Posted on 09/30/2007 7:06:50 PM PDT by Lorianne
MUSLIM supermarket checkout staff who refuse to sell alcohol are being allowed to opt out of handling customers’ bottles and cans of drink.
Islamic workers at Sainsbury’s who object to alcohol on religious grounds are told to raise their hands when encountering any drink at their till so that a colleague can temporarily take their place or scan items for them.
Other staff have refused to work stacking shelves with wine, beer and spirits and have been found alternative roles in the company.
Sainsbury’s said this weekend it was keen to accommodate the religious beliefs of all staff but some Islamic scholars condemned the practice, saying Muslims who refused to sell alcohol were reneging on their agreements with the store.
Islam states that Muslims should not consume alcohol, but opinion is divided on whether it is permissible to be involved in the sale of it.
Mustapha, a Muslim checkout worker at the company’s store in Swiss Cottage, northwest London, interrupts his work to ensure that he does not have to sell or handle alcohol.
Each time a bottle or can of alcohol comes along the conveyor belt in front of him, Mustapha either swaps places discreetly with a neighbouring attendant or raises his hand so that another member of staff can come over and pass the offending items in front of the scanner before he resumes work.
Some of the staff delegated to handle the drink for Mustapha are themselves obviously Muslim, including women in hijab head coverings. However, a staff member at the store told a reporter that two other employees had asked to be given alternative duties after objecting to stacking drinks shelves.
Mustapha told one customer: “I can’t sell the alcohol because of my religion. It is Ramadan at the moment.”
His customers did not appear to have any objection to his polite refusal to work with alcohol. One said: “I have no issues with it at all, it really doesn’t bother me.”
However, some senior Muslims were less approving.
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, director of the Muslim Institute and leader of the Muslim parliament, said: “This is some kind of overenthusiasm. One expects professional behaviour from people working in a professional capacity and this shows a lack of maturity.
“Sainsbury’s is being very good, they are trying to accommodate the wishes of their employees and we commend that. The fault lies with the employee who is exploiting and misusing their goodwill. It makes no difference if it is only happening over Ramadan.”
Ibrahim Mogra, chairman of the inter-faith committee of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said: “Muslim employees should look at the allowances within Muslim law to enable them to be better operating employees and not be seen as rather difficult to cater for.”
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s, confirming Mustapha’s stance, said: “At the application stage we ask the relevant questions regarding any issues about handling different products and where we can we will try and accommodate any requirements people have, but it depends on the needs of the particular store.”
They're just testing, and they laugh about it later when it succeeds.
Okay, that's probably not true. But in a way it would be funny if it were. :)
How about the nice big pork chops and ham?
LOL! Everyone run out to Sainsburys and buy pork loin, bacon, baby back ribs and a case of beer! Watch the place dissolve in chaos.
Yet Christian pharmacists are forced to dispense abortion and birth control medicines. We must not let this infestation take root in this country like it has in Europe.
I think you are on to something & I agree with you.
The UK is so far down the road of cultural appeasement that I’m starting to doubt if even the pubs will be open in ten years.
I wonder what would be the store’s reaction if their Baptist employees refused to handle alcoholic beverages on religious grounds?
or cough/ cold medication containing the evil alcohol.
I don’t drink. Haven’t for 10 years. But, if this happened to me, 1) Mustapha would check out my legal product, 2) Mustapha would lose his job, or, 3) Sainsbury’s would lose my business.
Then you put your bags in Achmed’s cab and he gets all verklempt about the booze and pigcicles and boots you out of that cab. Call the cab company and sent his ass packing for Pakistan, Dubai, Iran or wtf ever.
Really good point.
Simply fire their a$$, we have plenty of people to work.
can someone more enlightened than i am please explain to me the difference between a muslim who refuses to touch aluminum or glass because the contents inside contain alcohol, versus a (christian) physician or pharmacist who refuses to provide or fill a prescription for birth control or abortion ‘day-after’ pills on religious grounds ?
furthermore, what does the law say regarding this issue in the UK ? can a physician or pharmacist refuse to sell birth control or abortion pills on religious grounds ?
i’m completely ignorant on this topic with regards to the law...but i seem to remember reading somewhere that doctors and pharmacists in the United States were required by law to prescribe or fill all requests for birth control/abortion pills etc ? or do they just face sanctions from their professional associations if they do so ?
maybe grocers need professional associations.
more islamic nonsense, at any rate.
Too messy:
Raise your hands when you check my Jack Daniels through and I'll simply walk away from the cart and the store.
NHS staff told to eat away from desks for Ramadan
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1275192007
Bakery installs a Muslims-only toilet, despite the fact that no Muslims work there
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1902241/posts
Someone should infiltrate the local mosque and see if they compare notes.
“Guess what concession I got the infidels to make this week!”
Islamic workers at Sainsbury’s who object to alcohol on religious grounds are told to raise their hands when encountering any drink at their till so that a colleague can temporarily take their place or scan items for them.
So easy, the minute he raised his hand I would walk out, leaving everything exactly where it was.
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