A critical analysis of halal marketing in Malaysia’s Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) industry

The concept of Halalan Toyyiban is very important in Muslims’ lives in their servitude to Allah. The business itself is broken down into many different kinds, one of those which has become the trend nowadays is Multi-Level Marketing (MLM). MLM business is a business model that involves selling and recruitment of new distributors into the company. Multi-Level Marketing is seen to be good as it helps many people to achieve their dreams, the contrary, it is observed as a medium of cheating. With its players reaching 2 million in Malaysia since its establishment in the early 1990s, MLM’s presence in the business industry should not be taken lightly. This research attempts to analyse the current MLM system and its factors that can be categorised as Halalan Toyyiban, as well as the factors which lead to the destruction. This factor includes the system itself, manufacturing, the distribution channels, the after-sales service, and the long-run vision of the company. By doing this, it is aimed that the doubtful (Syubhah) or even the impermissible (Haram) practices of MLM can be eliminated and abstained by the Muslim players, and it is expected that better MLM companies can be established, using proper S.O.P and guidelines. The purposes of the research are gained through a qualitative approach from the library research and interviews

The importance of halāl food awareness; a case study in Linxia, China

The global food market is concerned with food safety and its hygiene which is considered a worldwide issue. However, the business in China, concerning halālintegrity or halālfood industry, is significantly less. It happens as most people are unaware of the importance and existence of the halālfood industry. If the awareness is low, their attitude will be the same way as people might have less opinion about it or even zero understanding. Interestingly, although the Muslim population in China is very few as it is not a Muslim majority country, Linxia has a Muslim majority population that practices the Islamic teachings. Linxia is well-known as The Little Mecca. Apprehending their situation resided among non-Muslim environments with the higher influence fromsurroundings, exploring their attitude and behaviourtoward the halālfood industry is thought-provoking.Muslims need to havean understanding and knowledge of what halālis all about when measuring halālawareness. This paper aims to give an overview of halālawareness issues in Linxia, so the necessary steps can be taken for the improvement of the halālindustry in Linxia in particular and China in general. The awareness level in this paper is measured byidentifyingthe factors affecting Muslims in Linxia, China, in their intention to purchase halālproducts and their buying behaviour. Therefore, this study was constructed to identify the attitude and purchase intention of Muslim Consumers in Linxia toward halālfood products. The theory used to identify the factors is the Theory Plan Behaviour (TPB). The data was collected from 302 Muslim participants, and then it was further analysedusing the SPSS software. The result depicted that the participants’ attitude is positively correlated with their purchase intention and buying behaviourof halāl food products, and their purchase intention has a significant and positive impact on buying behaviour of halālfood products

Halal tourism based on local wisdom in Madura: Opportunities and challenges

Religious and spiritual tourism have been increasingly common and well-liked in recent decades, representing a large portion of global travel and expanding rapidly in recent years. The phrase "hidden paradise" is used to describe the island of Madura, which spans four regencies—Sumenep, Pamekasan, Sampang, and Bangkalan—and offers a variety of tourism opportunities, including historical tourism, natural tourism, cultural tourism, and religious tourism. This study aims to define halal tourism themes using conventional wisdom from the region. In this study, a case study with a qualitative descriptive methodology is used. In-depth interview and observation data were used as the primary sources, and books, the internet, and documentaries were used as the sources for the secondary data. According to the study, Madurese people have a limited comprehension of the idea of halal tourism and are therefore unable to implement it according to local wisdom

Food antimicrobials: addressing potential sources, challenges and testing as halal food preservatives

Food antimicrobial agent (FAA) provides the first food defence system against food-borne pathogens and act as an antioxidant in preventing colour and taste changes in processed food products. Although various reports on halal focus on food, a negligible report is available for FAA as a halal food preservative. Muslims are concerned about (1) the FAA sources, which may contain non-permissible ingredients due to unknown and doubtful sources, (2) an incremented risk of consuming toxic FAA and (3) organoleptic effect rendered by the FAA. An in-depth scrutinisation of sources and toxicity level of the FAA, appropriate laboratory testing may address these issues and challenges. The FAA is categorised according to ingredient sources such as animal, plant, bacteria, or synthetic origins. There are doubts on the halal status of animal-origin FAA as the source might be originated from pig, unslaughtered animal, human, or filthy origins. Investigation via analysis of process flow for the source of FAA and its additive and complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and related analytical testing to confirm the halal status of the FAA will facilitate this activity. Toxicity challenge can be addressed through (1) preliminary determination of FAA dose including disk-diffusion, minimum inhibitory and time-kill tests and (2) toxicity test such as repeat-dose toxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity tests to verify and determine the final safe dose of FAA. The shelf-life test of the FAA on specific food model and actual food systems shall cater to organoleptic issues. Actions taken to address these issues and challenges shall ensure the production of the FAA complies with the requirement of halal standards worldwide and bring confidence to Muslim consumers on their food consumption. Furthermore, this review also highlighted how FAA could be verified as a halal food preservative, which is becoming future research in developing halal ingredients and processed food products

Abstracts of the International Halal Science Conference 2023

This book presents the extended abstracts of the selected contributions to the International Halal Science Conference, held on 22-23 August 2023 by the International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART), IIUM, Malaysia in collaboration with Halalan Thayyiban Research Centre, University Islam Sultan Sharif (UNISSA), Brunei Darussalam. With the increasing global interest in halal products and services, this conference is timely. Conference Title:  International Halal Science ConferenceConference Acronym: IHASC23Conference Theme: Halal Industry Sustainability Through ScienceConference Date: 22-23 August 2023Conference Venue: International Islamic University (IIUM), MalaysiaConference Organizer: International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART), International Islamic University (IIUM), Malaysi