At the invitation of His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), H.E. Dr. Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadhey, CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, visited the Headquarters of the Academy in Jeddah on Monday, 30 Jumada al-Ula 1443H, corresponding to 03 January 2022G.

His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy welcomed his esteemed guest, the CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority thanking him for accepting the invitation of the Academy, and praising the outstanding efforts made by the Authority at all levels. The Secretary General of the Academy also highly commended the fact that the decisions and recommendations made by the Academy are well received by the Authority, especially those decisions with regards to slaughter and halal issues of food, beverages, and drugs. This shows the keenness of the Authority’s officials to coordinate and communicate with the Academy as the highest Fiqh juristic reference point for the member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in scientific matters guiding the activities of companies and businesses working in the field of food and drugs in order to conform to the teachings of Islamic law.

His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy concluded his speech by considering the visit to be the beginning of a new page of close cooperative relations, promising partnership, and continuous coordination between the Academy and the Authority in the field of collaborative research, studies and organizing seminars, conferences, and workshops on various issues particularly related to food and drugs.

For his part, His Excellency the CEO of the Authority expressed his great thanks and gratitude to His Excellency the Secretary General for his warm welcome and hospitality, praising the leading role played by the Academy in the field of guidance for companies and institutions working in the field of food and drugs inside and outside the Muslim world in order to enable them to abide by the teachings and provisions of Shariah concerning these two areas. His Excellency also stressed the Authority’s keenness to abide by the decisions of the Academy and its recommendations in the area of slaughter and halal issues, believing that they are trustworthy and effective decisions as issued by scholars and jurists of the Ummah.

Given the new developments and rapid changes in the field of food and drugs, the CEO of the Authority observes that there is a need for the Fiqh to keep pace with those developments, trends, and changes in order to direct and guide. Accordingly, the two sides agreed to organize a specialized scientific seminar in February to study many of the latest methods, equipment and devices that are used in the field of halal slaughter of poultry.

At the end of the meeting, His Excellency reiterated his thanks to his Excellency the Secretary General, promising to send technicians to coordinate with the General Secretariat of the Academy on the details and modalities of organizing the proposed symposium.

The meeting was attended by: Dr. Abdul Qahir Mohammed Qamar, Director of Research and Fatwas Department, Mr. Abdullah Omar Al-Tamimi, Director of Conferences and Seminars Department, Mr. Adnan Al-Fehri, Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs Department, and Mr. Mourad TLiLi, Advisor to the Secretary General for Media and Public Relations.