FAST FOOD BY scott korb PHOTOGRAPHS BY liz barclay

ne late afternoon last June, a few hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, hair, ears, and weeks before the start of Rama- feet. The clothes you wear are supposed to be dan, with an hour remaining before clean, too. The stain on his shirt was a problem. Asr, ’s afternoon prayer, Imam The imam had begun the day with a prayer O Khalid Latif became suddenly aware at sunrise. Soon after, accompanied by a of blood on his shirt. Even though he was friend, he’d left New York City in a van headed on the road, he knew he would have to pray for a meat-processing facility in western soon but was not sure that he could. Maryland known as Simply Natural, about 250 Five daily prayers constitute a pillar of miles away. By one o’clock that afternoon, the Islam, and these prayers are to be done in a men had packed the vehicle with three hand- state of ritual purity. To this end, Muslims slaughtered steers and were headed back. wash before they pray, a preparation known as “Let’s not stop,” the imam had said some- wudhu that includes careful attention to the where along the way. Latif had no change of clothes. Anticipating the logjam on the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel, he started calling sheikhs for advice. After two or three calls, he reached Dawood Yasin, an imam from Berke- ley, California, and an avid bow hunter familiar with the mess involved in breaking down animals. After some con- sideration, Yasin had an answer. Drawing on a tradition of Islamic legal scholar- ship, he said, “For the butcher, the blood, it’s considered pure.” He then thought more. “Let me ask my wife, just in case.” The story ends in a sort of anticli- max. Traffic was light enough that Latif and his friend arrived at their desti- nation in time for a change of clothes. They had time not only to prepare themselves for prayer, but to unload the van, too. Still, after some debate between Sheikh Dawood and his wife, they’d come to an agreement: the prayer would have been permissible, although the sheikh seems to have overstated the case at first. The legal princi- ple in question doesn’t purify impure blood; it excuses the Muslim caught in a situation he simply can’t avoid. By profession, the butcher gets cov- In this spirit and with this story of the test is what makes it so vivid.” ered in blood. And the imam was now in mind, I spent a lot of time at Latif’s Visiting Latif’s shop throughout a butcher. Or, close enough—since butcher shop this past Ramadan, the month, a question took shape in March he’d owned a meat shop. Islam’s holy month, when Muslims my mind: What could make the fast refrain from all food and drink from more vivid for a Muslim—the month n the summer of 2010, I began sunrise to sunset. Like Dawood Yasin, more purifying—than living it in a chronicling the inaugural year of the scholars at Zaytuna College, and food store, offering recipes, wrap- Zaytuna College, the nation’s first Suhaib Webb, Khalid Latif has, over ping up burgers, and hearing custom- Ifour-year Muslim liberal arts school; the years, been a helpful guide into the ers talk of midday summer barbecues this is when I first met Sheikh Dawood tradition, specifically my understand- while you go without? Yasin. When, in April 2013, two broth- ing of Ramadan. So has the convert At thirty-two, Khalid Latif is rela- ers set off bombs near the finish line Rollo Romig, a Muslim writer who tively young for an imam, and shorter of the Boston Marathon, I collaborated has become a friend. Writing for the than he seems, a New Jersey native with Suhaib Webb, imam of New Eng- New Yorker about his first Ramadan whose family emigrated from Paki- land’s largest , on an op-ed for fast in 2012, Romig explained that, stan in the 1970s. He opened the the New York Times, where we argued unlike other religious fasting, this long store, Honest Chops, with three part- that the country’s mainstream Islamic month of long days is “intended pri- ners. They’ve since hired a few other institutions are essential to fighting marily for focus and elevation, not for employees. It’s the first whole-animal religious extremism. Though not Mus- penance and atonement. It’s not about halal butcher shop in the country. lim myself, I’ve come to see Islam as mortification of the flesh or other- After graduating in 2004 from New an increasingly significant—and often wise beating yourself up—Ramadan is York University, where I teach and misunderstood—influence on Ameri- really about developing new habits: of where the imam and I initially met, can civic life. thought, action, routine. The extremity Latif studied at Hartford Seminary’s

126 Lucky Peach Islamic Chaplaincy Program—also the job-training programs, a domestic vio- Latif told me about his own expe- first of its kind in the nation. His main lence shelter, and an Islamic school in rience that same summer in a meat work as a religious leader has been with Manhattan. These projects are likewise shop on Atlantic Avenue in Brook- the New York Police Department—in financially supported by a Muslim wed- lyn, a stretch of which is packed with 2007, he was named the city’s Muslim ding service and some Edible Arrange- Islamic and Middle Eastern markets. chaplain—and as the imam overseeing ments franchises. Latif was there with Anas Hasan, now NYU’s Islamic Center, an appointment The thought to open a whole- thirty, a partner in the shop who at the he’s held since 2005. animal butcher shop in the East Vil- time was working as a baggage handler His business partners at Honest lage came to Latif and his wife during for United Airlines and seeking some Chops are members of his congrega- Ramadan 2013. They had encoun- direction in his life. The pair was basi- tion, which is open to Muslims with tered problems getting halal food cally being ignored. “The butcher is or without an affiliation with NYU. they considered wholesome. One picking up huge slabs of meat,” Latif Twenty-five percent of the store’s variation of the story—a version told me, “and there’s a pile of meat in profits will go back into the Islamic of which Latif wrote as part of his the corner, about ten, fifteen feet away Center. Being a Muslim leader in this annual Ramadan reflections for the from him, and how it’s getting there country now often involves the cultiva- Huffington Post—has his wife “bewil- is, he’s picking pieces up from the box tion of Islamic institutions committed dered” at halal meat counters, where and throwing them against the wall. to social services, education, devotion, butchers try to sell her cuts she And they’re ricocheting against the activism, or the arts. Honest Chops hasn’t ordered, or aren’t familiar with wall into that pile. And it’s just building was founded, in part, to help fund the cuts she wants, or “cut the meat, up. Every few minutes he’s scratching pick up the phone, use the cash reg- his beard, rubbing his nose.” This meat ABOVE: Imam Khalid Latif; his butcher shop, ister, and blow their nose simultane- is halal, but the imam can’t bring him- Honest Chops. ously, all without gloves on.” self to bring it home.

Lucky Peach 127 Now, on the one hand, what or practicing Muslims, the Proper slaughter makes the ani- offended Latif could be seen as a basic Koran provides the basic prin- mals he kills halal. When they’re calm, lack of hygiene. Offensive to most ciples governing the lawfulness they’re said to have submitted to anyone. But from an Islamic perspec- Fof all things in the world and of . The attention this slaughter­ tive, the problem with the Atlantic all human activity. That’s a lot. The house pays to helps Avenue butchery—and “the stories book’s second chapter, Surat al-Baqa- ensure that the meat is whole- could go on and on,” Latif says—is rah (“The Cow”), includes this line: “It some, or tayyib. The day I visited, I that it lacks “real excellence,” or ihsan, is He who created for you all of that found three young steers Shakur had a word derived from a root in which is on the earth.” “He” is God, or slaughtered, all split right down the that denotes beauty, perfection, and Allah. Surat al-Jathiyah, the book’s middle and aging in the freezer. Two spiritual fulfillment. forty-fifth chapter, contains this: “And animals of about the same size— Ihsan is meant to be a constant He has subjected to you whatever is close to 650 pounds each—white fat pursuit for believers. To help out, Allah in the heavens and whatever is on over their flesh, had been raised and gives the believer a month each year, the earth—all are from Him.” These finished on grass; between them hung Ramadan, to focus; daily fasting is a lines are often interpreted as reveal- a huge grain-finished steer whose physical reminder of one’s spiritual ing the mercy of Allah, whose gifts to fat had turned golden. Latif had been commitments. Breaking fast with an humanity—“all of that which is on the assured that on the farms—both in evening meal, or iftar, relieves the earth”—are understood to be end- Maryland and in western Pennsylva- hunger and the thirst, but only tem- less. When Muslims invoke the name nia’s Amish country—all of Simply porarily, because it also prepares the of God with the refrain Bismillah ar- Natural’s animals are given room to believer for the following day’s hunger Rahman ar-Raheem, a phrase that roam and grass to eat (even if they’re and thirst. And breaking fast within opens all but one of the chapters of finished on grain). Taken together a community, which is often how it’s the Koran, they’re saying, “In the name with their eventual halal slaughter, done—at iftars prepared and served of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” these qualities are what bring Latif by volunteers, with food paid for For Muslims, just as the Koran all the way to Sharpsburg, Maryland, through donations—tells the Muslim presents God’s generosity and mercy for his beef. Honest Chops’s goal is to he is not alone in his daily pursuit. in establishing what humanity may bring the halal butcher shop up to the And yet, Latif’s encounter on Atlan- do and what on earth we’re allowed same standard as your modern-day tic Avenue suggests something else to use or eat, so too does the book artisanal meat counter. entirely. There’s no in-it-togetherness set limits on what God considers Shakur, whose daily task is known when the halal butcher shows neither lawful. All things are permissible, or as dhabihah, is forty-six and lives in you nor the animals he sells any of the halal, unless they’ve been identified Hagerstown, Maryland. He is stout, sympathy Islam calls him to. And it’s a by God as forbidden, or . He black, with close-cropped hair and a real shame. Not doing one’s best dur- says no pork. No carrion. No booze. white-fringed beard. He has the word ing Ramadan is to miss the opportu- No blood that gushes forth from an khari tattooed on his right hand, pre- nity Allah has provided for believers animal. Adherence to these distinc- sumably from a time before he became to focus on elevating—even perfect- tions shapes the moral life. And in the a Muslim; according to the — ing—their lives. For Latif, opening a moral universe of the , the tradition of words and acts of the butcher shop is about taking what halal where an overwhelming majority of Prophet—tattoos are haram. Shakur can mean—meat thrown across the halal animals in this country become took the shahadah (declared him- room, swarming flies, a stench, careless haram when they’re shot with a cap- self a Muslim) during Ramadan 1995. cuts—and trying to elevate it. Make it tive bolt pistol, a blessing and a sharp He’d been reading literature sent by better, more wholesome, more pure. knife make all the difference to the an incarcerated brother. Still, he told Can what Allah has deemed permissi- Muslim. For Latif, a little more mercy me, “When I accepted Islam, I didn’t ble be made more perfect? As a time set would make a greater difference still. understand Islam. It took me years apart from the rest of the year, Rama- A convert named Abdush Shakur and years and years and years to get dan presents this possibility as a chal- slaughters goats and lambs and chick- it. I was a Muslim, but I wasn’t act- lenge and confronts the believer with ens and steers for Simply Natural in ing in accordance with Islam all the the potential for a human to become a low, white concrete building where time until maybe ten years ago, when I more perfect—better than he is. he and I met in late July. I asked how devoted my life to Islam.” his Ramadan was going. “Alhamdulil- This was about the time he Right: David Hurtado cuts meat; Anas Hasan lah,” he said. All praise is due to Allah. left his work as a carpenter and is the face of Honest Chops. “I can’t complain.” electrician and started killing animals

128 Lucky Peach Lucky Peach 129 in the name of God. Moving from studying Ryan Farr’s Whole Beast cut to order—fulfills what Dr. Umar Washington, D.C., in 2004, he found Butchery—yet he’s maintained his Faruq Abd-Allah, a well-regarded work through his brother-in-law part-time work at the airport for the scholar from Chicago, has called the in a halal slaughterhouse elsewhere perk of free travel. “cultural imperative” within Islam. in Washington County. He found Behind the counter, Hasan is Looking back through history and in his colleagues a model of how cheery, a glad-hander without the across the world, Dr. Umar says that, to live. “I see the way these people smarm. People recognize him on the “In China, Islam looked Chinese; in move, the way they act, and as I read street, and he recognizes them. There Mali, it looked African.” In the East the Koran and the ,” Shakur is a mosque a few blocks away, but Village in 2014, Islam should look explained, using the Arabic term for most of his customers, he says, are like the East Village. And as dealers the normative way of life for the not Muslim. A shingle hangs out front in meat, the proprietors of Honest Muslim, as transmitted by the hadith, of the store reading halal butcher, Chops must reflect a culture whose “I started seeing that it coincided but Hasan explains that for most pas- growing disgust at industrial farm- with what they were doing.” Those sersby a different sign above the lintel ing has reshaped the moral universe slaughterers revealed to him what it and a sandwich board on the side- of the farm, the slaughterhouse, the looked like to be a Muslim. “It was by walk make the more impressive argu- butcher shop, and the kitchen. the grace of Allah that Allah allowed ment for shopping here: all-natural Over the centuries, Dr. Umar me to go there,” he told me. He also chicken, grass-fed beef, locally argues in a widely read 2004 essay, said it was an accident. sourced. The shop is making no obvi- the advantages for Muslims of follow- These days, now at Simply Natu- ous effort to convert non-Muslims to ing this cultural imperative have been ral, a smaller operation, when there Islam. But the door is open in other profound. “The religion,” he writes, are animals in the barn out back, he ways and for other reasons just as “became not only functional and famil- shares the slaughter floor with a USDA central to the faith. iar at the local level but dynamically inspector named Alan. This is solitary Customers on Atlantic Avenue engaging, fostering stable indigenous and tiring work, particularly dur- buy meat from the halal shop Latif Muslim identities and allowing Mus- ing the Ramadan fast. One at a time, described because they have to; those lims to put down deep roots and make animals move from the barn through shoppers are Muslims in search of lasting contributions wherever they an alley into a “squeeze chute,” their food that is permissible to eat. The went.” Honest Chops is already talking shoulders forcing a gate around their shop owner can get away with throw- about franchises and the possibility of necks as they step forward. When the ing meat across a room only if he running their own abattoir; they seem steer is in this position, and it’s calm, doesn’t really want outsiders to come to believe in both broad engagement Shakur will recite the words “Bismil- in. For Honest Chops, the impulse is and carving out a place for oneself. lah Allahu Akbar”—in the name of clearly different. The inspiration may To take root, their Islam recommends Allah, God is great—and then he’ll still come from Brooklyn, but it’s the both things in equal measure. kill it with one pass of a sharp blade Brooklyn of whole-animal butch- through the jugulars, the windpipe, ery and farm-to-table cuisine. In amadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, and the esophagus. It’s preferable if this way, it’s American Islam with- the Feast of Breaking the the knife remains hidden from view out other apparent kinds of eth- Fast, which Latif and his until the slaughter. “One thing about nic attachments. Of course, a broad Rcongregation celebrated on Muslims,” he explained, “is that we try appeal in an increasingly prosper- Monday, July 28. In the spirit of to remember Allah all the time. Doing ous neighborhood is better for busi- engaging with the community at this type of work—halal killing—it ness, and building a strong busi- large, and because their own space makes you remember Allah because ness benefits the partners while also for worship had grown too small to you glorify all day. Even with the feeding the Islamic community and suit their needs, they arranged for kills—you’re glorifying Allah all day.” institution they all belong to. But it morning prayers and a brunch to take also reflects a much more expansive place in Judson Memorial Church, a onest Chops is set below street sense of Islamic mercy than we find in Christian congregation with its own level on Ninth Street in New the shared sympathy of the Rama- long history of public engagement, York’s East Village. Since open- dan fast, the fellowship of an iftar, or including opening its doors to Occupy Hing this past spring, Anas even the establishment of a school for Wall Street protestors evicted from Hasan has become the de facto face Muslim children. Inviting others in Zuccotti Park following a police raid of the store. It’s given him direction and serving them what they want—in in November 2011. and focus—this Ramadan he was this case, well-raised organic meats, When I arrived outside Judson the

130 Lucky Peach Lucky Peach 131 fast. The month had been an oppor- tunity for them to practice doing their best. But Ramadan was now over. And before he let them go— back into their pre-Ramadan lives and routines, their old thoughts and actions—Latif wanted to remind them of what they’d all just been through, and why. “Carry forth with you what you have taken from Ramadan as a starting point,” he said. “And let con- sciousness and mindfulness be the criteria by which you move forward.” Doing so, he said, means making one’s particular life more perfect, continuing in the spirit of Ramadan even after it’s gone, and then show- ing up for those around—Muslim or not—so that their lives may be morning of Eid, the line of those wait- flowing golden robe and head covering, improved. “We will not benefit from ing to be admitted extended along he positioned himself at the head of the blessing that is uniquely you if Washington Square South and around the congregation at a spot near the you are not here for us to be able to the corner, far down Thompson Street. back of the sanctuary, so that the take benefit from it.” A little after nine, when the doors worshippers would be facing . The community, he said, was opened and the crowds began stream- “Sisters,” he said, “I don’t mean moving in different directions. ing in, each worshipper was handed a this in an offensive way, but can Continuing to build. “But there is still plastic deli bag for his shoes. Attend- you move backwards?” There was a lot of work to be done,” he added. ees had been asked to bring their own some movement. “Pray really, really “And we want to build something that prayer rugs, and as they entered they close to each other,” he encour- reaches its pinnacle and its best, and formed rows of men toward the front, aged. “If you need to make sajdah”—­ when that’s done we want to keep women in the back. The 2,000-square- prostrations—“on someone’s back, building and keep growing.” Here was foot sanctuary, plus the balcony, began it’s permissible,” he said. the relentless striving toward ihsan. filling up quickly. In most I’ve All the while, the sound of the There is a free clinic in the works, been to there’s at least a narrow walk- Eid , a sung pronounce- and the shelter for women who face way separating the men and women. ment of God’s greatness—“Allahu violence at home. Honest Chops was This was not the case at Judson. Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar”—­ part of the growth and had also paid For Eid, Honest Chops had sup- murmured through the hall. into the kitty. plied the caterer with meat for chicken Eventually everyone would make it Latif’s prayers went on. He called tikka, which would be arranged in in, piling into the sanctuary, the bal- to Allah. The congregation’s ameens warming pans alongside rice, chick- cony, three staircases, a foyer, and a tumbled after in call-and-response. peas and beans, flatbread, fruit, and lower-level hall. The crowd, including And Latif remembered: “There are the sweet semolina dessert, halva. many small children, reached nearly people in this world, they will not have Sweets, in particular, are a traditional two thousand people. Latif’s prayers food to eat in celebration of this day of part of the Eid celebration—a unique and his sermon were broadcast over a Eid.” All of us would. “Ya Allah,” he said, day for Muslims when fasting is not cell phone into the basement; a mem- “grant them and their loved ones and allowed. Someone had donated boxes ber of the congregation would relay all of us the best of meals in the world of Dunkin’ Donuts. There was a mas- the start of each new prayer cycle into beyond this one.” sive container of organic dates. the stairwells in a game of long- Ameen. Filling the church took most distance Telephone. The imam looked over the congre- of an hour. Latif, who would lead For a month, these men and gation. “Make this a blessed day for all the celebration, worried aloud about women had lived in the shared sym- of you; feel free to hug each other. We the crush of families. Dressed in a pathy and the vivid fellowship of the have brunch after.”

132 Lucky Peach