HRS 1:2026 — Annex C

Ritual cleansing (taharah) procedure

Public consultation draft — draft v0.1 — issued 2026-09-07

This is a consultation draft, not an operative standard

The scheme described here is not yet certifying. No certificates have been issued and the Approved Supplier Register is not yet populated. Nothing in this document may be relied on as evidence of certification.

It is published for comment before it is finalised, because a certification standard that cannot be read by the people it governs is not a standard. Clause 12.2 commits us to publishing it; we would rather publish it early and be corrected.

Comments are invited until 2 November 2026. See How to respond. Passages marked ⚖️ are open questions on which we are specifically seeking views. Passages marked 📋 will be reconciled against OIC/SMIIC standards before issue.

This document is a scheme design. It is not a fatwa and does not purport to state Islamic law; questions of Shari'ah are for our Shari'ah Committee, whose rulings will be published with their reasoning.

Companion to HRS 1:2026 draft v0.2, clauses 6.1 and 6.5.

⚠️ This annex is incomplete by design. The operational procedure is drafted; the method of cleansing itself is a fiqh question this document does not and must not answer. Section C4 sets out the recognised positions for the Shariah Committee to rule on. Nothing in this annex may be issued before that ruling.

C1. When this procedure applies

Triggered when equipment, utensils, surfaces or storage within certified scope come into contact with:

Trigger	Class
Pork or any pork derivative	najis mughallazah — severe
Dog	najis mughallazah — severe
Alcohol (ethanol) as a beverage or ingredient	⚖️ classification to be ruled — see C4.3
Blood, carrion, or meat from an animal not slaughtered per the standard	najis
Non-compliant meat of an otherwise permitted species	najis

It does not apply to ordinary hygiene cleaning, which is governed by the establishment's food safety system, nor to contact between two compliant foods.

C2. Immediate response — before any cleansing

The order matters. Cleansing is the last step, not the first.

Stop. The Halal Supervisor halts use of the affected item and any process using it (HRS 1 cl. 4.1.1).
Isolate. Physically segregate and label the item. It does not re-enter service.
Quarantine downstream food. Any food that contacted the item is withdrawn and destroyed — it is not to be sold, served, donated, or given to staff. ⚖️ confirm disposal route
Assess reach. Determine what else the item touched: other equipment, surfaces, storage, product already served.
Declare. Notify us within 24 hours. Declaration is mandatory, not discretionary.
Record. Open a cleansing record (C5) before any cleansing begins.
Cleanse per the ruled method (C4).
Verify and release (C3).

Declaration is the whole point. An establishment that cleanses correctly but silently has concealed a contamination event, and we have no way to detect a pattern. Failure to declare is a Critical non-conformity even where the cleansing itself was faultless. This should be stated explicitly in HRS 1 cl. 6.1 — see C7.1.

C3. Verification and release

Cleansing witnessed and signed by the Halal Supervisor
Where the trigger was najis mughallazah, release requires our verification — by site visit or by dated photographic evidence at our discretion
Porous, scored, cracked or otherwise non-cleansable items are discarded, not cleansed: wooden boards, scored plastic boards, worn non-stick coatings, cloth, sponges, brushes, cork
Cooking oil and fat is always discarded, never cleansed (HRS 1 cl. 6.5)
The item returns to service only after written release

C4. ⚖️ The cleansing method — for Shariah Committee ruling

The recognised Sunni positions differ, and the operational and cost consequences differ sharply. The Committee must rule; this section states the options neutrally.

C4.1 For najis mughallazah (pork, dog)

Position	Method	Operational consequence
Shafi'i / Maliki (sertu)	Seven washes, one of which is with earth/clay (or a scholarly-accepted substitute), then rinse	Requires a defined agent, a defined procedure, a location where it can be performed, and staff trained in it. Slow. Auditable and unambiguous.
Hanafi	Removal of the substance by any effective means until no trace of colour, odour or taste remains — commonly three washes	Fast, fits normal kitchen operation. Harder to audit: "no trace" is a judgement, and a judgement made by the party with an interest in the answer.

Considerations for the Committee, not a recommendation on the fiqh:

Azerbaijan's Sunni population is predominantly Hanafi; the Hanafi position is the locally expected one.
The scheme's credibility with a regional and Gulf audience may be judged against the stricter position, which several export markets apply.
Whichever is ruled, the ruling and its reasoning must be published (HRS 1 cl. 12.4), because an unexplained method invites the accusation of laxity.
If Hanafi is ruled, the audit problem must be solved separately: define objectively what "no trace" means for a stainless surface, so that A7.3 can generate a finding rather than an opinion.

C4.2 For other najis

Washing with water until the substance and its traces are removed. Lower controversy; still requires a written method so it can be audited.

C4.3 ⚖️ Is ethanol contact najis?

Scholars differ on whether ethanol is intrinsically najis or prohibited to consume without transmitting impurity by contact. This ruling determines whether HRS 1 clause 7.2 is a hygiene and separation rule or a cleansing trigger — and therefore whether a Class B venue's glassware mix-up is a minor procedural lapse or a full cleansing event. The commercial difference is large.

C4.4 ⚖️ Istihala (transformation)

Whether chemical transformation renders a najis-origin substance permissible. Relevant to gelatin, glycerine, and some emulsifiers, and therefore to Annex D. The Wiley handbook records (Ch 15 §15.10.4) that some certifiers accept istihala arguments that others regard as unsound — specifically noting glycerine in soap as a contested case where the transformation is reversible. The Committee should rule on this in general terms before Annex D is finalised, otherwise Annex D will be decided case-by-case by whoever answers the phone.

C5. Cleansing record — required fields

Field
Record number, date, time of contamination
Item(s) affected; location
Nature of contact and how discovered
Food quarantined / destroyed — description and quantity
Downstream reach assessed — what else was touched
Date and time notified to us
Cleansing method applied; agent used; number of washes
Performed by / witnessed by
Verified by (us, where required)
Date released back to service, or discarded
Root cause and corrective action to prevent recurrence

Retained ≥24 months (HRS 1 cl. 5.3). Reviewed at every audit (Annex A item A7.3).

The last row is what turns a cleansing log into a control. Three cleansing events at the same station in six months is not three incidents — it is one unaddressed design fault, and the auditor should raise it as a Major systemic finding rather than three closed Minors.

C6. Training

Every kitchen employee shall be able to state: what to do on contact (stop, isolate, tell the Halal Supervisor), and that they will not be penalised for reporting it (HRS 1 cl. 4.1.1).

The Halal Supervisor shall be trained in the full procedure and be able to demonstrate it.

A cleansing procedure that staff fear to trigger produces a clean log and a dirty kitchen.

C7. Feeds back into HRS 1

Cl. 6.1 should state that failure to declare a contamination event is a Critical non-conformity, independent of whether cleansing was correctly performed. Currently 6.1 says contact "shall be declared" without attaching a grade. → fold into v0.3
Cl. 6.1 should require destruction of contacted food, and prohibit its diversion to staff meals or donation. Currently silent. → fold into v0.3
Cl. 7.2 may need a cleansing trigger depending on the C4.3 ruling.

C8. In preparation after the ruling

C-P1 Step-by-step cleansing work instruction, in Azerbaijani and Russian, for kitchen display
C-P2 Approved cleansing agents and, if sertu is ruled, the approved earth/clay specification
C-P3 Objective release criteria per surface type (stainless, plastic, ceramic, cast iron)
C-P4 Cleansing record form