Introduction

This chapter is presented in two parts. Part one is on the emergence of a halal lifestyle in Southeast Asia and beyond, whereas part two addresses halal-related developments in Malaysia. Halal as a concept and value category is an integral part of shariah and is not new. However, its more recent manifestations and growth into an industry are linked with the development of a certain lifestyle and culture among Muslims. Halal as a concept began with a focus on food and drinks but further developed to include clothes, cosmetics, recreation, housing, tourism, banking and finance, halal pharmaceuticals and medicine and even halal dating and matchmaking. However, not all aspects of the halal industry are expounded in the shariah textbooks. Questions, therefore, arose from time to time over doubtful matters and the role of ‘urf (social custom) and fatwa in determining such issues. Similar questions arose over the qualification of halal slaughterers, whether non-Muslims and women were qualified to carry out the halal slaughter, and whether machine slaughter, slaughtered meat imported from non-Muslim countries, electric stunning and so on, were shariah-compliant.

The twentieth-century reassertion of Muslim identity projected Islam as a comprehensive way of life and placed a fresh emphasis on the Islamic lifestyle and culture. Even Muslims who are not so pious in other respects still tend to observe certain aspects of this lifestyle, especially halal food, partly because dietary laws are usually observed from early childhood as part of the religious and family traditions. Halal, like the hijab, tends to be entrenched in the custom and culture of Muslim societies, hence is a part of their identity and lifestyle (Alatas 2022, pp. 39–40; Suzanna 2007, pp. 40–41; Kamali 2021, pp. 6–7).

An anti-halal movement also gained traction in the West as a negative response to these developments. Thus, in Europe, North America and Australia, campaigns against the Muslim presence revolved around visible signifiers such as women wearing the hijab, burqa or niqab, the building of mosques and minarets, halal certification and restaurants. The Italian cities of Genoa and Bergamo imposed bans on kebab shops in the name of safeguarding hygiene and culinary traditions. A scare campaign against halal food certification in Australia threatened various food suppliers with consumer boycotts saying that the fees they paid for halal certification were funding terrorism and campaigns to introduce shariah law in Australia. Other companies took the opportunity to cite their lack of halal certification as evidence of their national loyalty and preservation of Western values (Shakira 2015, pp. 85–86; Ruiz-Bejarano 2017, pp. 132–38).