Guides
Plain facts for the moment you order.
Short guides for the places where most of the guessing happens: the counter, the sign in the window, the certificate on the wall, and the law in your state.
Each guide sticks to facts, and each fact names its source. None of them tells you what to believe. What is acceptable to you is for you and the scholars you trust to decide.
How these guides are written
Facts only, each with its source and the date we checked it.
No rulings. HCC does not say which methods or sources are acceptable in Islam.
No ranking of certifiers, and no business named as good or bad.
A fact shown to be wrong is corrected, and the page says when.
Four guides and a list
Pick the moment you are in
Read them in any order. Each one is short, and each one links to the next thing to check.
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At the counter
Five questions to ask at the counter
The same five questions HCC's checkers put to staff on every check, and what a clear answer sounds like.
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On the sign
Zabiha, certified and "halal" on a sign
What each word on a window or menu usually claims, what the law says about it, and what to ask next.
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On the wall
Reading a halal certificate
Who issued it, who and what it covers, the dates that matter, and how to confirm it is real and current.
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In your state
Your state's halal law in plain words
The ten states with a halal law, what each one asks businesses to post or tell you, and the states with none.
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Certifiers
Certifiers, explained
Certifying bodies working in the Southeast and nationally, each described in its own words and linked to its own public list. No rankings.
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The Register
Look up a place
A guide tells you what to ask. A record tells you what HCC checked at one place, when, and what the check does not cover.
What the guides do and do not do
Facts with sources, never rulings
Halal is a matter of faith, and Muslims answer some questions differently: how an animal is slaughtered, whether stunning is acceptable, which ingredients need a certified source. HCC does not settle those questions, on these pages or anywhere else. The guides tell you what words usually claim, what the law requires, and what a document shows, so you can ask better questions and decide for yourself.
- Say what a word, a law or a document says, with a link to where it says it.
- Give the date each fact was checked, because laws, lists and certificates change.
- Describe each certifier in its own words, in alphabetical order.
- Point you to the next thing to check: a record, a certificate, a person to ask.
- Do not rule on what is halal, or tell you which methods or certifiers to accept.
- Do not say that any food or any place is halal.
- Do not rank certifiers or name businesses as good or bad.
- Are not legal advice. A business with a legal question should ask a lawyer.
Putting it together
Before you eat somewhere new
Four small steps. None of them takes long, and you can stop at any one of them.
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Look it up
Search the Register by name and city. A record says what HCC checked, when, and what it does not cover.
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Read the sign
Notice the words the place uses, and who it names as its source. What the words claim.
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Ask at the counter
Ask one or two of the five questions. A calm, honest answer matters.
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Check the paper
If there is a certificate, read its name, scope and dates, and confirm it with the certifier.
Something did not match?
If a place that shows an HCC seal says or does something that does not match its record, tell us. You decide what the business may know about you.