Forged Halal Certificates Purportedly Issued To 2 Businesses, MUIS Reports Matter To The Police

5 Different Addresses Listed On Forged Halal Certificates, MUIS Finds No Halal-Certified Products For Sale

UPDATE (27 Aug, 6pm): Local butchery Aw’s Market has clarified that they are not in any way associated with Kak Mah Chicken and Joy Lap’s Kitchen, the two businesses whose names are listed on the forged halal certificates.

In a statement sent to MS News, Aw’s Market said the two entities had been involved in online scams. They reiterated that Aw’s Market is not involved in the halal certification forgery. “We do not claim to be halal-certified, and we are a meat and seafood retail and online butchery selling chicken, pork, beef, seafood and live seafood,” they added.

Aw’s Market is cooperating with the police over this case.

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When Muslims eat out, it’s important for them to know that the food they’re consuming is halal.

Halal certificates from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) help ensure that — but shockingly, forged ones have surfaced.

They were purportedly issued to two businesses with five different addresses listed.

MUIS has reported the matter to the police.

‘Halal certificates’ circulating over social media

In a Facebook post on Friday (25 Aug), MUIS said documents appearing to be halal certificates had been circulating on social media.

They were purportedly issued to two businesses. One “certificate” was for an establishment bearing the name “Kak Mah Chicken”.

The other one was purportedly for “Joy Lap’s Kitchen”.

Both documents list 5 addresses

In the field for address, both “certificates” listed the same five locations:

1. Block 294 Yishun Street 22, #01-317
2. Block 542B Serangoon North Avenue 3, #02-01
3. KINEX Mall, #B1-36
4. Westgate, #B2-01
5. New Tech Park (NTP), #01-22

While the five addresses correspond to five out of six retail stores of local butchery Aw’s Market, they have since clarified that they’re not involved in the halal certification forgery and do not claim to be halal-certified.

‘Halal certificates’ are forged, bear name of previous Mufti

MUIS said the ‘certificates’ were obviously forgeries.

One clue is that they bear the name and signature of the previous Mufti of Singapore, Dr Mohamad Fatris Bakaram, who retired in 2020.

The current Mufti is Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir.

Though the forgeries bear the name of Dr Mohamad Fatris, they supposedly expire on 30 Nov 2025.

MUIS finds no halal products on the premises

MUIS also inspected the addresses listed on the halal certificates.

They found no halal products on sale — that is, those that bear the familiar MUIS Halal Certification Mark (MHCM).

As they take such matters “very seriously”, MUIS has informed the police about it.

They advised consumers to verify an establishment’s status by checking the list of halal-certified establishments at www.halal.sg or Makan Places on the MuslimSG app.

Other telltale signs of forgery

A halal consultant told Berita Harian that besides using the name of the previous Mufti, the forged certificates had other telltale signs.

Firstly, each certificate usually indicates only one address — not several like the forgeries.

Certificates for different establishments should also have different serial numbers. However, the forged certificates have the same numbers even though they were for different businesses.

They also didn’t list the date of issue.

Lastly, the purported date of expiry is more than two years away. Real certificates tend to be valid for just one year.

Hopefully, nobody has fallen for the false certificates. Kudos to MUIS for responding quickly and reporting the matter to the authorities.

Also read: Woodlands Pasar Malam Stall Selling Pork & With Tudung-Wearing Employee Made No Halal Claims: MUIS

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Featured image adapted from Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) on Facebook.