Students and others at UAB will now have access to protein in accordance with their religious beliefs through a monthly donation of 800 pounds of halal chicken to the university pantry.
Nasim Uddin, Ph.D., president of the Birmingham Islamic Society and professor and director of the graduate program in the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering at the UAB School of Engineering, helps unload the halal chicken delivery to Blazer Kitchen.
Photography: Andrea Mabry
Thanks to the Birmingham Islamic Society, shoppers who keep halal now have access to fresh protein that meets their dietary needs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s on-campus pantry, Blazer Kitchen.
Muslim shoppers, including students, were starving themselves of protein rather than breaking their halal religious requirement. Lisa Higginbotham, head of the UAB Benevolent Fund, asked the community for help.
The Birmingham Islamic Society has answered the call by pledging to donate 800 pounds of halal chicken each month, made possible by donations from its members at a cost of $1,500 to $2,000 per month. The chicken is delivered by Magic City Harvest to Blazer Kitchen, where volunteers unpack the cartons and distribute the pieces in meal-sized bags, which are kept in a refrigerator reserved exclusively for this purpose.
Halal means “permissible” in Arabic and refers to food permitted under Islamic law. Halal food refers to any food that follows the guidelines and adherence to Islamic law. To be considered halal, animals must be slaughtered by a Muslim or a person of the book – that is, Christian and Jew – who pronounces a blessing. The animal must also be killed by hand, not by machine, while draining the animal’s blood completely – Muslims who eat halal do not consume the fresh blood of animals.
“One of the things we noticed was that we had a lot of shoppers who weren’t able to access the food, especially the protein, that they wanted, because of their beliefs. nuns,” Higginbotham said. “And we have been blown away by the contribution of the Birmingham Islamic Society and their commitment to working with us, to ensure that UAB students have access to halal food.”
Ashfaq Taufique, President Emeritus of the Birmingham Islamic Society, deals with outreach to the wider community. When the demand came to provide protein that met the Islamic requirement of halal, they jumped at the chance. They are also working to get volunteers to help pack and distribute this chicken.
Photography: Andrea Mabry“It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up, and thank God for the generosity of some members of our community,” Taufique said. “We have been blessed with more luck, and so it behooves us – it is our faith that compels us – to be generous to our community and to members of our community who may not be so fortunate. that we.”
Nasim Uddin, Ph.D., professor and director of the graduate program in the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering at the UAB School of Engineering, is president of the Birmingham Islamic Society.
“The Birmingham Islamic Society is on a mission to serve the underserved in particular, as well as any community that needs help,” Uddin said. “We have been very active over the past 30 years on all fronts to help people in need, so we are really pleased to have this type of program and would like to continue.”