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.”
Nobody is FORCED to do anything . If those things bother you then DO NOT TAKE THAT TYPE OF JOB. That make sense but i guess asking the world to make sense is asking way way way too much.
My sentiments exactly. I was thinking along the line of denial of service. Everyone should go in there at once and buy one can of beer. Go back and get wine. The entire place would dissolve into chaos of their own making. What a hoot!
I believe it is true.
I’ve been saying that the Muzzies have been laughing at our collective stupidity for years now. More of them have come here since 9/11 than any time before . That alone has to make them laugh at us.
So it's okay to insult the customer? The employee is more important than the consumer? Screw that! Let's see how business goes with bigoted employees and no customers.
Try reading G.K. Chesterton's The Flying Inn, first published in 1914, for more on this.
Cheers!
“We must not let this infestation take root in this country like it has in Europe.”
It’s already started with Muslim employees of Target stores refusing to handle pork products.
http://www.buzz.mn/?q=node/898
Plus cab drivers refusing to carry passengers who have alcohol, and refusing passengers with seeing eye dogs. Some of these have been accommodated, and we also have the installation of foot baths at various public places.
They have told us in no uncertain terms that the plan is to infiltrate us and make Islam dominate th eworld. I cant see why most people don’t see the obvious. They are spitting in our faces and in the name of being politically correct we go along with it.
Reminds me of our Lancaster Amish who can, for instance, run a wheeless weedwacker, but not a wheeled pushmower.
foot baths = pork rind storage bins.
yea, except the Amish keep to themselves and are not trying to take over the world.
IMO, events like these allow radicals in the Islamic community to make inferences regarding how deeply the British believe in their own values.
When Islamic radicals see appeasement, special treatment and backpedaling every time a moderate Muslim asserts his or her identity, they might — rightly IMO — conclude that the British don’t believe in their own values enough to stand up for them.
I wish I could agree with you buddy. The next attack will be blamed on Bush , the Republicans and America in general.If it happens before the 08 elections it will be said it was an attack planned by America on itself to ensure Republican victory.The Muzzies will cry out that we racist are going after them . They will have the ACLU , Columbia University , Code Pink types protecting them to the bitter end.Even another attack won’t wake up most people to the fact that we are at war and our survival is at stake.
Touche, Mr. Mackey, touche.
If your right, and it doesn’t change; I doubt the UK will even be around in ten years.
The Hindu employees might be offended by all the beef in the store.
The Jews - the pork.
The Buddhists might be offended by ALL the meat in the store.
The Christians might refuse to sell the “pornographic” magazines & CDs on the shelves.
The muzzies - they’re probably offended by ALL of it.
So, why would you choose to work in a place that offends you so much? Or shop there? Or even pass near there, knowing the disgusting & forbidden things within?
And how is a manager to manage such nonsense?
Sainsbury’s needs to understand the phrase “slippery slope”.
The ACLU, Columbia University, Code Pink types, etc. are going to act as human shields for the terrorists and their enablers? I doubt that. There aren’t that many Rachel Corrie’s out there, I don’t think. http://www.rachelcorrie.org
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