Only Burger King branch is OK for Muslim Judicial Council

The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has ruled that the new and only Burger King branch in Cape Town sh…

The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has ruled that the new and only Burger King branch in Cape Town should retain its halaal certificate despite the owner’s business link to gambling.

A “fatwa committee” meeting was held by the organisation on Tuesday after members of People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) called for one of the fast food outlet’s shareholders, Hassen Adams, to be investigated because of his involvement in the gambling industry.

Adams is the founder and owner of Burger King SA’s parent company Grand Parade Investments, which is also a stakeholder in GrandWest Casino.

Pagad spokesman Abdullah Salie said gambling was a devastating problem that destroyed lives and crippled families.

“We don’t have a real issue with the restaurant; the question is if it was bought with money from a business that is detrimental to society.”

He said profits from gambling were haraam (forbidden according to Islamic law).

According to the MJC’s website, there are just over one million Muslim people in Cape Town.

Salie said a halaal certificate was important to attract Muslims to an outlet, but he argued that Cape Town’s Muslim community had to evaluate the sort of establishment from which they were buying their food and who they were supporting.

“We are not calling for a boycott, we are just offering our opinion.”

The MJC said on Tuesday that it would not take action against Burger King SA.

“As reprehensible as it may be for a Muslim to be in such activities (gambling and casinos), 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 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.”

The Islamic Council of South Africa’s 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.”

He said Adams’s personal life had no bearing on the certification process, pointing out that many halaal-certified franchises were not even owned by Muslims.

Salie said Pagad would meet the Islamic Council of SA tomorrow to discuss the certification of the branch.