Halal is the latest Islamic fad. The internet is buzzing with content on Halal living, Halal dating, and even Halal sex. Halal certification is a booming global industry created by New Islam. A religion that has so far been proudly political is becoming brazenly commercial too. And why not, when catchphrases like “Islam is the complete way of life”—making detailed prescriptions for politics, economy, and every imaginable aspect of life—go unchallenged?
In an ongoing Supreme Court case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that while nobody had any objection to Halal certification for meat, nowadays even cement, iron rods, and bottled water were being certified as Halal. Since such certification comes at a cost—charged by private agencies in the Halal certification business—even customers who have no interest in such labels are being made to pay higher prices for the commodities thus certified.
Halal certification preys on the naïveté of the newly prosperous Muslim masses. The Indian economy has been steadily growing, and Muslims have shared in this prosperity as much as anyone else. But this upward mobility has to be matched by enhanced self-esteem and social respectability, which, for a Muslim, still comes through overt piety and demonstrative religiosity. The Halal industry sows such fervour and reaps a good harvest from it. In the process, not entirely unwittingly, it also fosters a narrow and rigid religious attitude among Muslims—one that leads, inevitably, to radicalisation.
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Halal and economic separatism
The growth of the Indian economy has placed unprecedented purchasing power in Muslim hands too. And though the Halal certification business is aimed at tapping into the vast and growing Muslim market, it is bound to have some insidious and unforeseen consequences.
For one, it will result in economic separatism, creating a Muslim-only parallel economy. In effect, it will lead to the systemic economic boycott of other communities.
Stray calls to boycott Muslim street vendors, which keep circulating on social media, are a red herring compared to the harm the Halal market is insinuating into the political economy. Its normalisation and mainstreaming will have far-reaching consequences for inter-community relations—even greater than what Muslim Personal Law or vote bank politics have had so far.
If a non-Muslim were to buy and sell in the Halal market, he would have to comply with the terms prescribed by Sharia, as interpreted by the agents of Halal certification. In such a market, they would be second-class citizens. Dhimmis. We would have the economic version of an Islamic state. Having suffered from the Two-Nation Theory, are we now sleepwalking into a Two-Economy reality? The path is nearly charted as a parallel economy develops around Islamic banking, Halal stocks, Halal mutual funds, Halal investments, and Halal travels.
This trend will eventually lead to demands for the Halal certification of India itself as a country fit for Muslims. Then for the Constitution as a document that doesn’t conflict with Sharia. And, as has already been happening informally, Halal certification for political parties—determining whether it is right for a Muslim to vote for some of them.
The fake piety of pop Islam
One wonders, why should the religious lens be used to look at everything from iron rods and cement to electric wires and batteries? How will someone who looks at iron and cement through an Islamic filter see people of other religions? An outlook like this, even if genuinely Islamic, would have no place in the modern world.
But as I will show in the latter part of this article, this isn’t even Islamic. It has no precedence in history or theological feet to stand on. It’s pop Islam—faux piety, driven by pseudo-Islamic power theology that seeks to paint the world in garish green. It divides the world between Islamic and non-Islamic and posits an antagonistic relation between Muslims and non-Muslims. A parallel Islamic economy is the reincarnation of the old divide between Dar ul Islam (land of Islam) and Dar ul Harb (land of war) under a new name.
Why should everything be reduced to the binary of Halal and Haram? There is a vast world beyond what is religious and non-religious, or what is Islamic and non-Islamic. There are secular, scientific, and rational criteria for assessing whether something is good or bad and fit for consumption or not.
One may ask: has there ever been an institutional mechanism in Islamic history, especially a non-governmental and extra-legal one, for certifying whether something was Halal or Haram? Were non-consumable commodities ever part of this regime?
The answer is, never ever! Not in the age of the Prophet, nor of the Rashidun caliphs, nor in the Mughal empire. This is New Islam, desperate to regain the old supremacy with these toolkits.
Also Read: After UP’s halal ban revealed gaps in the system, a look at how the certification process works
What’s really Halal in Islam?
First, a disclaimer. Even if Halal certification for every commodity were mandatory in Islam, it would not accord with modern sensibilities and constitutional morality. Like many other religious injunctions, it would have to be read down in favour of scientific standards of evaluation and assessment, and of what is permissible and prohibited.
Let’s, however, verify whether the economic theology of Halal has any basis in the foundational text of Islam, the Quran.
In a number of ayats (verse), the Quran provides a near-identical list of what is Haram—that is, prohibited, forbidden, or unlawful for a Muslim to partake of. It mainly pertains to edible or consumable items, more specifically the types of meat that are forbidden.
The Ayats of Surahs Baqara (2:173), Maeda (5:3, 90, 91), Anaam (6:145), and Nahl (16:115) enumerate all that is generically Haram for consumption. The most detailed list appears in 5:3, which says:
“Prohibited for you are: carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and those upon which (a name) other than that of Allah has been invoked (at the time of slaughter), animal killed by strangulation, or killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by goring, or that which is eaten by a beast unless you have properly slaughtered it; and that which has been sacrificed on an altar; forbidden also is the meat divided by the raffling of arrows.”
Apart from consumables, Surah Araf (7:33) forbids certain acts:
“Say, My Lord has prohibited only the indecency, whether open or secret, and sinful act, and unjust aggression, and that you associate with Allah anything for which He has not sent an authority, and that you attribute to Allah anything about which you don’t have sure knowledge.”
Beside the few items and acts mentioned above, there is hardly anything explicitly described as Haram, though a few more things could fall into the category by analogy and extrapolation. However, the golden rule is that all that is not Haram is Halal. Any further rule regarding prohibition or permission is not to be guided by Islam but must be decided on secular, scientific, and rational criteria.
The Quran gives a list of the Don’ts, not the Dos. Every religion has some taboos, and Haram is Islam’s taboo. It defines its sense of the sacred (another meaning of Haram) and draws its external boundary, which is sacrosanct and can neither be stretched nor shrunk. Therefore, it comes down heavily on those who, in the name of God, prohibit the permitted and permit the prohibited—who make Halal into Haram and Haram into Halal.
In Surahs Maeda (5:87), Yunus (10:59), and Nahl (16:116), there is a clear proscription against falsely declaring things Halal or Haram. Ayat 16:116 says:
“Do not speak about what your tongues label falsely, ‘This is Halal and That is Haram’ so as to ascribe falsehood to Allah. For those who fabricate lies about Allah will never prosper”.
Thus, we see that the line around Halal and Haram is clearly drawn in the Quran, and an attempt to tamper with it invites divine wrath. So much so that in Surah Tauba (9:31), a people are accused of making their priests and religious scholars into gods because they were invested with the power of declaring Haram as Halal and Halal as Haram, by convoluted interpretation and far-fetched extrapolation.
Thus, those who sit in judgement over the air conditioner and stabiliser in my bedroom, and certify whether they are Halal or Haram—what are they if not the gods of New Islam?
Throughout history, Muslims have known what is Haram and what is Halal. They never needed a certification agency to tell them that. A fraud is going on in the name of Islam, and it is defrauding Muslims the most. The government should put a ban on the Halal certification business.
Ibn Khaldun Bharati is a student of Islam, and looks at Islamic history from an Indian perspective. He tweets @IbnKhaldunIndic. Views are personal.
Editor’s note: We know the writer well and only allow pseudonyms when we do so.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
Halal should be “haram” for Dharmics
Dear Prof. Shariq Nisar, you are one of the architects of the Islamic Finance. It is quite flattering for this scribe that you took notice of this article, and felt compelled to leave your thoughtful comments.
This article only tangentially mentions Islamic Finance. However, I must add that the main subject of this article, the Halal certification industry, is an offshoot of the ideology which is also the inspiration behind Islamic Economy, Islamic Banking, and Islamic Finance, etc.
Islamic economy is a matter of belief — a subset of the new imagination of Islam. It’s not about economics and finance, rather it’s about the political agenda which can no longer be pursued openly.
To say that the mainstream banking and financial system have caused untold miseries, which can only be alleviated by an Islamic system is, again, a matter of belief — a belief that everything will become blissfully perfect once the Islamic system is in place. We know what is the prerequisite for it — the Islamic state! It’s a part of the same set beliefs in which a woman who doesn’t wrap Hijab around her head is both unsafe and unchaste, and those who don’t follow Islam are deprived of mental peace.
You rightly mentioned the unregulated finance and Ponzi schemes which defraud the investors. So, you are also aware of the fact that a disproportionate number of them have been “Islamic” and have preyed on the religious credulity of the Muslims. All they need to do is to prefix their company’s name with Al (al) and Halal.
You say, “For those who seek financial products aligned with their ethical, social, or religious considerations, we actively support the development of such offerings. Several ethical funds have been introduced by mainstream fund managers to cater to these preferences, with both major stock exchanges facilitating their growth. These products have also received approval from financial regulators, ensuring transparency and investor protection.” That’s fine, but may I know whether the urge to “seek financial products aligned with their ethical, social, or religious considerations” is natural or ideologically produced? To an outside observer, the whole thing would look contrived. There’s nothing organic about it. More importantly, the entire enterprise is not even about economy and finance. It’s about Islam. A square peg is being hammered into a round hole. The purpose is to Islamise the world, the polity, the knowledge and the economy. It’s supremacism.
We have discussed whether it’s even right to equate the ethical with the religious, and to further limit the meaning of the word ethical to the Islamic. Wouldn’t it be more transparent to use the descriptive Islamic instead of the adjective ethical? Those who have had a brush with Islamic finance would be reluctant to use ethical for it.
To conclude, Islamic finance or Halal products are not about business, commerce and economy. They are more about religion, ideology and politics.
What a lucid exposition of the concept of Haram and Halal as it exists in Islam and its relevance in a world that would have been inconceivable all those centuries ago! Mr. Ibn Khaldun Bharti’s scorching critique of the way the role of this concept is being expanded to literally everything under the sun couldn’t have been more timely. I am a great fan of Mr. Bharti. I learn so much from his penetrating interventions in these combustible yet profound subjects.
The author of this article is a dear friend, and I respect him. He has his reasons for writing what he has, just as the publisher has the reason to publish content that aligns with their interests. However, I will focus solely on the statement related to finance that is my field.
Having spent over two decades in the Indian finance industry, I have always worked toward creating opportunities for people to participate in mainstream finance. This not only provides financial security but also protects consumers from unscrupulous operators. Millions of individuals lose their savings to Ponzi schemes regularly, and one of the most effective ways to prevent such exploitation is by encouraging people to only engage with regulated financial institutions.
For those who seek financial products aligned with their ethical, social, or religious considerations, we actively support the development of such offerings. Several ethical funds have been introduced by mainstream fund managers to cater to these preferences, with both major stock exchanges facilitating their growth. These products have also received approval from financial regulators, ensuring transparency and investor protection.
All key stakeholders—investors, market participants, and regulators—have supported the development of these financial instruments. Furthermore, like any other financial product, regulators have imposed cost limits, ensuring that the burden falls on market players rather than consumers.
Unfortunately, the author has chosen to coverup these developments, as they do not align with the narrative he seeks to construct. It appears that the editor, whether intentionally or otherwise, has also overlooked these aspects—a classic case of what we in finance refer to as benign overlook.
This is not new things
Of course halal applies to food and livelihood. But the fact is BJP is trying to ban that and at the same time reaping benefits from halal beef export. 🤣. It doesn’t have problem with cow urine being sold in bottles like carbonated drinks but problem with halal foods🤣
everybody know very well the tacktics being used by bjp and its allies in bringing muslims and their culture along with their value… most of them are fake allegations and many at times, created by these hidden bjp and allies folks themselves only to spread fake news… if Muslims in India were to use halal in such a way, then why is it coming only now? why wasn’t it b4? was there any halal word earlier on any of the iron rods or wires or any other thing? only on food and most of the times on food items that are to be exported… so this clearly means the solicitor general is one among these thugs spreading fear and false narrations… jhoot bolo, firse jhoot bolo, itna jhoot bolo ke log jhoot to such samajhne lagey! and this is happening.. as well, as we’ve seen and grew up seeing so many names being put as labels on iron rods, bricks and other non food items, what is wrong in labelling them as halal? if one community does, then others too would do it.. and no blame for it..
Only edible packaged product, or fresh, chilled and frozen meats can be labelled Halal when they are devoid of pig fat and are slaughtered the Islamic way – no steel, cement, wooden product needs a Halal certificate – this is clearly a false premise and anti Halal propaganda. Halal certification of edible products is welcome as they are fit to be consumed by all human beings.