Simply Halal Is a Movement, Not a Lab-Created Halal Collagen Brand — Here’s the Real Story

Most halal collagen brands start in a lab. Simply Halal started with a steaming pot of halal bone broth in our home kitchen — a sick wife, a grandmother’s ancient remedy, and a doctor we chose not to listen to. My name is Chef Maher Fawaz, CEO and Co-Founder of Simply Halal, and this is the real story.

Fatima Hammoud — my wife, and the President and Co-Founder of Simply Halal — is the reason this brand exists. She is her own person, her own force, and the leader who guides our community today. This is our story — together.

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The Moment That Started Everything

In 2002, the month of Ramadan fell in April and May — right in the middle of allergy season. For Fatima, this wasn’t just inconvenient. She had dealt with sinus infections every allergy season for years, but that year it hit harder than ever. She couldn’t fast for 17 days of Ramadan. Two rounds of antibiotics made things worse, not better.

A specialist took one look at her and said she needed surgery for a deviated septum. Then came the referrals to other specialists, the warnings designed to escalate her fear, and a third prescription — this time for an even heavier antibiotic dose.

Fatima Hammoud walked out of that office with her cortisol through the roof. And she said: there has to be a better way.

That sentence is where Simply Halal begins.

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What My Grandmother Always Said About Healing

Fatima and I have always leaned on natural remedies. Long before our first son Jaafar was born, we had seen firsthand that pharmaceutical prescriptions masked symptoms while the root cause went untreated. So we went back to what we had always known — the wisdom passed down from grandmothers and great-aunts from the village.

My grandmother used to say: all disease and ailment comes from the gut.

I began researching whether seasonal allergies were a sign of poor gut health. The scientific evidence I found was staggering. Studies confirmed what she had always taught us — that gut microbiome imbalance has a direct link to immune dysregulation, including the kind that triggers seasonal allergies.

As a nutritional chef, I had always fed my family clean, unprocessed food. But Fatima’s condition forced me to audit our pantry honestly. Even with clean eating, there were gaps — ingredients that disrupted the gut microbiome in ways we hadn’t caught. So we cleared those out entirely. And then I remembered something else my grandmother used to say about healing the body: give it dense nutrients, and the best way to do that is through bone broth.

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The Halal Bone Broth That Proved the Doctor Wrong

I went out and bought beef bones and lamb feet. I made Fatima a medicinal halal bone broth — slow-simmered for 48 hours, built with ginger, turmeric, and onions. The very same recipe that became Simply Halal Bone Broth today.

In August 2002, Fatima Hammoud began drinking 8 to 12 ounces every single morning. If you’ve ever had lamb at 6am, you know it’s not exactly what you reach for first thing — but she was a trooper. She was determined to prove that doctor wrong. She was determined not to become another statistic, another patient pushed toward unnecessary surgery and lifelong pharmaceutical dependency.

She drank halal bone broth every single day from August 2002 through January 2003.

When allergy season arrived in the spring of 2003 — for the first time in a decade — Fatima did not get a sinus infection.

Not only that. She stopped crashing on the couch after work. Her energy stabilized. Her nails grew stronger. Her hair stopped falling out as easily. Things neither of us had expected from bone broth, but that made complete sense once I went deeper into the research.

The amino acids in halal bone broth feed the body at a cellular level. Even with clean food, there are nutrients most Americans are missing entirely. The broth filled those gaps in a way that no supplement we had ever tried could match.

It wasn’t until I was doing lab testing years later for Simply Halal that I discovered just how nutrient-dense that broth was: one 4-ounce jar contained 36 grams of protein. Fatima had been drinking 8 to 12 ounces every morning — taking in as much as 90 grams of clean, bioavailable protein before she left for work.

That’s when everything clicked.

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A Movement That Started in Our Kitchen

By spring of 2003, Fatima Hammoud had a pantry stocked with halal bone broth and she was giving jars to anyone who complained about a cold, allergies, or low energy. Neighbors. Coworkers. Friends. Every single one of them reported back — the broth tasted incredible and they felt better.

Our family had gone the entire year without a cold, without flu, without allergies. On the rare occasion someone caught something, instead of being down for four or five days, it was a 24 to 48 hour event — halal bone broth, rest, and it was gone. No doctor visits. No late-night pharmacy runs.

The kids loved it so much they were choosing it for breakfast on their own.

Every morning, Fatima and I take an hour-long walk together — rain or shine. It’s our time to talk, to think, to connect. One morning she mentioned that one of her friends had gone to the store to buy bone broth after experiencing the benefits firsthand. She searched online too. There was nothing halal available. And several brands labelled as halal could not verify it when pressed.

That was the moment I decided to do something — not just for my family, but for my community. And not just for Muslims. For every American who deserves to know that real healing is simpler than they have been told.

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3 Years of Research Before a Single Product Reached the Market

I knew how to build recipes. I did not know the American food industry. So I did what I always do — I went to learn from the best.

I partnered with Michigan State University’s Product Center Innovation department, where I worked with an advisor named Diane who guided me with patience and precision through the process of scaling a recipe for mass production. I could have found a food lab to do it faster. I chose not to. Because food labs don’t disclose their ingredient sources — and if I was going to put my name on this product and tell my community it was 100% clean and 100% halal, I had to be certain of every single input.

I sourced ingredients myself. I traveled to Argentina and South America for grass-fed, ethically raised bovine — to verify with my own eyes that what I was being told matched what I would actually find. I conducted over 160 lab tests across three years of product development.

I refused to be part of a system that chooses profits over people.

My original vision was liquid halal bone broth. After two years of development, I hit a wall: there were almost no halal food manufacturers in the United States capable of producing it at scale, and building my own facility would have required an investment I didn’t have. The product would have been priced out of reach for the community I was trying to serve.

But as my grandmother would say — when one door closes, ten more open.

I discovered that powder-form halal collagen and halal bone broth could achieve everything I wanted: the same nutrient density, better shelf stability without hidden preservatives or fillers, and a price point that made clean nutrition accessible to every family. I applied everything I had already learned and rebuilt the product model from the ground up.

Finding a manufacturer was its own battle. I contacted hundreds of facilities. Most could not guarantee halal standards. Eventually I found a local GMP-certified facility that met every criterion — no meat cross-contamination, verified halal standards, willing to take on my product. I visited the operation personally before I signed anything.

In July 2025, we began production. In August 2025, my family took an extended trip to Lebanon. When we returned, the product was ready.

In November 2025, I released a video sharing our journey. The response — from our local community, from Muslims across the country, from health-conscious people of every background — was beyond anything I had imagined.

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What Simply Halal Halal Bone Broth and Halal Collagen Is Built On

Every product we make carries ISA (Islamic Services of America) halal certification — one of the most rigorous halal certification bodies in North America. This isn’t a label we applied for as a marketing move. It is the verification of a standard we built the entire operation around from day one.

• Grass-fed and pasture-raised bovine sourced directly from South America
• Free from maltodextrin, MSG, fillers, and artificial preservatives
• GMP manufactured in a facility with no meat cross-contamination
• 160+ independent lab tests conducted during development
• Chef-crafted using the same principles behind Fatima’s original medicinal broth
• ISA certified — sourcing, manufacturing, and supply chain verified

If you ask me whether this product is clean and halal, I can say yes and sleep with a clean conscience. That is the only standard I was ever willing to accept.

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For Fatima — And for Every Family Who Deserves Better

Every time I doubted myself during those three years, Fatima Hammoud would push me forward. She would say: if I feel this great after six months without a single pill, imagine what we can do for our community.

She was right. And she didn’t just inspire this brand — she built it with me. As President of Simply Halal, Fatima brings the same determination she showed in that doctor’s office to everything we do: the standard we hold our products to, the community we serve, and the mission we refuse to compromise on.

Since January 2003 — over two decades — our family has not had a seasonal allergy, not had a flu, and on the rare occasion of a cold, we are back on our feet within 24 to 48 hours. Not because we’re lucky. Because we make it a daily practice to give our bodies what they need to heal themselves.

That is what Simply Halal is. It is not a supplement. It is not a lab formula. It is real food nutrition — chef-crafted halal collagen and halal bone broth, sourced with integrity, co-founded by a husband and wife who lived every word of this story. Built for anyone who refuses to compromise on what goes into their body.

We built this for our community. We built it for our family. And we built it for you.

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Learn More About Simply Halal

• Halal Collagen Peptides: Benefits and What the Research Shows
• The Best Halal Collagen Powder: 2026 Guide
• Is Collagen Halal? Everything You Need to Know
• Our Story
• Recipes Using Simply Halal Products

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the founders of Simply Halal?

Simply Halal was co-founded by Chef Maher Fawaz (CEO) and Fatima Hammoud (President). Maher brings 28 years of professional culinary experience and 3 years of halal bone broth and collagen product research. Fatima Hammoud is the inspiration behind the brand — her own healing journey using homemade halal bone broth proved the concept — and she leads the company alongside Maher today.

Who is Chef Maher Fawaz?

Chef Maher Fawaz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Simply Halal and a professional chef with 28 years of experience in the food industry. He spent 3 years researching, sourcing, and running 160+ lab tests before launching Simply Halal’s halal collagen and halal bone broth products, including collaboration with Michigan State University’s Product Center Innovation department.

Why did Maher and Fatima create Simply Halal?

Maher and Fatima Hammoud created Simply Halal after Fatima healed a chronic sinus condition using homemade halal bone broth — without surgery or ongoing medication. When they could not find a verified halal bone broth product on the market for their community, Maher began a multi-year process to build one with full sourcing transparency and ISA halal certification.

Is Simply Halal actually certified halal?

Yes. Simply Halal products are certified by ISA (Islamic Services of America), one of the most respected halal certification bodies in North America. The certification covers sourcing, manufacturing, and the full supply chain.

What makes Simply Halal different from other halal collagen brands?

Simply Halal is chef-crafted rather than lab-formulated. Ingredients are sourced directly from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine in South America and verified through over 160 independent lab tests. Products contain no maltodextrin, no MSG, no fillers, and no hidden preservatives. The brand was built from a real family health story — not a market opportunity.

Can non-Muslims use Simply Halal products?

Absolutely. Simply Halal halal bone broth and halal collagen is made for anyone who wants clean, traceable, verifiable nutrition. Halal certification means sourcing, handling, and manufacturing have been independently verified — which is exactly what any health-conscious consumer should want, regardless of faith background.

What is halal bone broth good for?

Halal bone broth is rich in collagen, gelatin, and amino acids including glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. Research supports its role in supporting gut lining integrity, joint health, skin elasticity, hair and nail strength, and immune function. See the research on PubMed.