Concerning the control of religious slaughter by non-worship organizations to provide meat as halal to the Portuguese market, And concerning the export to the Arabic and Muslim countries without any control or accreditation of any representative and competent institution representing the Muslim worship :

Considering the efforts of the representative and competent institutions of the Muslim worship community to claim their rights with regard to halal issues,

Considering the non-religious institutions’ approach does not meet with Muslim religious beliefs and Muslim slaughter of animals and its requirements,

Considering the rejection by the Portuguese authorities of the efforts of the representative and competent institutions of the Muslim worship,

Considering the relevance and the dangers inherent in this issue, Considering the need to avoid the spread of this approach to other countries,

Considering the leading scientific role of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in the area of halal issues, particularly after it issued two decisions with the participation of scholars from eight Islamic schools representing Muslim countries, [1]
Considering the International Islamic Fiqh Academy as a general religious reference,

Considering the decisions of the Islamic Summit of the OIC Congresses, and in particular, the remark that introduces the IIFA as the religious reference within the halal standards of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC),

And considering the solicitation of the IIFA by many halal stakeholders to resolve the issue :

Therefore, the General Secretariat of the IIFA with regard to his religious duty decided to write this fatwa to provide it to the halal stakeholders in Portugal and other countries :

Fatwa regarding the publication of halal standards by some countries without the supervision of Muslim religious bodies, and the practice of religious slaughter by their abattoirs without the religious control of any Muslim bodies and religious institutions of worship :

Praise to God, and prayer and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.

First : The halal is a religious and sovereignty matter for the Muslim Community.

Second : The stakeholders who are involved in the practice of religious slaughter must commit to respect the decision of the IIFA about the religious slaughter to achieve the Ad-Dhakat according to the religious requirements.

Third : In both Muslim and non-Muslim countries the halal production must be supervised by trustful religious Muslim bodies, and it must not be done without their control to ensure the compliance with the Ad-Dhakat, which must be practiced in the abattoirs according to the religious laws with respect to Ad-Dhakat.

Forth : The halal stakeholders, in particular those who practice the relevant and sensitive issues like religious slaughter, must commit to respecting the Muslim religious laws and to apply its ruling by their acts and behavior.

Fifth : The control societies that provide the halal certifications and the institutions of accreditation must be Muslim bodies that are owned by Muslims, and non-Muslims cannot be part of it neither as owners nor as directors.

Sixth : SMIIC (the normalization organization of the Muslim countries) will issue standards for the halal area that were established after great efforts, and that must be respected as they were carefully studied, and the secretariat of the IIFA recommends that they be used.

Seventh : Any other halal standards must be based on the Quran, the Sunnah and the Islamic laws of Fiqh as primary references.

And Allah knows best, prayer and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and who follow his teachers and comply with his religious laws up to the resurrection.