New Jersey Legislature Approves Islamic Law.New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman has signed legislation to enforce Islamic food preparation standards. Whitman approved the law July 13 after the measure was passed unanimously by the New Jersey legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the U.S. state of New Jersey's legislative branch, seated in the New Jersey State House at the state's capital, Trenton. The Legislature is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the New Jersey General Assembly and the New Jersey Senate. . "Al Quran [the Koran] instructs Muslims to eat `that which Allah hath bestowed ... as lawful and good,'" Whitman said. Observant Muslims only eat meat killed under Islamic slaughter guidelines. The New Jersey legislature considered the bill after Riza Dagli, a Muslim attorney in Morristown, N.J., brought public attention to instances of restaurants falsely claiming to sell halal ha·lal Islam n. Meat that has been slaughtered in the manner prescribed by the shari'a. adj. 1. Of or being meat slaughtered in the prescribed way: a halal butcher; a halal label. food. The American Muslim Council The American Muslim Council (AMC) is an Islamic organization, ostensibly known as a charity.Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. The AMC was founded in 1990 by Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi with support of the Muslim Brotherhood. estimates that 400,000 Muslims live in New Jersey. Laws such as the New Jersey measure are of questionable legality. A similar statute in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of enforcing Jewish kosher kosher [Heb.,=proper, i.e., fit for use], in Judaism, term used in rabbinic literature to mean what is ritually correct, but most widely applied to food that is in accordance with dietary laws based on Old Testament passages (primarily Lev. 11 and Deut. 14). rules has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. In a July 28 ruling, U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon Nina Gershon (born 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is a federal district judge in the Eastern District of New York. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 at the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. struck down the state's Division of Kosher Law Enforcement. The division, a part of the state's Agriculture Department, examines retailers to ensure that food labeled as kosher has been prepared in accordance with the religion's requirements. "The entanglements involved here between religion and the state are not only excessive in themselves, but they have the unconstitutional effect of endorsing and advancing religion," Gershon said in Yarmeisch v. New York. The suit was brought by two Long Island butchers who had been following the kosher guidelines of the Conservative branch of Judaism, but were fined repeatedly for not adhering to the stricter Orthodox roles endorsed by the state government. |
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