Halal Certification Is A Non Muslim Issue

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“Whatever Jakim certifies as halal, then it is confirmed halal. But what is not certified halal, does not necessarily mean it is haram.” - ex-Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in 2014
The quote by Asri that opens this piece nearly 10 years ago was at the height of another halal controversy. This was during the infamous Cadbury porcine DNA fiasco.
Even after the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) had released its results and found no porcine DNA, the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) decided that it would continue its boycott call of the product - “We’re not running like Usain Bolt to buy Cadbury chocolates,” said its chief activist Nadzim Johan.
Anecdotally speaking, most Muslim traders I have engaged with think more along the lines of Asri than Jakim. They assume the government would tell them if something is haram and not that everything needs to be certified as halal.
Besides, as one roadside seller told me, why the need for Muslim and non-Muslim restaurants (besides those selling pork, which is haram anyway) to be halal certified when most if not all the raw ingredients and bottled sources are already halal-certified by Jakim?
Ham-gate
Of course, now we have the ham-gate scandal and the reality that Jakim data has demonstrated that over 70 percent of halal certification is for non-bumiputera business, which I take to mean non-Muslim business, considering the loaded political definition of the term.
The controversial ham and cheese sandwichIndeed in an article published by Sinar Daily in 2023, there were efforts being made to court Muslim businesses to obtain halal certification.
This point was also made by the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) Berhad which disclosed that non-bumiputera are the majority of halal certification holders: “Non-bumiputera companies have traditionally dominated the food manufacturing sector, but this is not an issue because they adhere to the standards set by Jakim,” said chairperson Khairul Azwan Harun.
Hence unlike what the PAS Youth chief said during Seputeh MP Teresa Kok’s halal controversy - “The ones who should have been worried are the Muslims, who are concerned about ingesting non-halal food. Non-Muslims don’t have to worry about anything, and in fact, they will feel better because halal food is cleaner,” - this is not exactly the case.
The biggest stakeholders when it comes to halal certification are non-Muslim or non-bumiputera businesses and indeed the bureaucracy is actively courting Muslim businesses to get halal certification because to them (Muslims) the certification is not a big issue.
After all, Kok, while responding to public comments by the Madani religious czar during the mandatory halal certification debacle, pointed out the extra burden to Muslim-owned restaurants - “Although many restaurants do not serve pork or alcohol, they do not apply for halal certification. This includes thousands of small Malay restaurant operators.”
Of course, she ends up being investigated by the state while Zaid Ibrahim who told Jakim to concentrate on the persecution of the sodomy of young boys, in religious schools, is somehow immune from this most pressing of issues - “Sodomy is now an epidemic. Young boys are traumatised and abused all over the country. Yet, our religious affairs minister is only interested in halal certificates,” said the former law minister on X.
Teresa KokTerritorial
Of course, halal certification does not mean that brands are not open to attack by the far religious right and rabble-rousers. Remember when there was a threat to ZUS Coffee because of its logo - “Responding to a question from Malaysiakini at the event in Sunway Pyramid Mall in Selangor, ZUS Coffee vice president Stephy Foong said the company is ‘deeply saddened’ by the boycott call, especially because all its outlets are certified halal by Jakim.”
When former law minister Zaid, in his defence of Kok against Bersatu’s attacks, claimed that she did not have a deep understanding of the issue, defined that deep understanding - “The deep understanding I can think of is that Jakim will make a lot of money. Already, it’s a billion ringgit business, and if the purpose is to make easy money, say so.”
And like most big businesses, Jakim is protective of its territory. In 2016, the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) and the Malaysia Institute of International Islamic Cooperation (Ikiam) proposed a “halal certification” that differentiated between halal products produced by Muslims and non-Muslims.
Why, you ask? Well, according to Risda at the time - “The need for another halal logo is to distinguish products that were produced by Muslims against that of non-Muslims besides helping Risda smallholding entrepreneurs and Muslim entrepreneurs make forays into the halal markets locally and abroad.”
Of course, Jakim had to issue a reminder - “If Ikiam and Risda proceed with using a new halal logo for Muslim-made products (without Jakim’s approval), it is an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011 (Halal certification and identification) Order,” it said.
‘Is it good for us?’
Keep in mind that just because something is certified halal does not mean it is good for us, in the sense that it has nutritional value.
A point made by Syed Farid al-Attas, professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore during the mandatory halal controversy last year - “For example, whether a banana leaf restaurant has a certificate or not, it is still halal. On the other hand, many restaurants are halal-certified, but we can prove that the food is not good.
“In a narrow sense, it is halal because it does not contain pork and alcohol, but in a broader sense, is it good for us?”
He also reinforced a point already made by Zaid - “This has nothing to do with religion. This is the bureaucratisation of religion. I think it has more to do with the fact that halal certification is an industry.”
So halal is big business and yes, non-Muslim companies benefit, or at least they believe they benefit from halal certification.
Now, of course, demanding transparency and accountability by the major stakeholders would be construed by religious agitators as going at the 3Rs, but wouldn’t it be something if Jakim actually was protective of its major stakeholders instead of using them as punching bags whenever rabble-rousers threaten the economic ecosystem which Jakim is attempting to nurture?
However, this is not only about business but also politics, and it’s convenient for fascist politics to use the instrument of the state as a cudgel.
Is this really good business for Madani? - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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