Halal Or Not?

1. Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia or JAKIM for short has been in the news quite a bit this year.

2. Maybe the pent-up frustration of playing second fiddle to Khairy's Halal Development Corporation during Pak Lah Islam Hadhari's tenure has led to JAKIM's very prominent role this year.

3. Just recently they started asking Muslims to be aware and avoid hotels that doesn't have the Halal Certificate for its kitchen for Berbuka Puasa.

4. I read yesterday's piece on mStar (the Star's sunday Malay tabloid) on JAKIM's inspection and certification process. Suffice to say I've got a feeling your roadside warung would be declared as non-Halal going by the standard JAKIM's going by.

5. They may have the best of intentions, but the reality is that their certification goes beyond what we understand of what constitutes halal. It is not as simple as serving pork or the food having alcohol. Maybe what we (or I) understand is not good enough.

6. The problem is not in them certifying it with such strict compliance of what is more likely a man-made interpretation of Islamic principles. The truth is that Halal certification means the food or premise has far exceeded the minimum standard for safe consumption.

7. The problem lies in the impression JAKIM gives of those that does not have its certificate. Through its words and actions, JAKIM has basically hinted that non-certified food or premise is HARAM and cannot be consumed or visited or used by Muslims.

8. It is akin to me saying that if you don't drive a Mercedez, then you're breaking the law.

9. This is a fundamentally flawed impression given to consumers, who through lack of knowledge or ignorance, have chosen to leave the process of thought at the hands of religious officials.

10. The truth is that getting a HALAL certificate is VOLUNTARY. It is an option.

11. The lack of one does not automatically makes the premise or the food as HARAM. You don't see any qualms from Muslims being served with food from dirty unkempt cook working in a dirty premise that doesn't have the halal logo. But when a clean restaurant or hotel does not have it, we all go bonkers.

12. And from JAKIM's website, they have now asked all hotels that does not have HALAL certificate to stop advertising their buka puasa buffet as Buffet Ramadhan, saying that it'll cause us Muslims to be confused. Don't tell me JAKIM, apparently toothless, now has the privilege to OWN the term Ramadhan?

13. So what if we believe that the premise is halal, even though it doesn't have a Halal cert? Does having a Halal cert automatically makes the food halal and vice versa? My house's kitchen is not certified HALAL, but during open house hundreds of people come and eat there - does it make them any less Muslim, and my food any less halal?

14. I am not against certification. I am against voluntary certification being made to be involuntary, as if without it you're breaking God's law.

15. People must recognize and be educated on the difference between being CERTIFIED HALAL and Halal as a concept. It's fundamentally two different things.

tq