In it, there was a claim made by an individual that her friend, who had been working at one of the stalls at the outlet in question, was sacked due to questioning the source of the meat and poultry used. The claim went on to say that the meat and poultry were allegedly supplied by "a Chinese old man", implying that the halal quality of the food was thus compromised.

I guess, the particular email spread like wildfire, creating a stir amongst the local Muslim community. Another individual went to check with MUIS whether the Banquet at Causeway Point had been issued with a halal certificate in order to clear any doubts and misconceptions that might have lingered on the minds of the Muslim community.

However, Allah works in mysterious ways and a representative from Banquet soon emailed a member of the public who had made a direct query with her. In the response email, she clarified that as soon as she received the alleged feedback (see above), she made an inspection at the directed stall. She also clarified that all meat and poultry came from halal-certified sellers and that the individual's friend who had made the allegation, had been sacked due to giving out free meals to friends and acquaintances.

So what can we derive from this? No matter what kind of email or news that we receive, we should always take care to investigate and verify its authenticity before we ourselves circulate it and risk being part of a frame-up unwittingly. Only when we ourselves have checked and are satisfied with the genuinity of the news, that we can go ahead and click on the "send" button.

Wallahu'alam bissowab.