As the Qurbani season fast approaches, many Muslims across the globe will be following in the tradition of Prophet Ibrahim (as) in carrying out the sacrifice of an animal for the sake of Allah (swt).
There are many operational complexities associated with fulfilling this important Religious duty and each stakeholder within the supply chain has their own responsibilities to ensure adherence to these rules.
HMC provides comprehensive guidance to its members that it certifies, inclusive of abattoirs and butcheries, who sign a declaration to ensure that they will fulfil the expectations that have been provided by us.
A critical aspect of a valid Qurbani is the correct age of the animal. The slaughterhouse takes on the responsibility to ensure that all Qurbani animals are of the minimum required age and are healthy and free from any defects.
With regards to sheep, there is no concern relating to the age of the animal as they will be 12 months plus in age. The slaughterhouse will still carry out the necessary due diligence to ensure that the animals are free from any defects.
Our advice to the community is to consider ordering sheep for Qurbani to ensure the age requirement is confidently met. Whilst there may be some lambs that may be considered suitable, many will still be too young and not meet the age criteria for Qurbani. Hogg lambs that are over 6 months old and are considered large and look like a 1 year old will be available to order.
The time of slaughter for Qurbani is another critical condition for a valid Qurbani. Over the past several years, HMC has found sacrifices being carried out prior to the Eid prayer being performed or even the night before, resulting in all these sacrifices being invalid. All HMC certified sacrifices are supervised to ensure the slaughter takes place at the correct time and days. A unique qurbani stamp is applied to each compliant sacrifice so that we can correlate the carcass whilst making checks at HMC certified butcheries.
During the days of Eid, the number of visits we make to retail shops will be amplified to an average of 8 spot checks per week to ensure compliance to the HMC standard. This is 100% more than what is carried out in normal weeks.
A robust HMC team will also be present at each slaughterhouse to ensure that the sacrifices are carried out by a trained Muslim slaughterman, the animals are not stunned prior to slaughter and the rules of Halal slaughter are adhered to.
It is our understanding that not all parts of the halal food industry are formally regulated, and cases of food fraud often occur within this vast supply chain. We encourage the community to take care and make informed choices when placing their Qurbani orders by using trusted providers only. Â Please visit the HMC website via the link below to locate your closest HMC certified butchery.
Customers should also clarify with their butcher when placing their Qurbani order regarding the arrangements that are in place for receiving the by-products from their Qurbani animal.
If you require any further information as to how Qurbani takes place here in the UK and how HMC will be managing this process, please email us on info@halalhmc.org.
We wish the entire community an early Eid Mubarak and request that you remember us in your duas during these blessed days.
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HMC is the UK’s largest Halal certifying body, employing over 220 people. Last month alone, HMC staff spent 12,000 hours to ensure your food is genuinely Halal with 13,000 visits made to outlets nationwide. It is a registered charity and also a not for profit organisation. It is overseen by a voluntary body, the National Executive Committee that consists of mainly scholars who are the Trustees of the organisation. HMC has been set up to work in the favour of all Muslims and the consumer at large. HMC aims to regulate and at every point inspect Halal products from source to the consumer. HMC is committed to serving the Muslims and the wider community and it intends to provide peace of mind and security where required.
