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.”

 

Source: Sunday Times

In the religion that I was born into, I'm not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. If I wanted to be really extremist about it, I could also refuse to handle meat on Fridays. I wonder if they would also make allowances for me if I worked there ?? I doubt it.

 

It parts of the job. If they can't do the job they should find one that is more to their lifestyle (and religion is a lifestyle choice as far as I'm concerned)

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 200717 yr by Naomi Watts

It's entirely up to Sainsbury's. If they are willing to do this to accommodate some of their Muslim staff then let them. OTOH, if an employer takes the attitude that handling alcohol is part of the job, that's fine too.

Frankly, I find this utterly bizarre.. Living in London, just about every small shop and offie I go into is run by Turkish or Bangladeshi people, they ALL sell alcohol and have no problems doing so. I myself know quite a few Muslim people working in supermarkets who are pretty devout and see no contradiction in just selling it... Sainsburys are indulging a bunch of awkward gits looking to cause trouble if you ask me, there is absolutely NOTHING in the Quran that says selling alcohol is prohibited by the religion, only consumption... People like this lot give ordinary Muslims a bad name and it stokes the fires of anti-Islamic feelings even further....

........but its the STORE selling it, not the check-out person. this is riddiculous, they KNEW what the job entailed when they applied for it. im not bothered about anyones sex, religion, politics, ... they took the job on, they cant now be expected to change the principals of it!

........but its the STORE selling it, not the check-out person. this is riddiculous, they KNEW what the job entailed when they applied for it. im not bothered about anyones sex, religion, politics, ... they took the job on, they cant now be expected to change the principals of it!

 

Exactly, and like I say, in all those Asian-owned businesses, the small shops that are near me, most of them are owned by Muslims (it's easy to tell when you see the word "Halal" written outside the shop, so I aint just making lazy assumptions...), THEY HAVE NO ISSUES WITH SELLING ALCOHOL.... So, if the shops owned and run by Muslims have no apparent issues with it, then why are these handful of trouble makers stirring up sh!t in NON-Muslim run businesses....?

 

Exactly Scott

 

My corner shop is owned by a Pakistani family, they are muslims and they also sell beers, wines and spirits at this place and it is not a problem to them even though they are muslims

 

If these people at Sainsbury's are unwilling to handle the products that they are employed to sell then they should be ordered to find alternative employment

If they don't like it why work there?

 

It's like me saying oh I worked in a pub but I'm going to stop serving beer cos it's against my religion, what $h!t don't fukking work there then. I'm fed up with them I really am sick to the back with them.

Any employee has a right to ask for a change in their conditions of work. An employer has the right to refuse the request if they think it's unreasonable. If they think it's OK, they can agree to it.

 

That is what has happened here. I'm not saying I would necessarily have made the same decision but a lot of the criticism here seems grossly OTT.

Any employee has a right to ask for a change in their conditions of work. An employer has the right to refuse the request if they think it's unreasonable. If they think it's OK, they can agree to it.

 

That is what has happened here. I'm not saying I would necessarily have made the same decision but a lot of the criticism here seems grossly OTT.

 

I question why they even asked for it in the first place though mate... There is NOTHING in the Koran that prevents a Muslim from selling, only from imbibing as the tens of thousands of Muslim owned and run small businesses which sell alcohol atests. I know of plenty of Muslims who work in Burger King, McDonalds, etc, and they seem to have no problems serving up NON Halal burgers. I believe in EQUALITY, not SPECIAL TREATMENT.... Why should customers have to face delays at checkouts while a supervisor runs off and gets another staff member to serve behind the till...?

I'm not waiting in a bloody queue while the cashiers do a switch over just because someone's got a bottle of wine in their trolley. Totally ridiculous. Supermarkets sell alcohol. If it's against your religion to handle alcohol then don't apply for a friggin job there! End of. -_-

I'm not waiting in a bloody queue while the cashiers do a switch over just because someone's got a bottle of wine in their trolley. Totally ridiculous. Supermarkets sell alcohol. If it's against your religion to handle alcohol then don't apply for a friggin job there! End of. -_-

 

The point is though, it actually isn't against their religion to sell alchol, only to consume it.... This is basically a very small group of trouble makers stirring up sh!t with an incredibly reductive and totally false misreading of their own religion..... The tens of thousands of Muslim owned businesses that DO sell alcohol is proof of this....

 

 

 

Yip. It certainly doesn't stop my local corner shopkeeper selling alcohol to all and sundry.

 

It's the same with all the Godbothering types in any religion. You always get a group who put a very strict interpretation on the scriptures (just look at the Wee Free). But in my opinion the rest of society shouldn't be pandering to these types. Put up or shut up.

 

 

OK, let's try again. If I had to make the decision, I think it would have been a little different. I may well have aloowed shelf-stackers to choose not to fill the alcohol shelves. This request could be accommodated fairly easily without any disruption to customers.

 

However, I would not have given the same concession to check-out staff as it is disruptive - even if only slightly. An alternative solution would have been to have a sign at certain check-outs stating that alcohol cannot be bought there. Before you say that's daft, it happens in Ireland where staff under 18 cannot sell alcohol.

 

Having said that, I would probably have refused to make any concession to check-out staff - partly because of fears that, for instance, Jewish staff might refuse to sell pork and bacon.

 

Of course a lot of Muslims are perfectly happy to sell alcohol. But don't forget there are restaurants run by Muslims where you can't buy alcohol but you can bring your own wine. Most of us are happy to accept that - even if it is partgly because it's cheaper to buy wine in a supermarket / off-licence than in a restaurant.

 

Finally, if the manager had refused all requests from Muslim staff regarding the handling of alcohol, I would not have criticised him / her. It's up to the manager to make the decision. I would have made a different decision but that doesn't mean I think the manager made the wrong decision.

Oh this is pathetic. Ok it's their religion and all, but if they know for a fact (and they do know) that they would have to handle bottles of alcohol/wine, then stay away from the job and find a job that dosnt involve it.

OK, let's try again. If I had to make the decision, I think it would have been a little different. I may well have aloowed shelf-stackers to choose not to fill the alcohol shelves. This request could be accommodated fairly easily without any disruption to customers.

 

However, I would not have given the same concession to check-out staff as it is disruptive - even if only slightly. An alternative solution would have been to have a sign at certain check-outs stating that alcohol cannot be bought there. Before you say that's daft, it happens in Ireland where staff under 18 cannot sell alcohol.

 

Having said that, I would probably have refused to make any concession to check-out staff - partly because of fears that, for instance, Jewish staff might refuse to sell pork and bacon.

 

Of course a lot of Muslims are perfectly happy to sell alcohol. But don't forget there are restaurants run by Muslims where you can't buy alcohol but you can bring your own wine. Most of us are happy to accept that - even if it is partgly because it's cheaper to buy wine in a supermarket / off-licence than in a restaurant.

 

Finally, if the manager had refused all requests from Muslim staff regarding the handling of alcohol, I would not have criticised him / her. It's up to the manager to make the decision. I would have made a different decision but that doesn't mean I think the manager made the wrong decision.

 

 

nope, sorry i just dont agree. as scott says, it ISNT against their religion therefore they dont have a leg to stand on. and if it was, why apply for a job that you couldnt do?

 

ive only been in indian restraunts that dont sell alcohol not because of any religious reasons, but simply because they havnt got a drinks license. (it being not financially viable)

But how big an issue is this?

 

How big a problem is it?

 

It is just like the 17 year old cashier on a Saturday who has to ring to sell me my bottle of wine....... doesn't cause a fuss just someone else scans it.

 

 

But how big an issue is this?

 

How big a problem is it?

 

It is just like the 17 year old cashier on a Saturday who has to ring to sell me my bottle of wine....... doesn't cause a fuss just someone else scans it.

 

Hurrah, I agree with someone. It isn't a big deal so why make such a fuss?

I think it's overly pedantic.

 

It's not as if they have to drink the alcohol :rolleyes: If they can't handle a job where they have to, god forbid, touch alcohol bottles (:o) then they shouldn't be in that job.

 

It just seems like they use their religion to try and get attention. They're always moaning how the 'British' side of Britain don't intergrate, yet they go out of their way to try and be difficult and show-off.

 

I feel sorry for Sainsbury's. They're good enough to make allowances for these religions, because if they didn't they'd be accused of being 'racist' :rolleyes: - yes this is clearly going to p*** off their customers as it's going to consume more time for the customer.

 

They'll end up doing 'no alcohol' checkouts, where Muslims work :rolleyes: - which takes me back to the point about them wanting everyone to integrate.

 

-_-

It is just like the 17 year old cashier on a Saturday who has to ring to sell me my bottle of wine....... doesn't cause a fuss just someone else scans it.

 

Totally different story.. By the laws of the land he's not allowed to because he is under 18, totally different than some overly-pedantic, false interpretation of a religious edict....