Development of Islamic law: the application of ‘urf in halal animal slaughtering practices

Islamic law is often misunderstood as a rigid and outdated law which is non-compatible to be exercised in this modern day. This is, however, not true due to the recognition of legal reasoning, al-ijtihad, in Islamic legal tradition where Islamic law is adaptable and flexible in line with the changing of times, places and circumstances. Halal industry, particularly the animal slaughtering practices is one of the areas that experience positive developments which lead to the emergence of new practices like stunning and mechanical slaughtering. Indeed, these practices are regarded as a new phenomenon in which there the issue was not clearly discussed in the classical literatures hence needs for further clarification on the status of Shariah legal rulings, hukm, from various sources of Islamic law including ‘urf. This paper is an attempt to discuss the development of Islamic law with special reference to the application of ‘urf in halal animal slaughtering practices. In order to achieve the objective, opinions from both classical and modern literatures are examined and analyzed in order to understand the development of Islamic law in halal industry. The findings show that ‘urf is considered as the most suitable instrument in determining the legal status of modern animal slaughtering practices since it is applicable to all kinds of situations, places and times

MANAGING THE HALAL FOOD RELATED ISSUES IN THE HALAL FOOD CERTIFICATION PROCESS BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF SADD AL-DHARAI'

Background and Purpose: Sadd al-dharai' is a secondary source in Islamic law where it means blocking the means. Sadd al-dharai' is essential for Muslim jurists to deal with the Shariah issues particularly in the halal food industry. This is because the area of the halal food industry has expanded and industrialized to accommodate the demand of the Muslim society that keeps increasing year on year. In this regard, the halal-related issues are getting complex and need Shariah clarification since many new food processing involving critical ingredients, equipment, and multi-process which require meticulous Shariah observation on this matter. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the extent to which the employment of the sadd al-dharai' as a credible tool adopted by Muslim jurist in dealing with the halal-related issues triggered in the halal food supply chain stage based on the halal certification process.   Methodology: This reviewed paper is a qualitative research study in nature where document analysis employed in this study to collect the data.  The Malaysian fatwas, books, articles either in the form of physical or online were gathered to answer the objective of the study. The data collected mostly from the years of 2010 until 2020 unless the related fatwas where the fatwas are subject to its issuance year and suitability. The  researchers  used  several keywords  alternatively like  ‘sadd al-dharai' in halal industry’, ‘fatwa and halal certification’, ‘food industry and Islamic law’ to find out relevant articles related to this discussion on the needs to investigate the employment of sadd al-dharai' in  dealing with the halal-related issues triggered in the halal food supply chain stage based on the halal certification process.  This study further simultaneously adopted the content analysis technique where the data was manually analysed and divided into four major themes based on the objective of the study.     Findings: The study has indicated that sadd al-dharai' has its peculiar function in many aspects of the Malaysia halal certification process in Malaysia, and it could be viewed based on the two approaches, namely the establishment of the halal regulatory framework and the fatwa issuance. The principle of preventing the negative aspects must take precedence, in accordance with the rule “dar’u al mafasid muqaddam ‘ala jalb al-mashalih”  by adopting several preventive actions is very significant in ensuring the halal food products reach the consumers are halalan tayyibban.   Contributions:  This study suggests that the Muslim jurists need to take into consideration the sadd al-dharai‘ as one of the sources of Shariah in ensuring the management of the halal certification process is efficient and in line with maqasid al-Shariah. Besides, Muslim consumers could also access halal food products that are free from harmful elements.   Keywords: Halal certification, halal food, sadd al-dharai', food safety, food ingredients.   Cite as: Ruzulan, Z., Mana, B., Tumiran, M. A., & Jamaludin, M. A. (2023). Managing the halal food related issues in the halal food certification process based on the concept of sadd al-dharai'. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(1), 429-445. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss1pp429-44

Meat and meat-based products: challenges and opportunities in halal food security

The demand for halal meat and meat-based products among the Muslim population in Malaysia has been increasing as meat is an essential food. Meanwhile, the non-Muslims are also becoming aware of the quality of halal meat, hence the access towards halal meat and meat-based products are increasing as well. However, the local production of halal meat is insufficient to cater the demand and this leads to the dependency on imported meat to ensure that halal meat is made available and accessible to the society in Malaysia. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of halal meat and meat-based products for the sustainability of the halal food security in Malaysia. Document searching technique based on the available literature was used to fulfil the objectives of the study. The study found that the complex halal meat chain with several government agencies concerning halal matters lead to the inefficient treatment of maintaining the halal integrity. For this reason, focusing on the viable opportunities to increase the local meat production is significant in ensuring that the supply of meat is sufficient and halalan tayyibban

Malaysian Hotel Certification in the Islamic Tourism Industry

Shariah compliant hotel is an essential product in Islamic tourism where many activities could be available there. Thus, certification plays a significant role as a symbol of commitment for the hotel operators to comply with the Shariah principles. By using qualitative methodology, this study aims to explore the Malaysian certification bodies that offer Islamic related certificates to the hotel. There is no standardisation on the certification requirements and approach among the certification bodies to certify the Shariah compliant hotel. Thus, the government should introduce a mechanism to monitor certification to the Shariah compliant hotel. Keywords: Shariah Compliant Hotel; Islamic Tourism; Certification Scheme; Halal Standard eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7.381

Fiqh approach in halal logistic operation

Currently, the rapid growth of the global halal industry is encouraging all nations to compete in halal production activities. Generally, halal food integrity revolves around unlawful (haram) issues and the risk of contamination including smell, taste and colour changes of the goods. These issues demand careful adherence by all parties including the suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and customers. Needless to say, it involves movement and logistics services. Halal logistics can further be expanded to include halal logistics hub, halal logistics transportation, halal logistics route, and halal logistics management. Due to the progressive development of the halal global industry, there are various halal related issues specifically on the extension of the handling process of the halal related products from farm to fork. Thus, this study attempts to illuminate the issues in the scope of halal logistics and its integrity whereby the consideration of the Islamic principles and its requirements will be analyzed under the purview of Maqasid al-Shariah. It adopts a qualitative research methodology, whereby descriptive and explanatory approaches are used. This study believes Fiqh approach can serve as a benchmark to constitute a sufficient measure to address the issues properly

Kepercayaan pelajar terhadap konsep ubudiyyah dalam pengurusan halal / Mahfuzah Mohammed Zabidi … [et al.]

Pengurusan halal adalah satu bidang kritikal yang perlu diberikan perhatian serius demi merealisasikan Malaysia sebagai salah sebuah hab halal dunia. Bidang ini bertujuan memastikan kesucian dan sifat “patuh syariah” bagi sesuatu produk atau perkhidmatan terus terpelihara. Graduan bidang pengurusan halal diharapkan berperanan secara langsung dalam memenuhi keperluan badan pensijilan halal. Pelajar bidang ini perlu dipersiapkan dengan kefahaman mengenai konsep halal secara bersepadu dengan nilai ubudiyyah yang mendasari akidah, syariah dan tasawuf dalam Islam. Hal ini bagi memastikan mereka dapat memberi kefahaman yang jelas kepada masyarakat, khususnya kepada penggiat industri bahawa halal bukan sekadar pada label atau logo semata-mata. Kajian ini bertujuan meneroka kepercayaan pelajar Diploma Pengurusan Halal, Akademi Pengajian Islam Kontemporari (ACIS) Universiti Teknologi MARA mengenai konsep ubudiyyah dan kesepaduannya dalam pengurusan halal. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif menerusi temubual kumpulan fokus berpandukan protokol separa berstruktur. Data temubual dianalisis secara separa transkrip. Temubual mendapati bahawa pelajar lebih banyak menghubungkan konsep ubudiyyah dalam pengurusan halal dengan aspek syariat berbanding aspek akidah dan tasawuf. Oleh itu, kesepaduan ilmu antara kursus-kursus akademik yang ditawarkan oleh fakulti, sama ada dalam pengajian ilmu Islam mahupun pengajian ilmu moden yang berteraskan nilai ubudiyyah dalam bidang pengurusan halal dilihat perlu diperkemaskan bagi mendepani isu halal secara lebih holistik. Natijahnya, kesepaduan ilmu ini akhirnya berupaya menzahirkan Islam sebagai agama rahmat untuk sekalian alam

'URF and its influence in determining islamic legal rulings on food related issues in Malaysia

There is a positive development in the halal food industry due to increasing market demand, as well as the advance of science and technology. This however, results in Shariah issues where the need arises for the clarification of Islamic legal rulings through ijtihadic process, for the reason that clear legal rulings in the Quran and Sunnah are limited. At this point, ʿurf is seen as one of the best sources to answer the arisen issues. Thus, the main objective of this study is to understand the concept of ʿurf and its influence in determining the legal status of food-related issues in Malaysia. In order to achieve this objective, a qualitative research method has been adopted where document analysis as well as in-depth interview were used. For documents analysis, the Holy Quran, hadith, classical manuals, contemporary literatures on Islamic law, government officials‟ documents, journal articles and other reliable websites were sought as they provide a range of rich data on the concept of ʿurf and its position in Malaysia, particularly vis-à-vis halal food related issues. Furthermore, in-depth interview was carried out, with over 15 key informants ranging from authoritative personnel and academicians selected to examine the influence of ʿurf in determining the legal rulings on food-related issues. The study has shown that the concept of ʿurf could be understood as a reality occurring during the particular time, where not only entails the changing of traditions that are accepted among general Muslim society, but also includes scientific facts that are recognized during the time. Moreover, the perception towards the characteristics of al-ṭayyibāt is not only limited to the ʿurf al-Arab, but is also actually based on ʿurf at a particular place; inclusive of the scientific ʿurf. The study also found that ʿurf does influence in the decision of the fuqahāʾ in dispensing legal rulings in foodrelated issues in Malaysia either on the state or federal level. This is proven through the study of ʿurf ijtimāʿī and ʿurf ʿilmī. As far as ʿurf ijtimāʿī is concerned, all key informants have agreed on its authoritativeness and otherwise, while almost half of informants agree on the authoritativeness of ʿurf ʿilmī. The remainder disagrees due to differentiation between ʿurf, and science, and technology. Moreover, the study also further identified that both types of ʿurf have influenced the fuqahāʾ in determining the legal rulings on food related issues where if there is valid evidence from the scientific community, the ʿurf ʿilmī prevail. However, if the scientific evidence is found to still be in a stage of theoretical probability or there is no scientific evidence, ʿurf ijtimāʿī therefore influences the conclusion of legal rulings. It is hoped that this study will benefit both policy makers as well as food practitioners especially when it comes to issues of legal rulings in the food industry. It is also suggested that experts in food are included in fatwa committee meetings so as to assist the fuqahāʾ in deducing legal rulings that conform to reality

Leading towards Islamic Tourism City by managing the sensitivity of society: a case study of Terengganu

Terengganu is one of the states in Malaysia with a unique identity that can attract local and foreign tourists. The state has been very welcoming towards tourists, which has made them an attractive Islamic tourist destination in 2018. To retain its reputation, the state government needs to ensure proper planning and strategies in ensuring the Islamic principles are implemented accordingly. Thus, this study aims to examine the significant factors for the success of Terengganu as an Islamic tourism city in managing the sensitivity of society. To achieve this objective, a qualitative research methodology which consists of text document was used, and then the data were analyzed by using content analysis and constant comparative techniques. The results have shown that the sensitivity of the local society has been taken into consideration by Terengganu's state government. In ensuring the preservation of the image of the Islamic state, the government needs to consider the sensitivity of the Muslim society in governing the Islamic tourism city

Good governance practice for the shariah compliant hotel in Malaysia: an insightful study

The performance of the Shariah compliant hotel has a strong relationship with the governance approach adopted by the hotel. On this occasion, poor governance practice may result in the mismanagement of the Shariah compliant hotel’s operation where the Shariah compliant hotel does not comply with the Shariah requirements. Since a limited study focuses on the good governance practice for the shariah compliant hotel, this paper will investigate the essential elements of good governance for the Shariah compliant hotel. This study adopts a qualitative research methodology where the document analysis technique was used to collect the data and then analyzed using content analysis. The finding has shown that the governance practice of the Shariah compliant hotel is still at a minimum level where the Shariah compliant hotel focuses more on the halal certification requirement awarded to them. Thus, there is a need for the regulator to establish a proper policy on the best governance practice for the Shariah compliant hotel

Exploring the determinant factors of food related fatwa issuances based on ‘urf

There are queries on the halal status of food among Muslim consumers due to the accessibility of halal knowledge via mass media, and this needs for the jurists’ clarification (fatwa). Thus, this paper seeks to examine the determinant factors of fatwa’s decisions on food-related issues based on the approach of ‘urf. A qualitative approach which involved document analysis technique was applied from various authoritative sources. Furthermore, content analysis and constant comparative methods were used to analyze the data. This study will assist policymakers in dealing with food-related issues and help the public in identifying the rationale of the fatwa’s decisions