Ahmad Farouk Musa || 24 September 2024
We refer to the piece which appeared on MalaysiaNow citing Prof Farid Alatas’s view. Since the government has already ruled on this issue last Wednesday, the discussion is now mainly academic. Nonetheless, we feel that certain areas need to be highlighted and discussed. Furthermore, the statement made by Datuk Naim Mokhtar yesterday that his team will submit a proposal to the cabinet today to discuss the halal certification means that the issue is still pending; it is not yet done and dusted.
Let us reiterate that our stand on this issue is based on that fact that we are living in a Muslim-majority country under a Muslim-oriented Madani government. Things evolve over time, and living in a Muslim country is different from living in a non-Muslim country. As a person who has lived in the two different worlds, our stand on this matter would have been different if we were to write while staying in Australia for example. Even the great Imams are known to have given a different fatwa or verdict on a similar matter when they were living in a different country and culture.
So our stand here reflects our particular situation in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country. Insofar as halal food (especially halal meat) certification is concerned, it is a worldwide phenomenon to have certain local Islamic bodies that would serve this purpose. In Australia, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) is one such entities besides a few others, unlike Malaysia that has only JAKIM. Undoubtedly, the main purpose of such organisations is to remove one huge deciding factor among Muslims: waswas or doubt. Eating meat that has been certified halal removes this doubt. Thus, if we were to buy a turkey from say Village Grocer, we would choose the one carrying a halal logo certified by an Islamic organization in the country of origin, such as Halal Food Council USA if the turkey is imported from the US. That, to us, is the major difference between the two and the importance of certification in the complex modern world.
Admittedly, a more complex issue arises when dining in a non-Muslim restaurant. It is too simplistic to argue, as Prof Farid believes, that one simply needs to ask the owner or the chef about the presence of any non-halal ingredients. To him, Muslims are not required to thoroughly check the halalness of food if they decided to dine in such restaurants. However, as we quoted in our previous essay on this topic, such a decision is of utmost importance to a practising Muslim as the Prophet is quoted saying as reported by Anas bin Malik that:
“Seeking the lawful (halal) is a duty upon every Muslim”.
This hadith was narrated by al-Tabarāni and certified as hasan ( a hadith that fulfils the criteria of a sahih hadith albeit slightly weaker) by al-Haythāmi. To avoid approaching the territory of syubuhāt (unclear or doubtedness) is strongly recommended by the religion of Islam as we explained clearly before from the hadith narrated by both Bukhāri and Muslim from Abu ‘Abdullah al-Nu’man bin Bashir:
“The halal is clear and the haram is clear, and between them are matters unclear (syubuhāt) that are unknown to most people. Whoever is wary of these unclear matters has absolved his religion and honour. And whoever indulges in them has indulged in the haram…”
Restaurants with the signage No Pork No Lard clearly fall under this category. In a Muslim-majority country that protects the rights of non-Muslims to freely practice their religion and live according to their chosen lifestyles, it is certainly not excessive for the authorities to also protect the lifestyle of the Muslims in enjoying halal food without any element of doubt, thereby helping them to steer clear from the areas of syubūhat. How can halal certification be considered imposing when the aim is to protect the sanctity of the lives of Muslims? This is an area considered very sensitive to the lives and well-being of every observant Muslim. To regulate Halal certification should be an obligation by a government that wants to be seen as a responsible Muslim government espousing the Madani concept. The government should not renege this responsibility for the sake of pleasing and winning votes from non-Muslims. This is the balance that should be practiced by a just government that protects non-Muslims and Muslims alike.
Lastly, it has to be mentioned here that dragging the Perlis Mufti, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in this imbroglio is very unethical especially when it was not the stand of the learned Mufti to be very loose in his interpretation with respect to the Cadbury case ten years ago. While the erudite Mufti was vehemently against ghuluw or fanaticism in practicing Islam, he lauded the protest against Cadbury as it was the consumers’ right not to be duped in the issue of porcine DNA in Cadbury chocolate. To be clear, he was against the insistence of certain Muslim NGOs calling for blood transfusion since they have inadvertently ingested porcine DNA. This was what he termed as ghuluw or fanaticism and extremism in religion. To say that he was loose in his interpretation about halal food is not only misleading but also a fabrication.
Halal certification should also not be confused as an indication that a certain food is healthy or non-healthy for consumption, as mentioned by Prof Alatas. That is not the aim of halal certification. Whether one decides to consume a healthy or non-healthy food is one’s own discretion. People should know whether a particular food is healthy or not healthy based on factual, scientific information. So this is not a matter of contention here. The point is that the state of halalness is NOT known without verification, contrary to the state of the food being healthy or not. So the two should not be intermingled just for argument’s sake.
We also disagree that this is a form of bureaucratization of religion, as asserted by Prof Alatas. Bureaucratization of religion happens when the religious authorities refused to endow tauliah (credentials) to those who do not subscribe to the same mazhab or denomination as the state, like the Salafis in this country. They were denied the rights due to this form of bureaucratization simply because they do not subscribe to the same mazhab as the religious authority or to any mazhab for that matter. But halal certification is more of a procedural issue, just like registering a marriage with the religious authority; it is a procedural matter.
“O you who have attained to faith! Partake of the good things which We have provided for you as sustenance, and render thanks unto God, if it is [truly] Him that you worship”
[Sura al-Baqara; 2:172]
Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa holds a PhD in Surgery from Monash University Australia and Masters of Medicine in Surgery from Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Islamic Studies at Universiti Muhammadiyah Malaysia.
