The organization exists. The claimed authority still requires evidence.
Circle H International Inc. is a real New Jersey nonprofit. The official state business search identifies a domestic nonprofit corporation incorporated September 14, 2020. IRS-derived filings identify Elsayed Zayan as director and report three independent voting members [1] [2].
Those records answer whether a legal organization exists. They do not verify Circle H's broader claim that it is the only internationally recognized authority empowered by Al-Azhar University, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 14 other Islamic universities, and ten major international associations [3].
The public issue is therefore not whether Circle H is imaginary. It is whether the people, institutions, authorizations, and certification controls behind its extraordinary authority claims are independently identifiable.
Zero employees is not the concern
Circle H's filing reports zero employees. That is not inherently unusual. Nonprofits may rely on contractors, volunteers, advisers, affiliated service providers, or governing members rather than employees.
The narrower concern is disclosure. Circle H's filing reports three voting members but names only Zayan. Its current Sharia Council page describes 32 leading scholars, eight religious committees, eight technical committees, and responsibility for thousands of products, yet the reviewed page and embedded media do not identify those scholars, committee members, auditors, religious assessors, or certification decision-makers [2] [4].
The reviewed public record verifies Zayan as a real director and executive associated with Circle H and CH Group. It does not establish the identities and qualifications of the wider religious and technical structure Circle H says performs and governs certification. It also does not permit any conclusion about an individual's religion.
| Public record | What it verifies | What remains unidentified |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey registration | A real domestic nonprofit incorporated in 2020. | Auditors, religious assessors, and decision-makers. |
| IRS filing | Three independent voting members and one named director. | The other voting members and claimed committee personnel. |
| Sharia Council page | Circle H claims 32 scholars and 16 committees. | Names, qualifications, mandates, and current membership. |
Circle H's own commercial affiliate names OU collaboration
The owner recalled a Circle H page linking to the Orthodox Union. The current and archived pages reviewed did not reproduce a clickable ou.org or oukosher.org destination in either direction. What the deeper HTML review did verify is more precise: CH Group's live halal-certification page says Circle H credibility is reinforced through collaboration with industry leaders including ‘OU (kosher).’ The phrase appears as plain text, not a hyperlink [5].
Circle H's own kosher-certification page separately says it works with recognized kosher agencies on mutual support, joint certification projects, programs and events, and convenient kosher access for halal clients. It does not name those agencies or state which party performs which inspection or certification task [6].
This evidence supports reporting that Circle H and its affiliated commercial group publicly claim kosher collaboration, including OU by name. It does not prove that OU endorsed Circle H, supplied halal audit work, transferred religious authority, or linked to Circle H from an OU-owned page.
Gourmet Kosher certification raises a file-level audit question
Circle H published a certificate page for Gourmet Kosher Management Corp covering ‘All Gourmet Kosher products produced at their facility.’ The page displays a certificate number and dates but no auditor, inspection date, visit type, governing standard, assessor qualifications, product schedule, or halal-specific findings [7].
Circle H's other pages describe assessment teams, compliance reports, production sites, slaughter, alcohol, equipment, and contamination. Those general descriptions do not disclose what occurred in the Gourmet Kosher file. The supportable question is who conducted the halal-specific assessment, which standard and scope they applied, what evidence they reviewed, and who made the decision.
Ten institutional claims were not independently corroborated
Circle H's Sharia Council page lists ten organizations as Strategic Partners, including Al-Azhar, the OIC, AAOIFI, AIDSMO, IFSB, GSO, SMIIC, the Islamic University in Uganda, and IIDR. Circle H's IRS program description says it is accredited by ten of the largest Islamic organizations [2] [4].
Ten separate research tracks searched those institutions' official current domains, attributable publications, and available archives for Circle H, Circle H Certification, CH Group, and Elsayed Zayan. No corroborating institutional record was found in the reviewed sources.
That negative-source review does not prove no private agreement or historical authorization exists. It means Circle H's public partnership and accreditation claims remain unverified by the institutions in the public records reviewed. Circle H can resolve the issue by publishing the signed agreements, dates, scope, named signatories, and current status.
Circle H certified an organization presented within the same business family
CH Group's website says Circle H certified CH Group's importing/exporting agency services and fund investment activities. First-party announcements identify Zayan as an executive of both organizations, and the sites present Circle H within a CH Group family of companies [8].
The IRS filing says Circle H had no related entity and no reportable business relationship with an organizational member or controlled entity. The public record reviewed does not disclose who approved CH Group's certificate, whether Zayan was recused, or what independent-review safeguard governed the decision [2].
This is a governance-transparency question, not proof of improper certification. A published recusal and independent decision record could resolve it.
What HIPS 1002 requires
As USDHS editorial analysis, HIPS 1002 expects a certification body to identify accountable governance, competent review and audit roles, qualified religious adjudication, documented observations, declared scope, and an independent certification decision. Contractors and external specialists may support the work; the organization must still be able to identify who held each role and how conflicts were controlled [9].
Circle H's public descriptions contain extensive authority and governance claims. The reviewed evidence does not identify enough of the responsible people, institutional authorizations, audit records, or decision safeguards to verify those claims against HIPS expectations.
USDHS guidance: do not treat Circle H as a standalone trust signal
USDHS advises consumers, institutions, retailers, and accreditation decision-makers to avoid treating Circle H certification as a sufficient or standalone trust signal at this time. Pause new reliance decisions until Circle H supplies verifiable documentation identifying its governing members, religious and technical committees, auditors, certification decision-makers, institutional authorizations, accreditation scope, OU relationship, audit method, and related-party safeguards.
This is not a conclusion that Circle H is fictitious, that contractor staffing is improper, that every Circle H certificate is invalid, or that any named person is or is not Muslim. It is a conclusion that Circle H's unusually broad authority and partnership claims are not presently matched by enough independently verifiable public documentation for reliance without further due diligence.
Questions Circle H can answer
Circle H can resolve the public-record gaps by supplying attributable documents. Confidential commercial details may be redacted if the remaining record identifies the governing people, authority, audit method, scope, and decision safeguards.
- Who are the three voting members reported to the IRS?
- Who are the 32 scholars and members of the eight religious and eight technical committees?
- Who performs facility audits and religious assessment, as employees, contractors, volunteers, or affiliates?
- Which ten institutions accredited or authorized Circle H, under what scope and dates?
- What is the documented OU relationship and which party performs each certification task?
- Who audited and approved Gourmet Kosher Management?
- Who approved CH Group's certificate, and what recusal safeguards applied?
Response and correction pathway
USDHS invites Circle H, CH Group, OU Kosher, Gourmet Kosher Management, and the institutions named by Circle H to provide documentary clarification through director@halalstandards.org. Material responses will be described fairly, and substantive corrections will be dated.
This article does not accuse any named organization of fraud, dishonesty, profiteering, illegality, or bad religious intent. It does not infer any individual's religion and does not declare every certificate invalid. It does not replace the controlling HIPS standard, a certification or accreditation decision, a religious ruling, or a legal opinion.
Frequently asked questions
Is Circle H a real organization?
Yes. New Jersey and IRS records verify Circle H International Inc. and identify Elsayed Zayan as a director. The investigation concerns whether Circle H's broader authority, governance, partnership, and audit claims are independently verifiable.
Did USDHS verify a Circle H link to OU Kosher?
USDHS verified that CH Group's live page names ‘OU (kosher)’ as a collaborator. The reviewed current and archived HTML did not reproduce a clickable OU-domain link, and no OU-owned page naming Circle H was found. Circle H or OU can resolve the discrepancy by identifying the exact agreement or historical page.
Does zero employees mean Circle H is inactive or improper?
No. Contractors, volunteers, advisers, or affiliates may perform the work. The relevant concern is that the public record reviewed does not identify who fills Circle H's claimed governance, audit, religious-assessment, and certification-decision roles.
Are Circle H's leaders Muslim?
USDHS will not infer or publish an individual's religion. The relevant HIPS question is whether the organization publicly establishes Muslim ownership or control and qualified Islamic decision authority. That organizational evidence was not verified in the reviewed record.
What would change USDHS's caution?
Signed institutional authorizations, named council and committee members, qualifications, audit and decision roles, a documented OU relationship, current accreditation scope, and independent approval safeguards would permit reassessment.
References
- New Jersey Division of Revenue, Business Name Search
- IRS-derived Circle H International nonprofit filings
- Circle H International, Global Halal Authority
- Circle H International, Sharia Council
- CH Group, Halal Certification
- Circle H International, Kosher Certification
- Circle H International, Gourmet Kosher Management certificate page
- CH Group, Circle H Halal Certified
- USDHS, HIPS 1002:2026 Halal Certification Bodies