Granting Muslims an access to one of the tastiest meat in the world, Norway is planning to produce the first-ever halal reindeer meat to accommodate Muslims’ needs during Christmas celebrations.
“It is going to be exciting to see how Muslims receive the novelty of reindeer,” Mehtab Afsar, General Secretary of the Islamic Council of Norway, told Adresseavisen on Tuesday, December 3.
“This is a completely new halal product that Muslims have not had access till before.
“I have been told that this is a very good meat, but I have never tasted it myself,” he added.
The new halal reindeer was made available after a privately owned abattoir, Vilteksperten, north of Trondheim, slaughtered about 105 reindeer according to the Shari`ah law.
The slaughtering was supervised by the Islamic Council of Norway.
“It’s the tastiest meat in the world,” said Harry Dyrstad, head of Vilteksperten.
The new Halal reindeer will bring Muslims along with Christians on the same tables at the Christmas Eve.
After the striking impact of 2008 financial crisis on the wild meat market in Norway, Dyrstad managed to appeal for further market segments by luring Muslims.
“We thought that many people around the world were willing to pay a little bit more to eat a delicious, healthy and nutritious meat,” Dyrstad was quoted by AFP.
The concept of halal, — meaning permissible in Arabic — has traditionally been applied to food.
Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.
Muslim scholars agree that Shari`ah provides a divine law of mercy that should be applied on all Allah’s creations, including animals.
Islam also provides details about avoiding any unnecessary pain.
The new Halal reindeer will bring Muslims along with Christians on the same tables at the Christmas Eve.
Christmas is the main festival on the Christian calendar. Its celebrations reach its peak at 12:00 PM on December 24 of every year.
Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great Prophets of God and that he is the son of Mary but not the Son of God. He was conceived and born miraculously.
In the Noble Qur’an, Jesus is called “Isa”. He is also known as Al-Masih (the Christ) and Ibn Maryam (Son of Mary).
Middle East too
Targeting a wider market, Vilteksperten slaughterhouse is planning to extend its production beyond Norway to reach the Middle East, especially Dubai.
“We had the idea one-and-a-half years ago,” Dyrstad said.
“We spoke to someone who had some contacts in Dubai, and he said that if you want to sell reindeer meat, it has to be halal, so we had to try.”
Dyrstad is also planning to produce ham from the halal reindeer to the Muslim community.
“We got some information that we could produce some ham from the reindeer, so Muslim children can have ham on their sandwiches,” he said.
A few days ago, Norway Food Safety Authority has announced new steps to strengthen control over halal food production, after a series of scandals surrounding halal labeling appeared in different European countries.
In the 90s, incidents of the illegal halal slaughtering were uncovered in Norway.
By 2000, halal slaughtering was regulated after which farmers’ meat cooperative Gilde established the halal subsidiary Al-fathi in 2001.
Producing kosher meat by ritual slaughter is banned in Norway.
Norwegian Muslims are estimated at 150,000 out of the country’s 4.5 million population, mostly of Pakistan, Somali, Iraqi and Moroccan backgrounds.
There are nearly 90 Muslim organizations and Islamic centers across the northern European country.
Source: OnIslam
Comments