Yes, Fish is Halal, but Fishes Are Fed Haram
Akbar Qureshi (photo Maeeshat)
Islam praises whatever is halal and commands its followers to take but halal sustenance. It has also ordered them to not only avoid haram sustenance but also obstruct haram means. Contrary to it, the Satan has been on continuous efforts to make humans habitual of haram. For this, it took the Jews as his first ally. As for themselves, the Jews seek halal victuals. However, they deem it a pure virtue to have the others take haram provisions. At a time when new products are attracting common people in the food markets, there have been doubts about the nature of meat and fish products. Now, a new discussion has started whether the feed given to fish and chickens is halal or not. The meat trader Akbar Qureshi, who has started his halal fish-feed business, in his interview with Danish Reyaz details about the haram herbage given to fish and talks about the halal trend of the market. Here are few excerpts:
Q: You are basically meat trader, then how did you come in fish business? Tell something about you and this.
A: Surely, as you have said, I am a meat businessman. I come from a Qureshi family. My father Abdus Sattar Qureshi is a meat businessman. Due to our business we often go to Malaysia. When we analyzed the Malaysian markets we found that grocery markets, especially those of meat and fish, are dominated by Chinese, who do not care for halal and haram. Rather, in view of profits they do not shy from spreading haram food items. We witnessed the situation and sought suggestions from some businessmen. And we conclude that first of all we should turn to halal fisheries.
Okay, fish is halal. But will it remain halal if it is fed haram diet? Seeking answer to this question we contacted many people. The ulama of Malaysia, also, expressed their desire to us that there should be someone from among us who supplied halal fisheries. They said that if suppliers are Muslims and they can provide fish honestly, then we can try at government level for such a product. So, when I returned to India I collected all the information about it, worked in this field and presented our three products in the market. For this, we got audited by Jam’iat Ulama Maharashtra. They evaluated it from all the aspects and then issued halal certificate. The products are sold under the HAYAT brand name.
Q: So, even the fishes that we deem as halal are also included in the list of haram! How come this situation has been created?
A: Well, in fact, earlier the fishes sold in the market were caught from seas, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. There, the fishes were not provided with separate feed. But when the increasing population became an international cry man wished to make an increase in everything.
So, the developed countries promoted aquaculture in the name of food security. In this culture, various countries present their products through farming. So, when we do private farming we give feed. Now, is this feed halal or haram?
Q: As you have told, various new methods are being used for feeding. It is very interesting. This has opened up a new sector in the market. Please elaborate.
A: Surely, this is a new sector. Until now, we thought that an animal sacrificed in a halal way is halal. However, halal also includes that it does not harm health. If we give dead bodies and pigs as feed, the fishes do grow fat and they also gain weight, but at the same time they are injurious to human health. If we eat haram, we eat but haram. It cannot be halal. This is our first Indian company which is producing halal fisheries. As of now, there is no other company in this field.
Q: How is the market response of your product in India?
A: Well, basically we have not designed it for Indian market, so we did not pay much attention to its marketing here. When you have crossed Bhiwandi, Thane and Raigarh you will find that various farming institutions are giving the fishes the mincemeats of dead chickens or the leftover meat at a chicken seller shop. They do not use quality feed. Since in India the chicken sellers or the butchers are Muslims, who ensure to slaughter in a halal way, people take the meat sold by them as halal. No certificate of halal is required there. However, in foreign countries, the concept of frozen chicken is prevalent and people from various religions do this. So, there arises the issue of halal or haram. Therefore, we have focused on foreign countries.
Q: Okay, how is it doing in foreign markets?
A: By the grace of Allah, the result is very good. We have talked to Saudi Food Authority, which is ready to import it. In Sudani government, there are people who like it. For Nigeria, I have got order in this very expo. And we are negotiating with the officials in Kenya, Oman and Indonesia. In fact, the common observation of the Islamic countries, who until now bought fisheries from Europe, is: if you provide us halal fisheries we will buy it from you. So, I should not hesitate to say that it is getting appreciation. We have registered with the ministry of agriculture in Malaysia and we will be trying to deliver their order from the next month. We are getting good results.
Q: What else you care for in this regard?
A: Since we are Muslims, we know the benefits of halal food. Besides being a business, it is also our religions responsibility. For others, it may be just a business, but for us along with business, this is also a part of our faith. Therefore we try to have maximum Muslim employees. Since our whole system is automatic, we are trying to avoid everything which may be un-Islamic.
(Note: The original Urdu interview by Danish Reyaz has been translated into English by A. Hameed Yousuf).