Saahtain Foods' Tayyib Ready to Eat meals help feed Hajj pilgrims this year

Source: Saahtain Foods. Saahtain's Tayyib Ready to Eat meals made an appearance at this year's Hajj.

With temperatures in Makkah reaching 45 degrees Celsius this Hajj, fresh food cannot last long. The KSA Ministry of Health advises pilgrims to 'keep away from the uncovered food', going on to say that 'cooked food should be eaten immediately after cooking' and to 'avoid storing cooked food in buses for long when moving from one Hajj site to another. This is one of the major triggers of food poisoning during Hajj'.

One Makkah organisation saw the value of Tayyib Halal Ready to Eat meals by Saahtain Foods, which come in strong, safe pouches that can last up to a year even when exposed to hot weather. It distributed tens of thousands of the meals to needy pilgrims on the move. 

The move encapsulates the values in Saahtain Foods' philosophy of Feed Easy, Halal Relief. All Saahtain products are portable, accessible, sustainable and are produced entirely in the UAE. "We are humbled to be part of a solution to the challenges of feeding millions of pilgrims during Hajj. We will carry on innovating and providing solutions to Muslim travellers and those in need through continuous product development," says Zahra Mahmood, Director of Saahtain Foods. 'We take pride in the fact that we are the first and only manufacturer of halal and tayyib (Editor's note: natural) ready-to-eat meals in the Gulf region."

Saahtain Foods is based in the UAE. The company has also converted adhahi or sacrificial meat into meat-and-rice-based meals. Raw adhahi meat sent to Saahtain by those who sacrificed the animal has been cooked and processed into Ready to Eat meals. These meals are now sent to the needy all over the world, include European refugees in Serbia. 

Hashtags: #RefugeesWelcome, #tayyibmeals

Interested?

Read the Suroor Asia blog post on the introduction of Tayyib meals

Haj Committee of India shares don'ts for 2015 Hajj

The Haj Committee of India - whose website now has a .gov.in suffix - has recently released a number of circulars around the Hajj.

The committee has shared that items which are not allowed into Saudi Arabia include include khash-khash (poppy seeds), Viagra tablets, Cystone, a treatment for kidney stones; gutkha, a flavoured preparation that consists mainly of betel nut and tobacco; and Khaini, a type of chewing tobacco. Narcotics in any form, political literature, photographs, and all pornographic materials are also banned. The penalty for importing banned items can include life imprisonment and the death penalty.

The committee also translated a circular in Arabic from the Ministry of Hajj, Saudi Arabia, regarding activities that distract pilgrims from the focus of the Hajj, into English. According to the circular, Hajj Committees are requested to impress on pilgrims that they are to avoid propagandistic activities, distribution of printed or electronic materials and gatherings, or face the consequences of the law for the violations. 

The Haj Committee of India further announced that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the only body authorised by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform qurbani for Hajj pilgrims, has reduced the charges from  SR490 to SR475. As such, SR469 per pilgrim will be collected towards qurbani by the Haj Committee of India for Hajj 2015.

Need context?

Wikipedia entry on qurbani
Waiting list for Hajj 2015
Practical tips for Hajj (videos)
Full list of banned items

Adahi now has a mobile point of sale

The Saudi Project for the Utilization of Hajj Meat (Adahi), managed by Islamic Development Bank (IDB), has introduced the Adahi Mobile Point of Sale to make it convenient for Hajj pilgrims and others to purchase e-coupons for Hady, Fidya, Odhyia, Sadaqa or Aqeqa*.

Source: Adahi website.

"An e-coupon with the project name and logo along with the price will be printed and an SMS sent to the buyer to confirm the transaction,” the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, explained.

He further stated that the Project is designed to make it easy for pilgrims to perform the ritual by providing animals that meet all shari'ah and health requirements and by ensuring that the environment around the Holy Sites remains clean and protected. 

“Since its inception in 1403H (1983), the Project has managed to utilise and distribute more than 17 million livestock amongst the poor in Saudi Arabia and 27 other countries,” he said.

The IDB Group Chairman indicated that the Project’s website www.adahi.org is designed to enable individuals intending to buy sheep for Hady, Odhiya, Sadaqa, Fidya, and Aqeqa to do so with a credit card all year round, from any part in the world. The prices vary by the year. This year (1435, or 2014) a coupon will cost SR490 (US$131 or 98 Euros, according to the current exchange rate).

He also indicated that people can purchase the direct sale coupons from Saudi post offices, branches of Al Rajhi Bank, Al Amoudi foreign exchange bureaus, the Association of Charity Gift for Pilgrims, and the Way for Retail Techniques Company.

Dr Ali stressed that according to Royal Decree 131 of 15/6/1419H (5/10/1998), the sole institution authorised to sell Adahi coupons is confined to the Saudi Arabia Project for the Utilization of Hajj Meat. The IDB Group Chairman also emphasised that all the animals are inspected by veterinary doctors and shari'ah scholars to ensure that the animals meet all shari'ah and health requirements.He further shared that the Project has so far made provisions for 750,000 sheep and 10,000 cows and camels.

The Chairman commended the Project for enabling pilgrims to perform this rite with great ease and thus focus on other Hajj rites. He added that the Project helps to make the meat available to the relevant beneficiaries among the poor in Makkah, after which the surplus is distributed to the poor in 27 other countries.

According to the Adahi website, hady meat from last year's Hajj was sent to various countries in Africa, but also to Bangladesh and Yemen.

*Definitions

• Aqeqa or aqiqah is about a sacrifice made on the occasion of a birth.
• Fidya or fidyah refers to payments made if fasting is not done during Ramadhan.
• Hady or hadi is the sacrifice of a suitable animal in Makkah during the Hajj by pilgrims. It is carried out between 10 and 13 Dhul-Hijjah. 
• Odhiya or udhiyah, also called qurbani or korban, is the sacrifice of a suitable animal for Eid Al Adha by people who are not on Hajj. Some scholars say it is obligatory whereas others believe it is part of tradition.
• Sadaqa, or sadaqah, refers to charity.