The Council's rejection on Thursday was in response to a Gauteng-based group, Scholars of the Truth, whose lawyer Zahir Omar had warned Muslims that the slaughter was not properly done.

The group filed an application in the Gauteng High Court last month to challenge the MJC and the SA National Halaal Association's (Sanha) halal certification of chicken.

Muslims make up about two per cent of the country's population and for many chicken is a favourite dish, reports IOL.

South African chickens, red meat and products certified halal are exported in large quantities to Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.

At the heart of the dispute was whether chickens were being slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.

There are different schools of thought on the issue, but the MJC said on Thursday that chickens it has certified as halal are slaughtered in accordance with the school of thought that was not its [MJC] own but another which covered all the other's requirements.