Not likely going to get their moose

Muslim people in the province are interested in trying wild meat, but it has to be halal

Nathanael Sidharta
Kicker

Moose is a staple in Newfoundland and Labrador, but for Muslims in the province it’s unlikely they’ll ever get their moose.

Moin Imran is a communications student at Memorial University.

After trying camel meat in Saudi Arabia, he says he now wants to try moose.

“I’m also quite curious to see how moose would end up (tasting) to me,” said Imran, who is from Bangladesh.

“I’ve never tried moose in my whole life,” said Imran. 

Imran says there are a lot of people like him who want to try halal moose.

Muhammad Qureshi is a member Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. For the meat to be halal, Qureshi says, it has to be sacrificed in the Islamic way. And that way makes hunting a moose almost impossible. 

“God, or Allah, is the creator and he knows what is best for the human being,” Qureshi said. 

The blood, he says, carries impurities that must be removed before the animal can be consumed and considered halal. 

“We make sure that the blood is totally squeezed out of the body,” said Qureshi.

Even food like cheese must meet certain standards, he says. If cheese contains rennet, it is not halal because the enzyme comes from an animal’s intestines.

“If the animal is not slaughtered according to the Muslim rituals, we do not consume it.”

Halal means permissible in Arabic.

Mohammed Kasmi, the owner of Andaluzia Market in St. John’s, says in the Islamic religion, it is important for Muslim people to make sure the meat is halal before buying it.

“God is the greatest, that’s the two words we say before we cut the throat,” said Kasmi.

However, says Qureshi, the butchering does not have to be done by a Muslim.

“The animal has to be cut in the main artery before the animal breathes its last,” said Qureshi, who has lived in Canada for 24 years.

If the moose is shot with a bullet and dies immediately, he says it is not halal.

Halal meat is important, he says, because it is mentioned in the Koran, the Islamic bible.

Since moose are killed and dressed in the bush, this makes it impossible for the meet to be halal