Website provides Muslims with Halal food

12/17/2004 7:30:00 AM GMT

Source: BBC

A new website called zabihah.com has been launched to help Muslims find markets and restaurants with Halal products, prepared according to the Islamic law.

Shahed Amanullah, the owner of zabiha.com is strolling through the isles of Halalco, a supermarket in Falls Church, Virginia, that has Halal products.

"I'm looking for things that sort of meet my very broad palate," says Mr. Amanullah.

"I've got Halal-spiced sausage. I've got Persian yogurt drink, and I've got Indian chutney."

Although Mr. Amanullah was raised in California, his family is originally from southern India.

Growing up in California, Mr. Amanullah faced difficulty finding Halal markets. But he watched as the Muslim community grew larger in the U.S. over the years.

"About five or six years ago, establishments started popping up that were catering to the Muslim community," he says.

"And several friends of mine and I started to try to hunt them down, and look at them, and we were really excited when something would come up, and we would tell our friends about it.

"So I decided, wouldn't it be a great idea to establish a website to tell people about them."

And the result was zabihah.com, a website that provides the viewers with free, searchable listing of Halal markets and restaurants.

Zabihah is the Arabic word for "slaughtered".

Specially meat and poultry must be prepared in a particular way according to the Islamic law.

Halal food doesn’t include pork or alcohol of any kind. Also animals have to be slaughtered by a mature and pious Muslim.

Halal butchering avoids any cruel or unnecessary suffering on the part of the animal.

Zabihah.com invites readers not just to rate Halal markets, but also to verify their authenticity. People can actually speak with a restaurant's suppliers. "I want my readers to be the eyes and ears for all the rest of us," he says.

"Before the site, people used to just take it for granted that things were done in the proper way, but consumer tastes are becoming more discerning.

"They're demanding quality and cleanliness, they want to know if you've passed health inspections, all different kinds of things."

Sometimes Mr. Amanullah gets angry e-mails from owners of Halal markets and restaurants, complaining about bad reviews posted by people, and sometimes they even threaten lawsuits.

Zabihah.com has become popular among Muslim consumers, not just in the U.S.

The website now features listings from Muslim communities across Western Europe.

"The Muslim community in the West is a very internet-savvy community, and that's enabled them and empowered them to take the market into their own hands and make the best of it," Mr. Amanullah said.

Currently Mr. Amanullah's runs zabiha.com as a non-profit concern. Through advertising he gets the money needed to keep the website going.

Mr. Amanullah is now in business school, pursuing a Masters degree and wants to expand the site by adding more products and services, as well as including more countries.