This joke is not halaal

The SA National Halaal Authority is not laughing.

Soon after comedian Simmi Aref , 25, used an amended version of the Islamic authority's logo on a poster to promote his debut show, Strictly Makrooh , he received a lawyer's letter .

What's landed him in hot water is his replacement of the word "halaal" with "haha-laal" and rewriting the organisation's acronym as "Simmi Areff National Ha-ha-laal Authority".

The Wits journalism graduate was hit with a fiercely worded legal letter from the Islamic authority's attorney demanding that he immediately stop using the logo and undertake to pay his client damages .

Areff instead took aim at the attorney's name - Michael Jackson.

Soon after receiving the letter, Areff tweeted: "I was sent a letter by a lawyer called Michael Jackson. I'm gonna try 'Beat It' & be a 'Smooth Criminal'. I 'wanna be starting something'."

Yesterday, Areff told The Times that he was not shaken by the letter and would not be removing the logo from his poster. He said that if the authority sues him he will fight the matter in court, relying on his right to freedom of expression and the Constitutional Court's ruling in the "Laugh it Off" case, which allowed the parodying of corporate slogans and logos.

"The satirical use of the logo was a joke and I think [the Islamic authority] has taken this thing too seriously."

So far, Strictly Makrooh has sold 349 tickets for two shows at the Joburg Theatre in November.

Areff said he plans to "make sense of my existence as a young Muslim in the modern world".

"I joke about everything and anything. From the things that are happening at work, social networks to the practice of the Muslim religion," he said.

Yesterday the authority's spokesman, Ebi Lockhat, said the halaal logo represented a crucial part of the Muslim faith.

"We see him as making [a] mockery of our faith. This has nothing to do with preventing him practising his craft," he said.

The authority describes itself as an NGO representing the Muslim community "on all matters pertaining to the general application of the term halaal with specific reference to Islamic dietary laws".