on the machine if he or she is not a believer.

And then there is the ever-present Islamic discrimination against non-Muslims. This is how Muslims submitted KFC.

Posted on 4 Nov 11 by Creeping Sharia