Whitman signs bill enforcing
                Islamic dietary law

                Thursday, July 13, 2000

                By MICHAEL CASEY
                Staff Writer

                PATERSON -- Flanked by Muslim leaders in a local mosque,
Governor
                Whitman signed the nation's first law that cracks down
on butchers and
                restaurants that falsely claim to be selling halal food.

                Whitman, speaking at the United Islamic Center and
wearing a white hijab,
                said the new law gives Muslims assurance that the halal
foods they buy are in
                fact halal -- in compliance with Islamic dietary law --
and shows respect for
                the state's growing Muslim population.

                "The Al Quran instructs Muslims to eat 'that which Allah
hath bestowed . . . as
                food lawful and good,' " she told the crowd of 50
people. "Today, we are
                taking a big step in ensuring that all foods represented
to be halal is in fact
                'lawful and good.' "

                The Halal Food Consumer Protection Act requires
businesses such as stores,
                restaurants, and slaughterhouses to show records and
post information
                attesting to the authenticity of halal food. The bill,
which mirrors the Kosher
                Food Consumer Protection Act, will be enforced by the
state Division of
                Consumer Affairs under the consumer fraud law.

                A person found to be fraudulently promoting food as
halal could be fined
                $7,500 on the first offense and $15,000 on the second.

                Halal, which has its roots in the Islamic holy book, the
Koran, is similar to
                kosher in that it rejects pork. Halal also prohibits
alcohol and animal blood.
                Most importantly, Muslims eat meat only from an animal
killed in an Islamic
                ritual slaughter.

                Despite the growing number of halal restaurants, Muslims
are still uneasy
                about eating in them. Many Muslims say they will rarely
patronize a restaurant
                or shop unless they know the owner because they fear a
halal sign may be a
                ruse designed to increase prices on food that was not
properly prepared.

                But with the new law, many Muslim leaders said they
expect more will buy
                halal, and that the market for these foods will expand
in kind.

                Muslims also said the new law recognizes the growing
influence of Muslims in
                New Jersey and across the country.

                In New Jersey, there are an estimated 400,000 Muslims.
In North Jersey
                alone, there are thriving Middle Eastern and Bengali
communities in Paterson,
                a significant Indo-Pakistani enclave in Teaneck, and a
large Egyptian
                population in Jersey City.

                "This is an important event for Muslims in America,"
Imam Warithur Deen
                Umar, the president of the National Association of
Muslim Chaplains, told the
                crowd. "The signing of this bill into law is no less
significant to Muslims and the
                future of Islam in America than the mapping of human
genome. . . . I believe
                the other states are lining up and will follow your
course."

                Umar said he started fighting against fraud in New York
12 years ago after he
                heard from Muslim prison inmates about vendors trying to
sell non-halal meats
                as halal. He started exposing the companies in a
newsletter, Halal Watch, and
                then began pushing for legislation similar to New
Jersey's new law in New
                York. But it died in committee.

                Then two years ago, Morristown attorney Riza Dagli
approached
                Assemblyman Alfred E. Steele, D-Paterson, about creating
a similar law. He
                noticed the proliferation of halal signs and worried
that it had become nothing
                more than a way to attract Muslims into restaurants and
other shops.

                "As I travel, there are tons of places advertising
themselves as halal," Dagli
                said. "There are halal Chinese restaurants and halal
pizzerias. I began to
                wonder if these restaurants were really halal or just
trying to make money off
                Muslim consumers. . . . This law raises the level of
comfort for Muslims."

                With the help of Steele, Sen. John A. Girgenti,
D-Passaic, and lobbying from
                the Muslim community, the bill was passed unanimously by
the Legislature.
                Steele and Girgenti said the bill shows that the state
is responding to the
                concerns of the Muslim community and giving their
religious practices the
                same attention as Jewish traditions.

                "This not only provides protection to the Muslim
community but it
                demonstrates that they are very much a part of
government in the state of
                New Jersey," Girgenti said. "Just as the state ensures
that the kosher
                designation is being used properly, it now provides an
important consumer
                safeguard to members of the Islamic community."

                Complaints about suspected halal fraud should be
directed to the Division of
                Consumer Affairs at (973) 504-6327.

                Staff Writer Michael Casey's e-mail address is
[log in to unmask]

                                Copyright © 2000 Bergen Record Corp.

                    Permission requested and authorized
Habib Ghanim

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