Beyond halal certs – what is truly clean and unclean?

 

Jakim, the federal agency that coordinates Islamic affairs, is in the news. Again. On their favourite topic, halal certification. Again. No surprise here.

Like any other bureaucracy, Jakim will always fight to ensure its continued existence: that’s what bureaucracies do. Like any other bureaucracy, Jakim is funded by money granted by politicians – funds that comprise some or all the money we have, or even money we don’t have. Which means Jakim will exist forever.

Bureaucracies are protected by law, but Jakim has an extra layer of protection, arising from the constitutional status of Islam as the official religion of the country. Therefore, this combination makes it unanswerable to almost no one.

But here’s a big question: have Jakim’s efforts managed to turn Malaysia’s Muslims into better Muslims? Have Jakim’s procedures, policies and penalties nudged fellow Muslims any closer to God?

The answer is that it hasn’t. There’s no proof that Malaysian Muslims are better human beings now than before Jakim was set up. Perhaps we are more pious, showy and even arrogant, but are we better Muslims? I doubt it.

However, by the twisted logic of politics, such a failure of execution can be viewed as a perverted form of success: that things haven’t improved is not proof that the institution has failed, but instead is proof we need to give them even more money.

What the Quran says

Make no mistake, being halal is a critical part of the Islamic faith, and something close to all Muslim hearts, so it’s no surprise halal certification has become an emotional topic.

But consider the relevant Surah Al-Baqarah 2-173 from the Quran:

He has only forbidden you (to eat) carrion, blood, the flesh of swine and that over which has been pronounced the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity—neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need—they will not be sinful. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Being unlearned, I offer no explanation whatsoever on this verse. I leave it to you to read and understand as you will, as messages in the Quran are meant to be.

But I do have a story to tell.

The pulut udang chronicles

In the 1960s, my parents eked out a meagre living as food hawkers. At one time, my father sold the Penang delicacy pulut udang, or what others call pulut panggang.

This is a sausage-like combination of glutinous rice with a filling of spicy grated coconut and shrimp (the udang part of pulut udang) enveloped by banana leaf and baked (panggang) over charcoal, as attested by its alternative name.

It’s very popular up north. My parents were very good at making it, and my father sold it at a stall at the foot of the Boston Bar, a famous nightclub at the junction of Penang Road and Prangin Road.

His business relied on the morning traffic, and not on the bar-goers: they certainly didn’t patronise the bar because of my father’s pulut udang nearby, however delicious it was.

Apart from pulut udang, he also sold pau, the Chinese steamed dumpling that comes with a filling of kaya or red beans or even spicy meats. The pau was made by our neighbours, who happened to be very good at making them. They also happened to be Chinese.

I know many people nowadays can’t even imagine how this could happen. But my parents were very devout Muslims, who obviously had asked the Chinese neighbours whether the pau was halal, and were told it was.

My parents had no reason to doubt them, and neither did any of their Muslim customers, who were fully aware that the pau was indeed 

ori

, as in Chinese-made.

In my unlearned way, I have absolutely no doubt God has no problems with this. After all, in His message, He’s been very clear about what is halal and what is not.

Perhaps my parents were simple people: they never got around to asking about halal certificates or doubting their neighbours purely because of racial and religious differences. Or perhaps they actually understood that what God wanted was for humans to follow His guidance with all their heart and soul, and not just to tick boxes or virtue-signal their piety.

The politics of piety

Now here’s a thought: if you really want to avoid haram stuff, apart from what is mentioned in the Quran, you must also avoid all gifts from politicians.

If the politician is in a position of power, I’d say with almost utter certainty any monetary gift would be dodgy at best, and likely to be downright haram. And if the politician has been convicted of a crime, well…

While eating haram food will harm your faith, taking haram money that should have gone to the poor and the needy will harm your soul and also society at large: in my book, that’s a bigger sin.

You may say you didn’t know, or that you don’t have any proof such a 

gift

 is haram and hence it’s OK to accept. Well, why shouldn’t the same logic be good for food and drinks? If in your heart and soul you believe that the food is halal, will God still be angry with you?

Is that the sense you have of God’s message in the verse from Surah Al-Baqarah?

Don’t we have bigger issues facing Muslims – corruption, unfairness, poverty, injustice? Wouldn’t solving or at least fighting these be what Islam is all about?

Path of least resistance

An Islamic bureaucracy certainly wouldn’t do that: taking on huge, scary forces of injustice can threaten their existence. A safer option is to shove halal certificates down the throats of those who cannot fight back.

Here’s another question– will this new certification process bring enough revenue to Jakim such that the agency will be self-sustaining such that its usual budget from taxpayers can be channelled elsewhere, such as helping the poor and the needy?

Shouldn’t that money then go to everyone who deserves it, regardless of background? Wouldn’t this open up the hearts of many non-Muslims into thinking that perhaps Islam is an answer for them, too, and not just a religion of the Malays?

That won’t happen. What’ll happen is a fractured and fragmented implementation of halal certification. Some states with an antipathy towards Jakim may choose to go their own way. Others, such as the states run by the holier-than-thou federal opposition, may also choose their own path. It’ll be a mess.

I cannot imagine how my late parents would fare in today’s angrier, more bigoted world. This halal battle needs to be called our for what it really is, a new front in our toxic politics of race.

Power and accountability

Here’s the deal, though. If Jakim or anybody else takes on the power to be the arbiter of the halalness of food sold to Muslims, it must also accept the accountability.

If any halal certification comes through improper means, whether through incompetence, negligence, corruption etc, or if the enforcement of such certifications doesn’t guarantee the halalness of said food – then, while those in Jakim will escape accountability on Earth, they will be held accountable beyond this life.

Please also remember God never said food prepared by fellow Muslims is automatically halal, especially in today’s world of long and complex supply chains, not to mention greed and perfidy. So Muslims need halal certificates too.

Will a halal certificate also ensure cleanliness and sanitation as claimed? I doubt that. Just look at how dirty some Muslim restaurants are which are supposed to already be halal.

Were my late parents liable to be punished by God for having sold non-halal certified food to Muslims on the streets of Penang all those years ago? The truth is nobody knows the answer to these questions. But here’s a clue contained in the abovementioned Surah Al-Bakharah 2-173 – Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Of course there are many today who think my parents would be punished for what they did. To these people, all I can say is – you can all go to heaven for all I care! - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.