Agenda

2. Agenda • Introduction/Who We Are • Need for Certification • Our Hope/Vision • Our Criteria • Certification Procedure • Everyone’s Support is needed • Open Question & Answer

3. Introduction • President, Co-Founder – Haariss Ilyas • Vice President, Co-Founder – RiyadHaq • Senior Academic Specialist – ShaykhMinhajuddin Ahmed • Chief Financial Officer – Maher MahmoodChFC, RFC

5. Exclusive Contract

6. Background Understanding the Sunnah Method • “None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves himself.” Authentic Hadith in Bukhari • Quran (21:107) “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” • Quran (3:31). Say: "If you do love Allah, follow Me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.”

7. Our Mission • STL Halal is pending 501(c)(3), registered not-for-profit organization designed to serve the Muslim consumers and businesses in the greater Saint Louis area by bringing transparency to the Halal supply chain. We seek to certify those businesses whose foods conform to the Islamic regulations stated in the Quran and the Sunnah, working under the close supervision of contemporary and traditional scholars. • Our goal is to provide Muslims with security and peace of mind in choosing Halal eating options. Through our certification process, we hope to remove any doubts and suspicion placed on Muslim businesses and consumers, hence uniting the Muslims in the greater Saint Louis area. • Halal Education across the Greater Saint Louis area.

8. Why We Need Certification • Examples from the Salaf • Establishing a Halal Presence • Masjids, Schools, Banks, etc. • “ …a man who has travelled on a long journey and is dishevelled and covered with dust; he stretches forth his hands to the heaven, (saying) “O Lord, O Lord”, but his food is haraam, his drink is haraam, all his nourishment is haraam, so how can his du’a be accepted?” [Narrated by Muslim]

9. Problems in the Field • Machine Slaughter • “People of the Book” not saying Bismillah • Vertical Cut • Death by Electrocution/Stunning

10. Our proposed solutions • Recitation of Bismillah • Muslim Slaughterer • Appropriate Vessels cut • Animals handled appropriately

11. Our Academic Resources • Why Halal Matters? • Our Technical Standards • Evidence for Halal • What the Classical Scholars Said • What the Contemporary Scholars Say • Mechanical Slaughter • "People of the Book" • Can we Just Say Bismillah?

12. Sources of Academic Resources • the Quran • the statements: • of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), • the Sahaba (Companions), • the Pious Predecessors (Salaf-us-Saliheen), • the Classical Scholars (from the first 1300 years of Islamic scholarship), • Today's Contemporary Scholars. • Universally Accepted Criteria of Halal

13. Our Hope/Vision • Presence of Seal & Logo • Unite the Muslims on what is universally regarded as Halal • 2 main purposes:

14. Official launch of our website!

15. Certification Process

16. Certification Process (cont.)

17. Everyone’s Support is needed • Raising awareness of STLHalal by mentioning it to other Muslim consumers, businesses, and community leaders. • Encouraging vendors to seek Certification by asking them if they are Certified by STLHalal. • Assisting financially by writing a check to STLHalal • Joining Our Team. Positions needed: • Committee Members of Publicity & Marketing (10-15 members) • Committee Members of Monitoring & Inspection (10-15 members) • Director of Publicity & Marketing • Director of Monitoring & Inspection

18. Thank you for your support!

19. Questions and Answers