A group of Australian anti-halal campaigners were left Friday wondering whether wine can be halal.
The administrators of the Facebook group “Boycott Halal in Australia” (BHIA) claim they were set up by an “infiltrator” who apparently tried to convince their followers that winery Jacob's Creek has halal certification.
“They are purposely trying to confuse us,” BHIA said in a statement issued to supporters via Facebook.
The statement was accompanied by a screenshot of what appeared to be one of their own previous Facebook posts, which stated:
“MEMBERS please investigate JACOBS CREEK! One of our members [LA] says... I have phoned Jacobs Creek customer service (…), they confirmed they are Halal certified. I explained to the nice young girl the reasons why I will not be purchasing their wine anymore.”
The post was accompanied by a photograph of the backs of wine bottles. All the labels featured large, clearly visible QR codes.
Many of BHIA's followers were quick to respond with outrage, though one commented, “I love it, wine is halal - how stupid do they think we are?”
However, not everyone was so sure.
“Im so confused..is jacobs creek halal or not? I know its alcohol..but the ingredients. My mind is totally confused right now,” one Facebook user wrote.
“No more Jacobs Creek Wine in our house ever again,” said another.
Some Facebook users criticized the BHIA's administrators themselves, with one stating, “Totally support the page and the boycott, but c’mon admin, you gotta start checking and double checking things b4 you post them on the page. This kind of thing has happened before.”
Amid the confusion, BHIA accused an organization called the “Sydney Islamic Discussion Group” of being behind the post, though some of their supporters pointed the finger at a satirical anti-hahal Facebook page.
Also calling itself “Boycott Halal in Australia,” the second Facebook page appears to be a parody of BHIA. Many of their Facebook posts include satirical claims, including a long running joke that QR codes are a Muslim conspiracy, and regularly referring to the official BHIA page as “ISIS.”
In one tongue-in-cheek post, the satirists stated, “If you scan a QR code it downloads the Quran onto your phone and at night it sends signals to your brain in Arabic. Then the next time you eat halal BAM you've been infected with Islam. It happened to my friends cousins father in law, so I know what I'm talking about.”
Truly, this is outrageous. BOYCOTT QR codes! pic.twitter.com/3YeTUbd89G
— Boycott Halal (@boycotthalalAUS)
April 10, 2015
As the confusion grew over at BHIA, the satirical Facebook page said the person who spread the claim that Jacob's Creek is halal certified wasn't an “infiltrator,” but a genuine anti-halal campaigner.
“The truth is that the member who alerted them to Jacob's Creek wine being 'halal' did so in good faith. She believed that the infographics made about QR codes being halal were true. This member has now disabled her FB account. No doubt she is horrified to be accused of being a Muslim plant,” they claimed.
They then accused BHIA of uncritically sharing the “misinformation” provided by the anti-halal campaigner with their thousands of Facebook followers.
“BHIA (ISIS) are the ones who chose to share the information on their front page with 70,000 members … I wish we could say that we did have a hand in it, but we didn't. This mess is 100% their own making,” they claimed.
The admin of the ISIS controlled page had a little too much wine with their bacon this morning.... pic.twitter.com/Eddu8EMx7P
— Boycott Halal (@boycotthalalAUS)
April 10, 2015
In an article trying to dissect the intrigue, Business Insider Australia's Simon Thomsen pointed out, “It's hard to know who's trolling who here,” but for the record, wine cannot be halal certified.
TeleSUR contacted Jacob's Creek to comment on this story, but no reply had been received at the time of publication.
RELATED: Muslims Face New Wave of Islamophobia Across Western World