The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has confirmed in a series of tweets on Sep. 14 that Al-Afsana Restaurant located at Hougang Ave 8 is not Halal-certified.

This comes after doubt arose online about its Halal status as Quranic verses and "Indian Muslim Food" can be found on its signboard.

Not halal-certified

Here is the tweet:

To clarify, the restaurant is not Halal-certified and we are not processing any application from them.

Thus, we are unable to verify the ingredients that they use or if they have employed any Muslim staff.

— halalSG (@halalSG) September 14, 2020

MUIS also added that they are not processing any application from them.

However, they confirmed that the restaurant will be changing the signboard and removing all Quranic verses from the stall.

They also reiterate that having Arabic names or Quranic scriptures on the stall is not a confirmation that the stall is Muslim-owned.

MUIS reminded Muslims to be discerning when making food choices.

On that note, we would like to advise our Muslim friends to be discerning when making food choices, as food consumption is a personal responsibility.

— halalSG (@halalSG) September 14, 2020

"Very misleading"

Facebook page The Halal Food Blog took to the social media site on Sep. 12 to point out in a post that the store's use of Quranic verses on its signboard was "very misleading" as some would "take it for granted that the eatery was permissible".

Despite this, they added that "Halal is an individual responsibility", and individuals should make their decision on whether to "avoid" an eatery based on whether there is Halal-certification.

Halal-certified ingredients

The owner's (who recently passed away) daughter also recently clarified some details about the store and claimed that:

• Halal certificates can be produced for the ingredients used
• Her father "never made any claim that the restaurant was halal-certified by MUIS"
• Understood that "sometimes people get confused"
• The family has considered replacing the signboard with a different one without the Quranic scriptures.
• Family of the deceased owner will apply for halal certification once matters pertaining to the estate of the owner have been settled

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Top photo via The Halal Food Blog on Facebook