Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations (UCLouvain, Belgium)

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08.30-09.00: Registration Panel II
09.00-09.30: Introduction and welcome
14.30-18.00 Chair Baudouin Dupret (CNRS, UCL)
Introduction Ayang Utriza Yakin (UCL, RSCS) and
Baudouin Dupret (CNRS, UCL)
14.30-15.15 Keynote Speech
Welcome Louis-Léon Christians (RSCS, UCL)
Panel I John R. Bowen

(Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
09.30-13.00 Chair Louis-Léon Christians (UCL/RSCS) “Material Semiotics of Halal Qualities.”
09.30-10.15 Keynote Speech 15.15-16.15: 1st session

HALAL CERTIFICATION ISSUES IN JAPAN
Ibrahim Warde
(The Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA)
"The Halal Industry between Ethics and Marketing" Mariko Arata (Ritsumeikan Universtiy, Japan), “Serving
foods to Muslims in restaurants in Japan: How South-
10.15-11.15: 1st session east Asian halal certification standards are affecting
HALAL CERTIFICATION AND ISSUES ON food industries in Non-Muslim countries?”
STANDARDIZATION
Shuko Takeshita (Aichi Gakuin University, Japan), “Ha-
Barbara Hayat Ruiz-Bejarano (Halal Institute, Spain),
lal Certification and Attracting Foreign Muslim Tourists:
“Halal Standard Harmonization, current informal prac-
A Comparison between Pro- and Anti-Certification
tices by HCBs and on harmonization of formal national
halal standards” Groups in Japan”
Shaheed Tayob (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), 16.15-16.30: Tea-break

"The Ethics of Trust: Halal Certification and Intra-Mus-
lim Trade in South Africa" 16.30-17.30: 2nd session
HALAL CERTIFICATION ISSUES IN ITALY
11.15-11.30: Tea-break
Rossella Bottoni (Catholic University of Milan), “The

11.30-13.00: 2nd session
HALAL CERTIFICATION ISSUES IN EASTERN AND Italian Experience with Halal Certification Bodies: The
SOUTHERN EUROPE Case of Halal Italia”
Konrad Pędziwiatr (Cracow University, Poland), "Halal Lauren Marr (Washington University at St. Louis, USA),
Certification as a Source of Intra and Inter Group “’Cosa C’e’ Dietro’ (what’s behind): Halal and Country of
Tensions – Case of Muslims in Poland" Origin Certifications in Milan, Italy”
Antonio de Diego González (Halal Academy, Spain),

“Building Sharia boards for halal sector in non-Muslim
Southern Europe: An Islamologic analysis” 19.00-21.30: Welcome Dinner
13.00-14.30: Lunch and Break

"RETHINKING HALAL:
GENEALOGY, CURRENT TRENDS, AND
NEW INTERPRETATIONS"
GENERAL BACKGROUND
The issue of halal sprang up in the early 1980s, but only in the
past 10 years has it become a salient concern, especially in Europe
and Asiatic non-Muslim countries, mainly for business purposes and
other economic activities. Since then, halal has encompassed all as-
pects of modern human life, from halal food-processing, halal hotel,
halal sauna, halal cosmetics, halal drugs, halal fashion, halal taxi to
halal airline. From this halal phenomenon, many new things arose:
halal certificate body (HCB), Islamic marketing, Islamic finance, and
the like. Accordingly, halal has been continuously normalized and
standardized by modern rationality that has turned into a practice
and policy for regulating Muslims in their whole daily life. These
new practices in economy progressively required new kinds of ulama
committees to deal with new discovery in food, pharmaceutical and
cosmetic industries in order to issue a fatwa on it, which did not exist
and was different in the past within classical-fiqh discussion.
In the same vein, halal creates a spirit of entrepreneurship based
on ethics that abides by Islamic law arguing to serve Muslim com-
munity. Consequently its economic practices bring to some extent
a “halal management” which could be understood as a management
based on Islamic values and norms. At the same time, this halal econ-
omy has been largely practiced by a specific ethnic group using their
ethnic identity (Moroccan, Indian or Turkish for instance) for halal
commerce. This reality unveils the relation between ethics and ethnic
that are closely intertwined in Muslims’ economic practices. Compa-
nies and firms are based upon an Islamic ethics and on ethnical iden-
tity and values in order to attract more consumers and clients. These
interactions force the State to regulate and make a legislation on halal.
In this stage, one may say that the State becomes an active ‘agent’ for
halal. Once halal has been regulated, it may probably raise an issue
between stakeholders, not to say the least that halal stakeholders may
1
drag each other to courts. This phenomenon never happened in the
past.
For this conference, we invite scholars and researchers to reveal
the genealogy of halal in the past during which Muslim religious
scholars started to write and to discuss ‘halal’ as a knowledge and
discourse and to unravel Muslim social practices towards halal. Next,
we need also to discuss how main actors in halal (ulama, state, halal
certificate bodies, scholars) are producing halal norms and standards
for ‘the other’. This could lead us to rethink how they become a moral
agent (individually or institutionally) to control, to guide, and to
dictate what is lawful and unlawful for societies, industries, and com-
panies. Eventually, we must explore a fiqh (read: fatwa in Islamic law)
about halal interpretation on new discoveries and findings in science
that will influence our future generations. This circle of ‘halalness’ is
the result of a continuous contingency process within the Muslim
communities and scholars. Keynote speakers and selected-speakers
are, therefore, expected to write a manuscript based upon an origi-
nal and high-quality research, which during the conference will be
distributed for critical comments, suggestions, and feedbacks.
The conference will feature keynote speakers in the field for
plenary session and invited scholars as discussant. This two-day
conference offers a unique opportunity to share his/her work among
specialists in the field and to contribute towards a forthcoming publi-
cation. To have a broad range of halal research, the conference would
like to put halal at the centre of interdisciplinary discussion in the
globalized world from wider aspects: law, politic, anthropology, so-
ciology, education, history, philology, economy, food, pharmaceutics,
and cosmetic technologies. The conference will focus, but not limited
to the following themes:
1. Halal Certification Bodies (HCB) and the “Imagined Standard-

ized Norms” of Halal
This theme is dedicated to (i) the study of halal certification bodies
around the world, both in Muslim majority and Muslim minority
countries, and (ii) its role to create an “imagined standards and
norms” in halal. The theme attempts to answer: Who are those actors
in halal certification bodies? What are the standards? Do they make
norms of halal? Where is the role of ulama in the process of certifi-
2 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

cation? Who is the authority in deciding the halalness of a product?
Does the standardization of halal neglect traditional Islamic institu-
tions? Does the HCB marginalize the role of ulama? Does the HCB
become an enterprise primarily seeking profit as “a multinational or
national company” rather than serving Muslim communities? What
is the financial dimension in the halal certification process?
2. Glocalisation and Dialogical Network of Halal

The glocalization of halal and its dialogical network are an import-
ant framework for halal research. The theme is to reveal anthro-
pologically and ethnologically a local factor that leads halal to be
a striking and prominent issue in a particular country, Muslim or
not. Obviously, it has to do with practices of the people of a country
as a daily life routine and it becomes ‘habitus’. The local factors and
local cultures and traditions are at work to unveil an issue of halal in
a particular country in the development of halal. Every country has
indeed its own history of halal. This refuses a globalized discourse on
halal as perceived by many. Indeed, the interaction between the local
and the global cannot be neglected. The issue on halal is rather much
more nuanced than only a “domino effect” discourse. This theme at-
tempts to answer the following questions: To what extent do the local
factors determine the debate and the practice of halal? How do global
and local factors interact in halal discussion and practices?
3. Historical transformation and development of halal

The theme is to explore in philosophical way the interaction of the
process of naming of “halal”. It tries to understand the transforma-
tion of halal from the past to the future. In other words, how halal
had been named and produced as a discourse (in the past) that
framed our actual conception. It leads us to re-think our new con-
ceptions about halal (at the present). This gives a way to discuss the
new conception on halal that would affect and influence the gener-
ations to come (in the future). The theme is looking for answers to
questions like: How was the concept of halal thought of by Muslims
in the past? What is our conception of halal at present? How will it
influence people’s concept of halal in the future?
Université Catholique de Louvain | 3

4. Halal, Commodification of Islam, and Management
This theme is dedicated to reveal the convergence among the ethic
(halal), the ethnic (identity of a particular ethnic), and the etiquette
in halal economic practices. The theme also tries to explore how halal
market ‘commodified’ Islam and its impact on the management on
muslim workers. The session tries to answer the following questions:
What are the cross-influences of Islamic ethics and normativity in
commerce, trade, entrepreneurship and management in dealing with
halal? What is the role of ethnic identity in halal commerce? What is
the relation between ‘the ethic’ and ‘the ethnic’ in the Islamic inspired
economy? Which kind of values/norms are the most efficient in com-
merce: ethic or ethnic? Then, what halal management is?
5. The State, Halal Marketing, and Islamic Finance

The theme will investigate the role of the State (governmental
bodies), private actors (companies and enterprises) and civil society
in “promoting” and “marketing” a halal that contributes towards an
emergence and a development of Islamic finance either in Muslim
majority countries or in Muslim minority. However, in Muslim
minority countries, for instance in Europe, the States have ‘two
concerns’: on the international level, the States encourage companies
and enterprises to export halal product to Muslim majority countries
for economic purposes, while at the national level, the States may be
suspicious about halal market which they think potentially leads to
communitarianism or to fundamentalism. This theme will attempt
to answer the following questions: What is role of the State and civil
society in halal economy? What role do ‘Islamic’ marketing agencies
play in halal promotion? Does the Islamic finance become a final
purpose of halal economy?
6. Halal’s Fatwa and Role of Ulama’s Committee

The theme will attempt to explore the development and the evolution
of fatwas on halal in both the classical-fiqh and the modern-fiqh and
the debate among the organizations of ulama and the committee
of Islamic law research around the Muslim world and its impact in
non-Muslim countries and vice-versa. The theme tries to respond to
such questions as: How has halal been interpreted in Islamic theol-
ogy? How are the halal practices of Muslim communities that are

different from those discourses in Islamic theology? What are the
new fatwas in the contemporary Islamic world (individual fatwa or
institutional fatwa)? In what way do they differ from those in the
classical-fiqh and why? How do various fatwa committees in different
Muslim countries perceive of halal differently? How does ulama react
to a rapidly growing contemporary halal economy? What differences
are in opinion pertaining to halal among the committee of fatwa in
the Muslim world? How does ulama deal with the fast growing halal
market in issuing halal fatwa on the products?
7. Halal between Legislation and Judicial Practices

This theme is to study how judges adjudicated a case on halal in one
country. The theme is mainly interested to reveal halal legislation
and judicial practices in a particular country. It tries to answer the
following questions: What does legislation tell us about halal (law
in the book)? How has halal been legislated? What are the judicial
practices in the court (law in action)?
8. Halal Development and New Discoveries in Food, Pharmaceu-

tical, and Cosmetic
The theme attempts to explain current developments and new dis-
coveries on food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors, for instance
the use of gelatin and alcohol. This theme attempts to answer the
following questions: What are the new findings and discoveries at the
present? In which ways they differ from the past and why?
Ayang Utriza Yakin, Louis-Léon Christians, Baudouin Dupret

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Prof. Dr. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler

(CNRS and IREMAM, Université de Provence,
France), "Pour une approche critique de la notion
de halal en sciences sociales".
Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Warde

(The Flecther School, Tufts University, USA) "The
halal industry between ethics and marketing".
Prof. Dr. John Bowen

(Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
“Material Semiotics of Halal Qualities”
Prof. Dr. John Lever

(Department of Management, Huddersfield
Bussiness School, University of Huddersfield,
England), “Consuming halal in the age of
globalized mass production compound practice –
Knowing what to eat?”

LIST OF THE PRESENTERS
Institute/
Name Country University Title
Antonio de Di- Spain The Halal Building Sharia boards

ego González Academy for halal sector in
non-Muslim Southern
Europe: An Islamologic
analysis.
Barbara Hayat Spain The Halal Halal Standard Harmo-

Ruiz-Bejarano Institute nization, current infor-
mal practices by HCBs
and on harmonization
of formal national halal
standards.
Eleftheria EGEL Germany University Does “Halal” risk being
of People, left devoid of its spiritual
Pasadena, essence? The challenge
California of functioning in the
neoliberal paradigm
En-Chieh Chao Taiwan Department The making of halal

of Sociology, science: Lard scandals,
Sun Yat-sen Shafi'i fatwas, and
University, pharmacology lab in
Taiwan Indonesia
Hacer Z. Gonul Belgium Université The Dilemma of Chinese

Libre de Food’s ‘Halal-ification’ in
Bruxelles Global Islamic Mar-
ket and Ethnic Bias in
China: The Role of Hui
Community
Harun Sencal England Durham Cen- Rethinking Halal: A
tre for Islamic Fuzzy Logic Perspective
Economics
and Finance

Konrad Pędzi- Poland The Cracow Halal Certification as a
wiatr University of Source of Intra and Inter
Economics Group Tensions – Case
of Muslims in Poland
Lauren Marr USA Department “Cosa C’e Dietro” (what’s

of Anthro- behind): Halal and
pology, Country of Origin Certi-
Washington fications in Milan, Italy.
University at
St. Louis
Marc Des- Belgium Advisory ISLAMIC BOOLE-PA-

champs Board of the RETO LAW: Towards a
Halal Club reasonable harmoniza-
Brussels tion of Halal norms and
practices
Mariko Arata Japan College of Serving foods to Mus-

Gastronomy lims in restaurants in
Management, Japan: How Southeast
Ritsumeikan Asian halal certification
Universtiy standards are affect-
ing food industries in
Non-Muslim countries?
Matteo Benussi UK Social An- Living Halal in the Volga

thropology Region: Lifestyle and
at th Civil Society
e University Opportunities
of Cambridge
Ma Jianfu China North Minzu Migrants, Foodways and

University of Halal: Chinese Muslims
China in Central Asia and Their
Localization

Murk Muller Nether- Attorney in Contractual Clarity for a
lands Rotterdam Holy Commodity
dan Berlin
Rossella Bottoni Italy Faculty of The Italian Experience

Political and with Halal Certification
Social Scienc- Bodies: The Case of
es, Catholic Halal Italia
University of
Milan
Shaheed Tayob South Department The Ethics of Trust:

Africa of Anthro- Halal Certification and
pology, Intra-Muslim Trade in
Stellenbosch South Africa
University
Shuko Takeshita Japan Department Halal Certification

of Japanese and Attracting Foreign
Cultural Muslim Tourists: A
Studies, Aichi Comparison between
Gakuin Uni- Pro- and Anti-Certifica-
versity tion Groups
Yukari Sai Japan Waseda The Rise and Decline of

Institute for Influence of Malaysian
Advanced Concepts of Modern
Study, Wase- Halal upon Asian Coun-
da University tries: The Cases of Japan
and Taiwan
Zaynab El-Ber- Morocco School of China as a Leader of the
noussi Humanities Halal Business
and Social
Sciences at
Al Akhawayn
University

Building Sharia boards for halal sector
in non-Muslim Southern
Europe. An Islamologic analysis.
Antonio de Diego González
I n global trade, halal food has become a

dynamic phenomenon, linking Islamic
and non-Islamic economies. While Islamic
countries have experienced a remarkable
growth in terms of demographics —which
vmeans a great demand for halal-certified
products—, most of halal products are
manufactured in non-Islamic countries.
These products need to conform to halal
standards, set up by the destination markets
in Islamic countries, which are combination
of religious and technical requirements.
There are several halal standards (MS, HAAS,
OIC-SMIIC, GSO, etc.), which reflect intra-
Islamic diversity, and the fact that there
Antonio de Diego are currently eight Islamic fiqh schools
González (Málaga, (madhahib) operating simultaneously
1986) is Postdoc- (International Islamic Fiqh Academy).
toral Researcher in Halal product manufacturers in non-
the Halal Acad-
Islamic countries must conform to those
emy (Spain) and
Research Associate halal standards applicable in the destination
in Junta Islámica markets. To assess conformity, they
de España. must undergo a process known as «halal

certification», and obtain a «halal certificate» for their products (and
sometimes their procedures). Conformity assessment is provided by
Halal certification bodies (HCB). The assessment is typically carried
out by a team comprising both ulema and technicians. Hence the
necessity of employing Muslim staff, as it is a requirement stated in
the standards.
A challenge for HCBs in European countries is to recruit Muslim
staff with appropriate qualifications. This is particularly critical in
the case of sharia experts because some of halal standards required
that they have high education in Islamic fīqh plus several years’
experience in the sector of application. Meeting these requirements
is particularly complicated in Europe: the lack of Islamic education
institutions, even the possibility of Islam being officially recognized
by the Governments or the Muslim population being accepted as
regular citizens poses halal in a critical scenario.
The status of Muslims in Europe is different in each country. It
ranges from formal recognition of a plural society, where Islam is
tolerated but has no juridical competencies, to open discrimination
and islamophobia, which pushes Muslims and anything Islamic to
the boundaries of citizenship. This has a clear impact on halal trade
at different levels. One the one hand, there are campaigns to boycott
halal production for export or even halal options in the country. On
the other hand, there are pressures against the creation of proper
and recognized HCBs employing Muslims. Finally, in a secularized
scenario, halal standards, which have a religious approach, are
constantly questioned or directly rejected.
This study analyzes the construction, experience, authority,
profiles of sharia boards and also the problems and opportunities
for them in three non-Muslim countries from Southern Europe:
Spain, Portugal and Croatia. In the case of Spain, the study is focused
in the sharia board of Instituto Halal as an example of diversity
and plurality, but also in their legal and jurisprudential boundaries
in the context of Western Mediterranean. This situation, with

Morocco and Algeria as neighbors, generates a constant search for
Spanish Islamic self-identity. In the same way, the experience of
Instituto Halal de Portugal is presented as a counterpart of Spain
with a great influence from East Africa Islam in the vision of sharia.
Finally, the paper will show the example of Croatia, between the
Islamska Zajednica u Hrvatskoj (Islamic Community of Croatia), as
a young halal power but under the cultural shadow of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Turkey. A situation that constitutes one reason to
promote innovation and excellency.
The methodology of this paper is interdisciplinary. From an
islamological point of view, but using social anthropology or
quantitate sociology techniques, this work offers a wider scope. I
used interviews, participant observation and work in the archives
of those organizations under study. Equally, I have analyzed work
papers and previous research to obtain a largest perspective.
Finally, all the aforementioned situations will be discussed —
employing a SWOT analysis— and will be related to sharia new
trends and debates (post-madhabism, Islamic liberalism and post-
liberalism) as well as the problem of educating ulemas in non-Muslim
countries or the necessity of local lobbies that look and amplify
the sector’s interests. Conclusion and strategies to addressing the
challenges faced by the sharia boards in Southern Europe will be
extracted from these analyses.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Antonio de Diego González (Málaga, 1986) is Postdoctoral

Researcher in the Halal Academy (Spain) and Research Associate
in Junta Islámica de España. He was, just 2016, PIF researcher
(FPU Pre-Doctoral Program, Spanish Government) in Universidad
de Sevilla where he obtained a PhD with a dissertation about
Islam in West Africa (Sevilla, 2016). He conducted field works in
Islamic West-Africa (Mauritania, Senegal) and the Caribbean. His
research lines are Islamic Africa Intellectual History and Philosophy
of Religion, Contemporary Islamic Intellectual History and the
developments of contemporary Sharia in halal sector.
CONTACT DETAILS
The Halal Academy

C/Claudio Marcelo 17, 1º
14002 – Córdoba (Spain)
Personal Website : https://us.academia.edu/AntonioDeDiego

Mobile Phone : (+34) 647204649
E- mail : research@thehalalacademy.com,
direccion@escuelahalal.com

Halal Standard Harmonization,
current informal practices by HCBs
and a position paper to on harmoniza-
tion of formal national halal standards.
Barbara Hayat Ruiz-Bejarano
A t the beginning of the millennium, the

word “halal” had little connection
with global trade, and it was rather used in
connection with local Muslim butchers and
the meat they sold. However, in recent years,
Halal is referred to as a synonym of the main
economic areas of the Islamic Economy. It
has become a global phenomenon. Several
phenomena account for this: shifting
demographics, emerging economic markets,
global outsourcing of food ingredients
and raw materials and the awareness and
uncompromising demands of Generation M.
Consumer unawareness of the halal status
of Consumer Goods (FMCGs) and the
Barbara Hayat
Ruiz-Bejarano difficulties of assessing the halal status of
(Zaragoza, 1968) foodstuff by just checking the ingredient list
is the Director of pushed for regulating the entry of goods in
International Rela- the importing markets.
tions of The Halal Halal standards were, therefore,
Institute (Spain),
developed in order to protect Muslim
a HCB which has
been operating for consumers from haram products being
the last 20 years. inadvertently imported in Islamic or

Muslim-majority countries. In the 1980s and 90s, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore create the first “Halal authorities” in order
to regulate halal imports, and published the first standards. The
movement was followed by SMIIC together with the International
Islamic Fiqh Academy (both OIC organisations), which published
their draft Halal Standards in 2010s. GSO followed suit with a
transposition of SMIIC as Technical Regulations for GCC countries
in 2015. Currently, other OIC and non-OIC countries are developing
their own halal standards. Typically, standards combine Islamic fiqh
with a practical knowledge of the sector to which they are applied.
However, the myriad of Halal Standards and regulations creates
confusion and poses non-tariff barriers to trade, affecting Halal
Certification Bodies (HCB), producers and consumers. Hence, the
need for harmonization.
In the case of HCBs, a spontaneous phenomenon of “Mutual
Recognition” (MR) has been acting as a sort of a harmonization
procedure. The global outsourcing of ingredients and raw materials
typically requires that HCBs request the ingredients’ Halal
Certificate in order to ensure traceability, irrespective of the Halal
Standard used to assess halal status. Criteria for MR remains elusive
and at the discretion of each HCB. The lack of a formal reference
for MR is critically risky, considering the food fraud and false halal
certificates in the market.
In the case of formal Halal Standards, several efforts have been
made by OIC-SMIIC in order to call for a Harmonized Halal
Standard. Being the umbrella organization for OIC member states,
SMIIC is possibly the only chance for a single halal standard
(although it would have to reflect the diversity presented by the eight
fiqh madhahib). The involvement of the International Islamic Fiqh
Academy (IIFA) guarantees that diversity and consensus will be
present in any Harmonized Halal Standard.
Other parallel enterprises and halal schemes have been launched
by national / regional actors, with uneven success and impact. The

involvement of non-Islamic organizations in Halal Certification,
for example, has been widely and strongly contested, and caused
that several countries rallied back to SMIIC in order to support the
idea that Certification Bodies involved in halal must be run by and
consisting of Muslims only.
The latest Halal forums and events (such as World Halal
Summit Istanbul, Thailand Halal Assembly, etc) have proposed
“harmonization” as part of their programmes in order to explore
proposals, particularly from Standards Institutions and HCBs.
There is a pressing need for OIC member states to agree on the
convenience of a single Halal Standard and put aside the use of
national regulations as a market protection tool to boost regional
leadership aspirations.
This paper presents a position statement for a harmonization
procedure beyond the informal practice of Mutual Recognition.
Understanding the imperious need that a single Halal Standard must
be uncontested, the role of SMIIC and the IIFA are essential in this
endeavour.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Barbara Hayat Ruiz-Bejarano (Zaragoza, 1968) is the Director

of International Relations of The Halal Institute (Spain), a HCB
which has been operating for the last 20 years. She holds a PhD in
Islamic Studies (University of Alicante) and is a researcher of the
UNESCO-UA Chair “Islam, Culture and Society”. She also teaches
two master degrees on Islam in University of Granada. Her previous
experience as a project manager for AINIA Food Technology Centre
(EU tenders and projects in European Standards) gives her a unique
insight into halal standards and their harmonization and application
in the EU industries.
CONTACT DETAILS
The Halal Institute

Claudio Marcelo, 17, 1ª. 14002 Córdoba, Spain.
E-mail : barbara.bejarano@institutohalal.com.
Mobile : 0034.691336645.

Does “Halal” risk being left devoid of
its spiritual essence?
The challenge of functioning in the
neoliberal paradigm
Eleftheria Egel
T he purpose of this study is to explore

three challenges the halal market faces
functioning in the neoliberal paradigm
whereas it ethically resides in the Islamic
Moral Economy (IME). I start by describing
the current state of the halal market and the
aspirations of the IME. Then I delve into
the self-controversies of the halal market
Eleftheria Egel is and argue that they are not macro- or
an independent
micro- challenges that can be solved through
scholar & man-
agement consul- the adoption of a number of successful
tant. Her research policies. They are spiritual crises as they
interests center on draw into question the meaning of life
workplace spiri- (being versus have), the relationship among
tuality on how spir- humans and between humans and nature
ituality can create
(interconnectedness versus exploitation) and
the foundation for
global leadership, the relationship of humans to God (Divine
sustainability and governance versus free market rule). Finally,
enhance harmony I present my reflections on the future of the
in multicultural halal market.
organizational Halal is an all-encompassing concept which
environments that
encourages a Muslim to adopt products that
include Muslim
employees. promote goodness in all aspects of life, safe

for consumption and produced in a clean and healthy environment.
In this paper I follow Alserhan’s (2010b) approach. I refer to all
three interlinked categories: food, lifestyles and services and to
the people adhering to the Islamic faith (Islam brands by religion).
Halal standards help companies and customers distinguish what is
accepted from a Shari’ah perspective (Halal or Haram) depending on
its ingredients and all the activities associated with it from the point
of origin to the point of consumption and going through the entire
value chain that created it.
The IME paradigm aims at the “creation of an Islamic economic
system with its distinct values, norm, rules and institutions with a
politically oriented systemic understanding as ordained in Islamic
order” (Asutay, 2007b, p.4). In this, moral economy is “an approach
to, and process of, interpreting and solving the economic problems
of human beings based on the values, norms, laws and institutions
found in, and derived from the sources of Islam” (Auda, 2008;
Haneef, 2005, p.5).
The fact that the halal market does business in the neoliberal
utilitarian paradigm built on dichotomy results in three challenges.
The first one questions human aspirations and values. It stems
from lack of clear vision. The neo-liberal paradigm promotes a
secular vision based on consumption aiming at the maximization of
profit, desires, markets, instrumental use, and self-interest. Within
this maximizing framework, freedom from want (and poverty)
is achieved through incorporating effective market behavior in
all aspects of one’s life and displacing other forms of rationality
(McMurtry, 2009; Rose and Miller, 1992). The Islamic market, on
the other hand, envisions creating a just society in which markets
provide a means for meeting human needs rather than defining
the essence of what it is to be human. How such a position would
reconcile with the consumption of smartphones, customized with
religious apps., ; bright colorful designer label headscarves; halal
McDonalds and KFC chicken; Swiss watches and Puma, Adidas and

Nike trainers(Wilson & Grant, 2013)?
The second challenge questions the relationships among humans
and among humans and nature. In the neoliberal paradigm, the
individual identity becomes a “commodity identity” (Keefe, 2003)
void of concern for the larger environment and the impact of one’s
lifestyle on others. Within it, nature has no innate value but is a
provider of resources and relationships among humans are based
on the interplay between egocentric individuals seeking to act
independently of each other in order to optimize their self-interests
(mechanistic solidarity) (Daly and Cobb Jr., 1994; De Witt and
Meyer, 1998; Georgescu-Roegen, 1971; Ims and Jakobsen, 2006). The
Islamic worldview, on the other hand, promotes organic solidarity.
Human beings, as Allah’s khilafah (vicegerent) on earth, are endowed
with natural environment to nurture their needs and share the
responsibility to engage in productive activities through cooperation
and utilize the resources of the earth for welfare purpose (El-Ghazali,
1994; Qu’ran 3:103; 4:1; 7:10;49:10). How such a position would
reconcile with meat producers delivering up to 1000 chickens in one
day in one abattoir (Wilson & Grant, 2013)?
The third challenge questions the theistic ontology of Islam. The
neoliberal market is built on capitalistic economic principles. Its
functioning is subservient only to the forces of supply and demand
that keep markets in a state of equilibrium and its objective is utility
maximization (von Hayek, 1960). Ethics is strong market-utilitarian
and is regarded as a competitive tool to increase the market value
of the firm or the product (Porter and van der Linde,1995). In Islam
“God is the ultimate Cause of every event and the final End of all
that is”(Al- Faruqi, 1982 p.50). The outcome is an Islamic worldview
which is holistic, giving primacy to spiritual and moral factors
over material ones. In this paradigm society cannot be external to
the economic dynamic and individuals cannot be rational actors
focused on utility maximization. The value of any business action
stems from its contribution to the general welfare of society (Naqvi,

1981). This implies that nobody should exploit, command disasters
and shortages of commodities to create a monopoly, to benefit
only himself. All members of society should have equal shares and
right of access to them (Chapra, 1992; Abusulayman, 1998; Qu’ran
14: 23-33; 57:25; 56:63-65). How such a position would reconcile
with companies like Citibank, Wal-Mart or KFC selling products or
services that are labeled as halal when their main objective is profit
(Ali & Al-Aali , 2015)?
The above inconsistencies create a number of questions on
the future of halal that demand further reflection.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Eleftheria Egel, Ph.D is an independent scholar & management

consultant. Her research interests center on workplace spirituality;
in particular, on how spirituality can create the foundation for global
leadership, sustainability and enhance harmony in multicultural
organizational environments that include Muslim employees.
She has held positions as adjunct professor at the International
University of Monaco (www.monaco.edu) and the University of
People (www.uopeople.edu). She has been ad-hoc reviewer for
the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE), the Journal of Management,
Spirituality & Religion (JMSR), the Humanistic Management Journal(
HMAJ), Organization Studies Journal(OS) and the Business Ethics: A
European Review (BEER) journal. She is a member of organizations,
such as, the Academy of Management (www.aom.org) and the
International Leadership Association (http://www.ila-net.org/). She
mainly works as management consultant with the International
Institute for Spiritual Leadership (http://iispiritualleadership.com/).
Their goal is to assist organizations to maximize their triple bottom
line through the implementation of a specific model of spiritual
leadership, the Spiritual Leadership Model (SLM). Eleftheria aspires
to contribute to the unfolding leadership trend that supports
inclusive and sustainable development for businesses and their
communities through spirituality.
CONTACT DETAILS
Werderstrasse 17, 79379 Muellheim Germany

Mobile: + 49 170 24 79 156

The making of halal science:
Lard scandals, Shafi'i fatwas, and
pharmacology lab in Indonesia
En-Chieh Chao
T he booming of halal products

worldwide has gained much attention
across disciplines from business school,
Islamic law, to food and pharmacological
sciences. Yet, the phenomenon remains
underexplored within Studies of Technology
and Society (STS) and anthropology.
Pioneering efforts in ethnographic research
can be found in Johan Fischer’s works, in
which he analyzes Malay Muslim middle-
class’ desire for Islamic commodities,
the institutionalizing power of the state,
En-Chieh Chao is the branding of halal products, and the
an assistant pro- technologies employed in the halal lab (2008,
fessor of sociology
2015). His observation of “Islamization
at Nsysu, Taiwan.
An anthropologist of material technology and techniques”
of religion, politics (2015:105) has opened up other important
and sexuality, questions. What were the cultural
with particular backgrounds and techno-social processes
interests in histories that made possible the scientification
and cultures of
of halal certification? Why did its most
Muslim societies
and Indonesian complete form occur in Southeast Asia and
communities. not the Middle East? How did a country like

Indonesia come to be embraced by global ummah as one of the most
important players of halal certification?
To answer these questions, I have conducted 3 years of archival
research of local newspapers and magazines, interviews with
auditors of the LPPOM MUI (Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Section of
Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars) and with the nation’s most
prestigious halal research scientists in the Pharmacy Faculty at Gajah
Mada University (UGM). In this paper, I elaborate a techno-social
history of the making of halal science in Indonesia after a series
of food scandals unfolded, particularly highlighting the paradigm
shifts of halal certification’s legitimacy in the country. By “halal
science,” I mean the extensively conducted scientific research and
lab experiment dedicated to screening and detecting the presence
of non-halal element in food, drug, and cosmetics. I argue that the
emerging halal science cannot be simply reduced to naturalized
Muslim desires (which ignores that the booming of halal products
only began recently), state policies (as if there was never resistant
movement against the institutionalization of halal certification
from society), or merely religious conservatism (as if the need of
standardized certification is unique to Muslims, and as if ulamas
have not historically issued fatwas regarding new technologies, cf.
Ichwan 2005). Instead, I insist that halal science was made possible
by complicated processes of “co-production” (Jasanoff, 2004) of
knowledge, participated by food scientists, Chinese-owned factories,
Shafi’i Islamic thoughts, inter/intra national politics, as well as
porcine materiality and the logic of laboratory findings.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
En-Chieh Chao is an assistant professor of sociology at Nsysu,

Taiwan. An anthropologist of religion, politics and sexuality, with
particular interests in histories and cultures of Muslim societies
and Indonesian communities. She is the author of Entangled Pieties:
Muslim-Christian relations and gendered sociality in Java, Indonesia
(2017, Palgrave Macmillan), and other peer-reviewed journal articles.
More recently, she focuses on the materiality of Islamic practices
with the approach of social studies of science and technology (STS),
specifically in the field of halal matters.

The Dilemma of Chinese Food’s
‘Halal-ification’ (清真乏化) in Global
Islamic Market and Ethnic Bias
in China: The Role of Hui Community
Hacer Z. Gonul
F or decades China's Muslims were

alienated from the global Muslim
community for political and geographical
reasons. In recent years, however, China
has become increasingly active in Muslim
majority countries through the “One Belt,
One Road” initiative (OBOR), which seeks
to foster a China-centric global investment
and trade network. Within OBOR, Ningxia
(a province in central China and China’s sole
Hui autonomous region) is emerging as the
center of China’s re-engagement with the
Muslim world. This paper explores Chinese
eagerness to join and dominate the global
Halal market via the OBOR initiative. In the
Communist Party’s strategy, Ningxia's halal
Hacer Z. Gonul food industry, operated by the Hui Muslim
was a Ph.D. student minority community, plays a pivotal role.
in Anthropology at
Government sponsored initiatives include
Peking University
and has spent the Wuzhong Halal Industrial Park, which to
over 10 years living date houses over 200 companies in Ningxia.
in several cities In exploring the Chinese government’s
across China. ambition to dominate the global Halal

market, this paper seeks to shed a light on how the the secular
Chinese state seeks to gain acceptance from Muslim majority
nations for Halal foods made in China. The endorsement of Halal
exports ostensibly clashes with rising domestic Islamophobia in
response to the growing prevalence of Halal segregation in China.
In order to explore these themes, this paper first introduces how
Chinese State aches to join Global Islamic Market with Halal
products despite its officially atheist state system. Secondly, it
examines why the state selected the Hui Muslims of Ningxia to
lead Sino-Muslim world trade, rather than the larger community of
Uyghurs in Xinjiang. This section introduces model minority theory
to assess Chinese government policy. Third, the paper assesses the
potential conflict between the Chinese export strategy with growing
domestic resentment toward increasingly visible Halal segregation.
The central government views Halal food production as a
significant vehicle for lifting local economies, particularly in the Hui
community, through foreign engagement. China's interactions with
Muslim majority countries has been originated in and now centers
on Ningxia. Ningxia's Halal food industry, which was worth nearly
$700 million a year by 2010, also exported over $1 million worth of
Halal food per annum to Malaysia, the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt. At
the same time, local authorities of Ningxia hope to take advantage
of their Islamic roots to reach out to the Muslim world. By doing so,
Chinese government permits Hui to capitalize on their membership
in the global community of Muslims.
China still a lacks a national-level halal certification, which
earns international credibility in the global Islamic market. China’s
first Halal Foods International Trading Certification Centre was
established in 2008 and created the General Provisions of Halal
Food Certification in March 2013 with approval by the China
Certification and Accreditation Administration. This standard
is used by over 100 local businesses. However, although the
certification centre is a promising development, there is still

no unified halal certification standard in China with reliable
credibility in international Islamic markets. Nonetheless, there are
20 institutions in 16 foreign countries which have signed mutual
recognition agreements on halal food standards with Ningxia, such
as Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand in 2008.
While these efforts exhibit considerable foreign policy successes
for China, the domestic majority takes “Halalification” (清真乏化) as
a threat for national harmony. Many Han Chinese expressed a wave
of criticism over Halal and non-Halal food segregation as causing
division in Chinese society so anti-Muslim rhetoric rises on Weibo
and Weixin towards Chinese Muslim minorities.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Hacer Z. Gonul was a Ph.D. student in Anthropology at Peking

University and has spent over 10 years living in several cities
across China. Currently, I engage in political science research
at the Université Libre de Bruxelles as a Ph.D. candidate in East
Asian Studies (EASt). I hold a MA in Sociology from Central China
Normal University in Wuhan and completed a bachelor’s degree in
Chinese Language and Economy at Tongji University in Shanghai.
My master research was titled: "Chinese and Turkish Policy on
Minorities – A comparative study between Kurdish and Uyghur”.
I have also conducted research in the Hui communities of Wuhan
and Beijing. This research was published in the book titled Hui
Muslims in China. My current research analyses the securitization of
Chinese Muslim minority communities in China. Beyond my special
interest in Chinese Muslim minorities, my research interests include
ethnicity, radicalization and social & cultural transformations
in contemporary China with a special focus on Chinese Islam and
Hui community.
CONTACT DETAILS
Université Libre de Bruxelles, 31 Rue de Constitution 31 Schaerbeek
E-mail: hacer.zekiye.gonul@ulb.ac.be
gnlzky@gmail.com

Rethinking Halal:
A Fuzzy Logic Perspective
Harun Sencal
D uring the last decades, we have

witnessed the competition of
Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) with
conventional financial institutions at a
global scale, particularly after the 1990s.
As a result of this competition, developing
‘efficient’ products and services with ‘low
transaction cost’ and maximized shareholder
value while providing Shari’ah compliancy
at the same time has become the main
challenge for Islamic Financial Institutions
(IFIs). In responding this challenge, IFIs
geared towards fulfilling the commands
of the capitalist market system in terms of
efficiency and minimum transaction cost
and being contented with the form-based
Harun Sencal is a approach to secure ‘halal’ status. To achieve
PhD Candidate in this status, maslaha (public utility) is utilized
Durham Centre for
as the main justification method for the
Islamic Econom-
ics and Finance, controversial products and services.
Durham University While maslaha has utilized in fatwa
Business School, process (issuing a ruling) in the histrocial
UK. Muslim societies and official governance

mechanism, in modern context, it has been transformed into a new
understanding. This new approach is employed to find solutions to
the problems which none of the schools of thoughts issues a fatwa
that Muslims are attracted. The most important feature of this
method is that it can be contrary to the verses of the Qur’an or the
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Nonetheless, as long as jurists
consider this solution as ‘maslaha’ for public, it is considered as a
valid ruling. Following al-Bouti (2005: 208), we may call this kind
of maslaha, delusional maslaha (maslaha mutawahham) due to its
contradictions with the verses of the Qur’an or the sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad.
Some jurists have utilised delusional maslaha in case of a necessity
which requires extraordinary precautions to ensure so-called
benefits of people where these precautions cannot be extracted
from the two main sources, namely the Qur’an and Sunnah. Such
a state of necessity is similar to a state of exception as defined
by Schmitt (2005: 6). We argue, therefore, the jurist who applies
delusional maslaha resulting into cooptation of an exception in the
Islamic law. This state is considered as an exception since appealing
delusional maslaha means suspending the verses of the Qur’an and
the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, which are the cornerstones
of the Islamic law. Schmitt (2005: 5) stated that, “Sovereign is he
who decides on the exception”. Hence, by issuing a fatwa based
on delusional maslaha, jurist becomes ‘sovereign’. Furthermore, in
reality, jurist does not issue a fatwa by his own will, rather it is the
enforcement of the capitalist market system which leads the jurist
to issue such a fatwa based on delusional maslaha so that IFIs can
survive under market conditions. Consequently, we can argue
that it is the capitalism and its unceasing demand rather than the
Shari’ah scholars, remains sovereign over Islamic law in such state of
exception.
In the second part of this paper, we offer a potential way out of
this hegemony, at least a way to moderate the outcomes of IFIs

as expressed as ‘social failure’ and bring the existing institutions
closer to the initial aspirations. As a potential solution, this study
suggests a civil society based regulatory mechanism to evaluate
Shari’ah compliance of the products and services of IFIs. This
regulatory mechanism does not substitute but complements the role
of Shari’ah scholars. This regularity system should go beyond the
binary opposition of halal/haram or permissible/impermissible and
implement a fuzzy logic approach towards morality of Shari’ah. In
other words, rather than deciding whether a certain product is halal
or haram, this mechanism should mainly aim to decide to what
degree a certain product or service is compatible with the morality
of Shari’ah in different dimensions such as environment, employee-
employer relationship, production process, etc. The labelling such
as ‘suitable for vegetarians’ or ‘fair trade’, for instance, are examples
of binary dichotomies whereas energy efficiency rating of houses or
domestic appliances on a scale of 1-100 is an example of the fuzzy
logic approach.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Harun Sencal is a PhD Candidate in Durham Centre for Islamic

Economics and Finance, Durham University Business School, UK
and has graduated from Computer Engineering Department of
the Yeditepe University, Turkey. His research includes theoretical
and empirical aspects of Islamic finance. Regarding the empirical
aspects, he mainly focused on risk aspects of indices and comparison
of conventional and Islamic indices from different perspectives,
which are presented in a number of international conferences. As for
theoretical aspects, he conducts research on Islamic moral economy
with an emphasis on the role of Shari’ah scholars in developing a
more embedded Islamic banking industry. He is married and has one
child.
CONTACT DETAILS
E-mail : harun.sencal@durham.ac.uk
Mobile Number : +905360273399

Halal Certification as a Source of
Intra and Inter Group Tensions –
Case of Muslims in Poland
Konrad Pędziwiatr
T here has been unprecedented growth

and development of halal goods and
services markets across Europe (Lever &
Miele 2012). These processes of various
intensity have touched not only countries
with significant Muslim populations such
as inter alia Germany, France and UK, but
also those with smaller but historically more
anchored Muslim communities such as for
example Poland. Although Muslims make up
less than 0,1 % of the Polish population that
is less than 40,000 people, majority of them
arrived to Poland only in the last decades
they play a crucial role in the country’s
halal meat and other food production and
certification businesses. Not only two major
Polish Muslim organisations (Muslim
Religious Union and Muslim League) have
Konrad Pedziwiatr
developed their own halal certification
is an Assistant
Professor at the strategies but also a minority group of
Cracow Univer- Ahmadi Muslims in Poland have been trying
sity of Economics, to follow their tracks. The fact that Poland
Poland. is one of the biggest meat producers in

Europe and exports 80 % of its beef abroad (RP 2017) is not without
importance here. A significant part of this meat is halal-certified
and is being sold not only to numerous European countries but
also to Africa and Asia. This lucrative business has been a source of
numerous controversies and disputes. The proposed presentation
will shed light on the key dimensions of the halal conflicts in Poland
which directly or indirectly involve Polish Muslim population or
various groups within it. It will argue that the halal food production
and certification has been both a blessing and a curse for Muslims in
Poland.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Konrad Pedziwiatr holds PhD in Social Sciences from the from the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and MA in European
Studies from University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and MA in
Sociology from Jagiellonian University (Poland). He is currently
an Assistant Professor at the Cracow University of Economics and
coordinator of the project Islamism and Pluralism - The Islamist
Movements in Egypt and Tunisia after the Arab Spring financed
by the Polish National Science Centre. Previously he worked as
a researcher at the Centre for Migration Research University of
Warsaw (Poland), senior researcher at the Sodertorn University
(Sweden), project coordinator and lecturer at the Tischner
European University (Poland) and Marie Curie Research Fellow
at the University of Bradford (United Kingdom). He is specializing
in sociology of religion, migration and new social movements
and carried out several research projects on: Islam and Muslims
in Europe, religious fundamentalism and migrations and social
movements in Europe and Middle East and North Africa. He
is author of monographs 'The New Muslim Elites in European
Cities ' (2010) and 'From Islam of Immigrants to Islam of Citizens:
Muslims in the Countries of Western Europe' (2005, 2007), co-
author of “Polish migration policy: in search of new model (2015)
and numerous other scientific and non-scientific publications on
religions, migrations, minorities and social movements in Europe
and Middle East and North Africa.

“Cosa C’e’ Dietro” (what’s behind):
Halal and Country of Origin
Certifications in Milan, Italy
Lauren Crossland-Marr
B ased on 12 months of ethnographic

fieldwork, this paper compares how
business people codify “risk” across two
certification contexts in Milan, Italy: a
Made in Italy and a Halal label. Through
interviews, audits, and my own experience
working in both settings, this paper centers
on the organizational limitations and
constructed boundaries involved in ethical
economic practices. It explores the concept
of “risk” in food production to understand
the process of producing new sources of
value through trust. My reasoning for using
a comparison is three-fold. First, Italy is
home to a large number of food and product
certifications—the majority of products in
grocery stores tout their localness (what
Lauren Cross- region they are from) or point to an ethical
land-Marr is a production process (e.g. bio, organic) and in
Ph.D. Candidate in many cases both. Second, both certifications
cultural anthropol-
were created for international audiences.
ogy at the Wash-
ington University Lastly, both interpret international guidelines
in St. Louis. such as EU legislation, WTO guidelines, and
37
Italian national policy. Additionally, in the case of halal, certifiers
implement a diversity of Islamic legal interpretations.
In both certifications, risk is avoided by careful attention to the
entire production process from the raw materials to packaging. How
do auditors measure risk? First and foremost, auditors designate
risk through a number of methods. Both certifications primarily
use document analysis (e.g. ingredient lists) to identify key areas of
risk. For both certifications, on-site discussions with production
line staff also play a major role. From conversations with certifiers
I discovered that risk is framed temporally, through the certifier’s
ability to trust the entity to self-monitor because, as one certifier
put it, “we can’t be there for the other 364 days of the year.” For
example, one halal auditor explained that she asked a producer if
they used aromatics in their production line to which they replied, “…
absolutely not.” On her tour of the facility, she found the aromatics
in boxes in a corner of the plant. The business was denied halal
certification because, as the auditor explained to me, “we could not
trust the company to self-monitor.” Negotiations such as these speak
to the ways in which risk is reframed in the certification businesses.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Lauren Crossland-Marr is a Ph.D. Candidate in cultural

anthropology at the Washington University in St. Louis. She is
currently completing her year-long dissertation fieldwork on food
certifications in Milan, Italy. Her current research explores emerging
and alternative markets through the comparison of a Made in
Italy label and a Halal label. More broadly, she is interested in the
social relations embedded in certifications, from production to
consumption. She is currently a junior member of the Netherlands
Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies and a student researcher
at the University of Milan, Statale. Before going to Washington
University, Lauren received an M.A. in anthropology from the
Catholic University of America in 2014. In 2007, she received
two bachelor’s degrees, one in Italian language and another in
anthropology, from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Migrants, Foodways and Halal:
Chinese Muslims in Central Asia
and Their Localization
Ma Jianfu
C hinese Muslims from Northwest

China, being named as Donggan
locally, migrated to Central Asia, previous
Russia and Soviet Union, now Kazahkstan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia 140
years ago because of the ethnic and religious
clashes among Chinese Muslims Hui,
Chinese Han and Qing government. They
were accepted and resettled in concentrated
areas, self-named as Shanxi villages. While
localizing into Russian and other ethnic
groups’ societies, Donggan shared both their
agricultural ways of life with central Asian
nomadic people, such as skills of growing,
Ma Jianfu is techniques of making tools, and agricultural
associate professor products as seeds for growing, which
at North Minzu abundantly enriched the resources of food
University of for local people. Besides, Donggan also were
China, where he
acculturated by locals of their ways of life,
teaches courses on
Anthropology of and ways of diet in particular. In this article,
Food, Anthropo- Donggan people’s food and foodways will
logical Research be studied as the main content, in order to
Methods. understand their process of localization, the

ways to protect their own culture to maintain their identities as an
ethnic group in Central Asia, from which, the Hui Muslims and their
multi-culturalism with characteristics will be reflected.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Ma Jianfu, is associate professor at North Minzu University

of China, where he teaches courses on Anthropology of Food,
Anthropological Research Methods. His research interest include
Ethnic Identities, Anthropology of Food, and Muslims food in China,
with a focus on Hui Muslims under the background of Islamphobia,
Identity Politics and Chinese Populism. Dr. Ma earned his PhD in
the Department of Anthropology, the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, 2012.
CONTACT DETAILS
North Minzu University, 27 Zhongguancun South Avenue Beijing,

China, 100081
E-mail: 97259002@qq.com

Islamic Boole-Pareto Law:
Towards a reasonable harmoniza-
tion of Halal norms and practices
Marc Deschamps
G eorge Boole (1815 –1864) was an

English professor at Queen’s College,
Cork (IE), where he established the basis
of Boolean Algebra, based on the ‘truth
values’(true and false, 0 and 1), the only
two solutions to the equation X²=X.
Indeed, Boolean Logics applies in many
fields of activities, computing to name just
one! Vilfredo PARETO (1848 –1923) was
an Italian professor at the University of
Lausanne where he established the following
principle: for many events, roughly 80% of
the effects come from only 20% of the causes.
Indeed, Pareto law applies in many fields of
our daily life! When applied to the issue of
‘Halalness’, Boolean Logics is translated as
follows: a product/service is ‘Halal’ or is ‘not
Halal’, there is no such thing as ‘50% Halal’!
Marc Deschamps is When applied to the issue of ‘Halalness’,
Managing Director
Pareto Law is translated as follows: 80% of
of the Club and
Affiliated Professor the halal conformity can be objectively and
at the University of therefore scientifically measured, leaving
Liege (BE). 20% where a Religious interpretation by the

Religious Authority is needed … and yet … these 20% of religious
interpretation represent 80% of the Muslim consumer’s confidence in
the Halalness of the product/service!services.
When their contribution are combined, in an ‘Islamic Boole-
Pareto Law’, the two famous professors offer to the Muamalat a
quite interesting option for its respectful, as well as realistic and
open-minded, application in the ‘Circle of Halalness’. This statement
is based on observations and research, briefly described here under,
that will be translated into a paper to be submitted to the Organizing
Committee of the International Conference ‘Rethinking Halal’. A
focused study of the Muamalat, by Sheikh Mohamed Bachir OULD
SASS, Sharia Scholar and Professor at the University of Strasburg,
shows that Boolean logic is the only one acceptable in terms of
Halalness: a product/service cannot be 50% Halal ! Yet, once the basic
Halal requirements are met, a certain’ excellence in Halalalness’ can
be reached, in a ‘mandoub-based’ approach, by taking into account
some specific expectations from the Muslim consumer.
Field observations, made by members of the Halal Club Brussels
and collected by Marc DESCHAMPS, Managing Director of the
Club and Affiliated Professor at the University of Liege, attempt
to demonstrate that only 20% of the Halal conformity do request
a 'glocal' religious interpretation of the sacred texts. 80% of the
conformity of ingredients and processes/procedures can indeed
be established objectively and scientifically. And yet, these field
observations also show that the Muslim consumer bases most of his
trust on the word of his religious authorities and experts. The Law of
Pareto, too, applies in Halalness!
Based on this focused study and these field observations, a joint
reflection by DESCHAMPS and OULD SASS, lead them to stress
four major points of attention. 1. The recognition of the ’Islamic
Boole-Pareto Law’ would be an excellent solution to respect the
rich diversity of Islam by not seeking to harmonize the whole of
the Halal norm, but leaving to the local Religious Authorities the

ultimate responsibility to take into account the local specificities in
the interpretation of the universal rules applicable to the whole of the
Umma. 2. The recognition of the ’Islamic Boole-Pareto Law’ would
bring respect to the religious authorities and experts (by protecting
them from material controversies) while emphasizing their essential
role in the ‘Circle of Halalness’ (by illustrating the credit they enjoy
among the members of their community). 3. The recognition of
the ’Islamic Boole-Pareto Law’ would also respect the economic
players in the halal industry. Harmonization of the 80%, which are
objectively measurable, would allow them to master 80% of the
risks linked to the current lack of reliability in Halal certification. It
would also decrease their cost by reducing diversity of their stocks. 4.
The recognition of the ’Islamic Boole-Pareto Law’ would ultimately
respect Muslim as well as non-Muslim consumers, in an inclusive
approach. By offering to the economic players a solution to reduce
risks and costs, an harmonization of Halal norms, based on the
80% derived from the ‘IBP Law’, will keep Halal products/services
affordable for all mainstream consumer… as Halal markets are not
just for Muslims!
To further strengthen the DESCHAMPS and OULD SASS’
reasoning, two additional studies will be reported in the paper. A
study of Haram ingredients, by Benedicte and Robert RENAVILLE,
respectively professor at the University of Udine (IT) and Honorary
Professor at The University of Liege (BE), shows that such Haram
ingredients can be scientifically identified by modern detection
techniques. A study of the Halal processes and procedures (along
the production and supply chains), by Koen DE PRAETERE,
International Halal Expert and Lecturer, among the 500 Global
Leaders of the Islamic Economy (ISLAMICA 500), shows that the
Islamic Boole-Pareto Law has a significant impact on designing and
implementing Halal Assurance Systems, both similar to and apart
from the conventional iso-like approaches.
In conclusion, the application of the ‘Islamic Boole-Pareto Law’

would be respectful , not only of Islam, its religious authorities and
experts, but also of the economic players as well as the consumers in
the ‘Circle of Halalness’. Such an approach would also be realistic,
as modern detection techniques and control approaches allow its
concrete application in the ‘Circle of Halalness’ Finally, the IBP
Law approach would be open-minded, waving away ‘self-centric’
considerations that would turn the ‘Circle of Halalness’ into a closed
economy… which, history teaches us, would have no future anyway!

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Marc Deschamps is graduated from U.C. Leuven as an engineer

(1973) and gets his degree both in Law (1978) and in Economics
(1979). In 1979, he joins SOCIETE GENERALE DE BELGIQUE and,
after attending the SLOAN PROGRAM at STANFORD UNIVER-
SITY in 1984-85, he creates SYNERFI, a development capital firm
dedicated to SMEs. In 1992, Marc Deschamps buys out INVE-
STRUCTURE, a service company that he develops in more than
twenty countries. In 1999, the company s international network is
taken over by a major international player. In 2000, he creates IN-
VESTPARKS, dedicated to the development of science parks linked
to universities in emerging countries and, in 2006, he launches EXE-
GO, specializing in corporate governance services. Marc Deschamps
is Affiliate Professor at HEC-ULg and lecturer at SOLVAY BRUS-
SELS SCHOOL (ULB-Brussels). His current main fields of interest
are corporate governance and Islamic finance. Marc Deschamps
is also a founding director of the FORUM FRANCOPHONE DES
AFFAIRES in Belgium, of the ASSOCIATION DU MANAGEMENT
and of GUBERNA (the Belgian corporate governance association).
He has published various articles on corporate governance in Euro-
pean Business Forum, in PME/KMO and in Actualité Comptable( a
Kluwer Publication). He has lectured numerous times for business as
well as academic circles on four continents!
CONTACT DETAILS
Halal Club Brussels

Place Sainctellette, 2, 1080 Brussels – Belgium
E-mail : m.deschamps@halalclub.eu,
m.deschamps@ulg.ac.be,
m.deschamps@awex.be
Mobile Number : +32 496 26 73 17

Serving foods to Muslims in restaurants
in Japan: How Southeast Asian
halal certification standards
are affecting food industries
in Non-Muslim countries?
Mariko Arata
T his presentation discusses the difficulties

that Japanese restaurant industry
are facing when they try to offer foods for
Muslims, how they are affected by Southeast
Asian countries' Halal certification standards,
and how good intentions can result in
segregation.
In Southeast Asian countries where
Muslims are the majority of their population,
halal certification systems were firstly
developed in meat and packaged processed
food. Halal certification on eating places
appeared later and was at first for chain
restaurants, most of which are global
Mariko Arata
is a Professor, multinational companies of non-Muslim
Ritsumeikan origin such as Kentucky Fried Chicken,
University. A McDonald, etc.
cultural anthro- According to the HAS23000 series,
pologist, linguistic well-known halal standards published by
anthropologist, who
Indonesian Ulama Association(MUI), if a
especially studies
on food cultures restaurant wants to get halal-certified, it
in and around should use halal certified products for not
Indonesia. only meat but also most processed food

materials such as vegetable oil, sugar, flour, fermented seasonings,
etc. It also must register every kind of food menu served in the place
showing information on its ingredients and recipe. If it wants to
serve new menus, it must register them and get approval beforehand,
even if they only use already-registered materials. This certification
system presupposes that restaurants serve fixed menus only and
change of menu does not take place frequently. HAS standard is also
very strict towards alcoholic drinks (khamr). Any kind of alcoholic
drinks or alcohol derived from khamr are not allowed to be added in
any amount, whilst synthetic ethanol can be used to extract flavor or
to sterilize tools and human bodies.
In the meantime, Japanese restaurant industry preferably makes
efforts to serve something new as frequently as possible. Restaurants/
canteens/diners/eateries often offer seasonal menus which changes
from time to time, or daily specials using the most reasonable food
material at the time of purchase. Authentic Japanese dishes often use
'sake' and/or 'mirin' (both are kinds of alcoholic drink made from
rice) as seasoning. The used amount is usually very small and is often
cooked well until alcohol vapors so that such foods are considered to
be good for even small children to consume. Not all, but quite a few
Muslims would happily accept such food according to some surveys.
Recently, there are various Halal certification bodies (CB) in
Japan. Among them we can find religious organizations, NPOs,
and profit-making enterprises. Some have religious scholars and
experts in food industries as auditors, recognized by foreign CBs
such as JAKIM, MUI, MUIS etc., and mostly issue certificates to food
industries for the purpose of exporting. Some are voluntary activities
run by common Muslims and issue certificates to eating places to
help ummah to choose appropriate foods when dining out.
The former are under strong influence of foreign standards.
Consequently, most reputed CBs hesitate to issue halal certifications
to eating places, because in Japanese situation it is very difficult
to fulfill the criteria required by CBs of Southeast Asian countries.

Others use their own criteria and issue certificates named 'Muslim
friendly' or 'Japan halal standard' etc. to the places that can serve
some halal dishes even though their kitchens are not completely free
from non-halal materials. The latter are also issuing halal certificates
or recommendations to eating places with their own criteria.
As a result, there are various ways of signing halalness, such
as 'Halal restaurants', 'Halal kitchen', 'Halal recommended menu',
'Muslim friendly restaurant', 'Muslim friendly menu', etc. All of them
avoid using any form of alcoholic drinks or non-halal meat. In that
sense, all of them offer halal food, but they require different levels
of separation from non-halal material/kitchen to prevent cross
contaminations or adulterations.
Muslims are a minority group in Japan, and most common
Japanese people are not familiar with the idea of halal/haram
yet. Therefore, this situation leads to common Japanese to
misunderstandings: that Muslims eat/drink halal-certified food
and beverage only. It then leads to segregation of Muslim minority
from non-Muslim majority. Should we non-Muslim majority people
isolate Muslim minority people to the limited halal area? Of course
not. Then how can we overcome this problem? The answer lies in
information disclosure and interactive communication.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Professor, College of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan Uni-

versity, Japan. A cultural anthropologist, a linguistic anthropologist,
who especially studies on food cultures in and around Indonesia.
Finished Master's course at Tokyo University for Foreign Studies,
and Doctor's course on Cultural Anthropology at Sokendai Universi-
ty in 2005. M.A. (Linguistics), Ph.D. (Literature). Has taught Japanese
language, Bahasa Indonesia and Indonesian cultures, and compar-
ative food cultures in various universities. After serving as a visiting
researcher at the National Museum of Ethnology (in Osaka), she
worked at “Gurunavi” Endowed Chair, Tokyo Tech since 2011 until
2016 where she conducted various projects including three interna-
tional symposiums on food halalness. Major publication includes,
Arata “World’s Food Culture 6 Indonesia” Nobunkyo(2006), Arata
(ed.) "Bunka wo taberu, bunka wo nomu―gurookaruka suru sekai
no shoku to bijinesu (Eating cultures, drinking cultures―Glocalizing
food and business in the world", Tokyo: Domes Shuppan (2017), Ara-
ta "Shoku no haraaru nyuumon―Kyou kara dekiru musurimu taiou
(Introduction to halal food―You can serve Muslims from today)",
Tokyo: Kodansha Scientific (2018). etc.
CONTACT DETAILS
College of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University,

1-1-1 Noji-Higashi, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga-ken, JAPAN 525-8577.
E-mail : mar17140@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp,
arata.mariko@nifty.ne.jp
Phone : (+81)-77-561-2789
Mobile Phone : (+81)-90-7588-6524

Living Halal in the Volga region:
Lifestyle and Civil Society
Opportunities
Matteo Benussi
A fter the dissolution of the Soviet order in

central Russia’s multi-ethnic Povolzhye
region, a galaxy of interrelated scripturalist
Islamic piety trends coalesced among the
area’s Muslim, predominantly (though not
exclusively) Tatars and Bashkirs. I collectively
refer to these ethical trends as Povolzhye’s
‘halal movement’. As a result of the halal
movement’s success, concerns about halal and
haram spread spectacularly among Povolzhye
Muslims, while halal business increased
dramatically in importance and size.
The halal movement is, in many respects,
a novelty. Even though categories of pure/
impure and lawful/unlawful were known by
pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era Muslim
literati, evidence shows that they did not
enjoy wide currency among the Muslim
populace. The concepts (and vernacular) of
Matteo Benussi,
PhD candidate in ‘halal lifestyle’, ‘halal consumption’, and ‘halal
social anthropology industry’ have become popular and widely
at the University of used in the Volga region only in recent
Cambridge. years. This can be interpreted as a sign of

transformation and diversification of Volga Muslims’ religious
experience – developments bound up with debates about the place
of Muslims and Islam in post-Soviet Russia. The halal movement’s
ethos entails an unprecedentedly sophisticated form of work on the
self, as well as the pursuit of spiritual stimuli beyond local traditions
and in disregard of the secular/religious divide. The halal movement
operates in (partial) opposition to the popular devotion practices
tolerated during the late Soviet times and currently promoted
by the authorities as ‘traditional’, i.e. discursively constitutive of
ethnic ‘identities’ positioned within a secular order. This perceived
opposition has earned the halal movement a dubious reputation with
the state’s security organs.
The emergence of halal consumption patterns took several
forms in different historical phases. During the Soviet times, for
instance, consuming ‘Tatar’ food (technically halal, but not typically
understood in those terms) was an (occasional) practice carried
out privately, within the framework of vernacular devotion. While
dietary differences between Tatars and Russians existed, they
were conceptualised and negotiated in terms of custom and ethnic
belonging rather than as part of an all-encompassing ethical-legal
paradigm. Since the 1990s, notions of halal have been emerging
among predominantly urban young converts and intellectual circles
(though as part of different agendas). Gradually, this evolved into
a mass phenomenon, and consequently a burgeoning business
carried out on an industrial scale. By the mid-2010s, Povolzhye had
consolidated its position as Russia’s hub for ‘halal’ capitalism, in spite
of persisting controversies, rumours, and scandals.
Today, a number of official religious figures connected to
state-authorised structures are increasingly engaging with the
halal movement’s ethical paradigm, even though this paradigm
challenges the state-propagated dichotomy opposing ‘traditional’
(domestic, secularised) Islam to ‘non-traditional’ (alien, potentially
fundamentalist) Islam. The halal sphere has thus evolved into a

conceptual space where the state-loyal Islamic officialdom and
grassroots Muslims can meet, and where civil society experiments
can be attempted.
As elsewhere across both Muslim and non-Muslim worlds, mass
production and commercialization have brought about the need
– acutely felt among halal movement participants – of creating
an ‘audit culture’ bringing institutional control to bear on the
halal sphere. Ad hoc certifying bodies have thus started operating
locally, and are actively seeking help from the state in order to
achieve a unified all-Russian halal standard. At the same time,
new state-supported associations are taking form that address
the needs of Muslim entrepreneurs and harness the pious youth’s
civic enthusiasm. Despite a perceived lack of enthusiasm from
institutions and legislative weaknesses when it comes to protecting
believers-as-consumers, state-backed organs are increasingly (if
not uncontroversially) perceived as capable of providing Muslim
citizens organizational support and resources. In spite of difficulties
and contradictions, thus, in the complex scenario of post-Soviet
state-Muslims relations Russia’s halal sphere has come to represent
a concrete platform on which different actors can find a common
ground and further the development of Russia’s civil society.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
PhD candidate in social anthropology at the University of Cam-

bridge, my main research interests lie in the (overlapping) fields of
religion and economy across Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia.
The doctoral project I am currently working on is concerned with a
booming Sunni virtue movement that is making vast inroads among
the Muslim-background urban youth (and beyond) in the Republic
of Tatarstan/Povolzhye region (Russia). In broader theoretical terms,
my work attempts to dovetail anthropological approaches to ethical
self-cultivation with a heightened attention to political economy and
market-driven social change. In addition to this main research area, I
have a long-standing interest in the anthropology of space and place.
My previous research project focused on space-making in Ukraine’s
Chernobyl-stricken regions, and resulted in a MRes thesis on Ortho-
dox Christian pilgrimage/mourning rituals and memorialisation in a
post-disaster environment.
CONTACT DETAILS
D6 St Regis House, 47 Hamilton Rd, CB4 1BP Cambridge

United Kingdom
E-mail : mb957@cam.ac.uk
WhatsApp Number : +393497164080
UK Number : +447880580244

Contractual clarity for
a holy commodity
Murk Muller
H alal, a religious concept, a rule of Sharia

law enters the world of commerce.
Halal identifies food products and is a seal of
quality that fosters trade. All along the chain
of producers, sellers, buyers and consumers
halal is a statement of Islamic faith. Halal
challenges law and lawyers. How to contract
between producers, sellers, buyers and
consumers in a halal food supply chain? How
to recognise and safeguard the religious
quality, whilst striving for maximum clarity
on contractual rights and obligations of
the parties? Also, how to accommodate for
diverging interpretations of halal?
The halal worthiness of a product is up to
the interpretation of the last shackle in the
food supply chain, the consumer who wishes
to eat halal food. In consequence, the seller
Murk Muller is an should deliver a product that is compliant
international trade with the consumers’ requirements. A seller’s
lawyer with over
own interpretation as to what constitutes
thirty years prac-
tice in industry, halal is not to be imposed on the transaction
trade and transport. as far as this conflicts with fulfilling the

contractual obligations. Consumers may not always be able to make
explicit their requirements for the product. Consumers usually rely
on a particular trademark which offers products in accordance with
their expectations. However, in a business to business contractual
relationship, B2B, each party is expected to have professional in-
depth knowledge about the products they trade and consequently
should be able to furnish exact product specifications.
The modern food chain involves many parties, each selling or
buying, exporting or importing, ingredients or finished products,
across many different Islamic countries, cultures and religious
denominations, covered by written and unwritten rules, national
and international legislation - and lack of legislation. Even more
important it is to agree on the specifics of the products and write
these into the purchase contract. If the contract is not clear and
explicit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to establish, whether the
delivered product is in conformity with the purchase contract.
The contents of the contract with the particulars of the product
become relevant if damages occur. Often damages arise out of
the refusal of a dissatisfied buyer to pay an invoice. For the buyer
the challenge is to prove that the product is not in conformity, for
the seller to prove the product is in conformity with the contract.
Surprising as it may seem, the outcome of most litigation depends
exactly on this point: on which party is the burden of proof; which
party bears the risk of having to prove that his contention of
conformity or non-conformity is right. If the seller is not able to
prove conformity, he will try to take regress, if he is of the opinion
that the non-conformity originated earlier in the chain. So as a buyer
he will, in turn, hold his seller liable for the damages incurred.
Does a halal certificate relieve a party from liability for non-
conformity of the product? A halal certificate is the statement of a
third party, a certification authority that a producer or a product
complies with the standards of that certificate. If the certificate
certifies that the product is halal, one will have to know against

which requirements, of which standard, the halal conformity
has been checked, how this has been checked and whether the
requirements of the certificate standard are the same as the
contractual requirements. Only halal certificates, which offer this
degree of transparency, may qualify as persuasive evidence in
litigation.
In B2B trade a theological discourse on what constitutes halal is
not desired. Trade is fast and needs quick and ready solutions. In
that respect certification has solutions to offer: to the extent, that
a certification authority publicises the exact requirements of its
standard on which basis it issues a certificates, these requirements
can be incorporated into B2B purchase contracts by referral to that
standard. By taking as a default a particular standard, parties can
still agree to add or skip requirements, according to the needs of the
consumer of the final product. As an international legal framework
the CISG, the UN Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods (1980), will be shown to accommodate the special
requirements of halal purchase contracts and dispute resolution.
The presentation will include a discussion of cases from the
legal practice of the author illustrating the theory and contractual
structure for trade in halal products as set out above.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Murk Muller is an international trade lawyer with over thirty years

practice in industry, trade and transport. Admitted to the bar in
Rotterdam (Advocaat) and Berlin (Rechtsanwalt), he has worked in
London, Lima, New York, Houston, San Francisco, Rotterdam, Am-
sterdam, Utrecht and Berlin. The increase in international trade of
food products and growth of the halal market influenced his practice.
Having studied Arabic and Islamic Law he has turned his focus on
halal related trade. The aim of the focus is to contribute to contrac-
tual dispute resolution which acknowledges the religious and health
quality of halal products.
CONTACT DETAILS
Anwaltskanzlei Murk Muller, Bismarckstrasse 19

12169 Berlin, Germany
Website : www.mmrecht.com
E-mail : murk.muller@mmrecht.com
Whatsapp : +31642193282

The Italian Experience with Halal
Certification Bodies:
The Case of Halal Italia
Rossella Bottoni
T his paper aims to examine the Italian

experience with halal certifications
bodies by focusing on the case study of Halal
Italia. On 30 June 2010 four Italian ministries
(foreign affairs; economic development;
health; agricultural, food and forestry policies)
signed an agreement to cooperate with Co.Re.
Is, one of the main Muslim organizations, in
order to promote the trademark Halal Italia.
This has been established – as stated in the
agreement itself – as a «quality certification
recognized by the Italian State to export
products consistent with Koranic rules»,
and to provide «interested associations
Rossella Bottoni,
Adjunct Professor and companies with opportunities to enter
of Religious Factor Muslim-majority countries’ markets». In
and New Consti- the first place, this paper will develop some
tutions: Europe preliminary considerations on the legal
and Africa at the aspects of halal certification in Italy and
Faculty of Political
– more broadly – in the European Union
and Social Sciences
at the Catholic space. In the second place, it will trace the
University of development of Halal Italia within a context
Milan. characterised by a plurality of Islamic

communities, entities and actors involved in the halal market. In the
third place it will examine Halal Italia’s features and experience.
At this regard, this paper will focus on the actors engaged in the
certification process (in particular the Ethics Committee on the Halal
Certification, and the Consultative Committee), and the definition
of their standards, as set in the Technical Regulations concerning
respectively food products, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.
The latter do not only detail the legal norms on permitted and non-
permitted items, but also refer to religious authorities such as the
Great Mosques of Paris and Lyon, and international certification
bodies in the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey
and the United States. In fact, one aspect this paper aims to stress is
Halal Italia’s international projection and efforts to establish itself
as a prominent actor in the global halal panorama, through the
participation in international conferences, events and networks,
and the accreditation by established certification bodies in Muslim-
majority countries.
In the light of Halal Italia’s experience, this paper will try to draw
some conclusions on the definition of international standards of
halal certification. As stated by Halal Italia itself, the strengthening
of the cooperation relationships with the main certification bodies
in Europe, Asia, Africa and America serve inter alia the purpose
to protect oneself (and the consumers) from fraud and false halal
certificates.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Rossella Bottoni is specialised in Law and Religion. She wrote her

PhD dissertation on The origins of secularism in Turkey (1839-
1938), which received in 2007 the Arturo Carlo Jemolo Award
for the best PhD dissertation in Law and Religion-related disci-
plines. She has taken part in the DIALREL research programme on
“Religious slaughter, improving knowledge and expertise through
dialogue and debate on issues of welfare, legislation and socio-eco-
nomic aspects” – funded by the European Commission’s Sixth
Framework Programme. She is currently Researcher and Adjunct
Professor of Religious Factor and New Constitutions: Europe and
Africa at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Catholic
University of Milan, and Adjunct Professor of Law and Religion at
the Department of Political and Legal Sciences and International
Studies at the University of Padua, Italy. Her research interests
include the legal regulation of religious slaughter in the EU and EU
member states; accommodation of religious and ethical dietary rules
in secular legal systems; the legal condition of Islam in European
countries; secularism, Islam and religious minorities in Turkey; the
religious factor in the new African constitutions; African concor-
dats; legal pluralism.
CONTACT DETAILS
Faculty of Political and Social Sciences,

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
L.go Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy
E-mail : rossella.bottoni @unicatt.it

Mobile Number : 0039 32 99 72 94 58

The Ethics of Trust: Halal Certification
and Intra-Muslim Trade in South Africa
Shaheed Tayob
H alal certification has introduced a new

discursive and material regime for the
fulfillment of Muslim consumption. In South
Africa and elsewhere the new terms and
material infrastructure of the certification
industry affords Muslims the opportunity to
consume halal food at non-Muslim owned
establishments. Halal certification achieves
the extension of halal into new places through
its claim to establish material certainty over
the substance consumed. DNA tests and
state of the art supply chain management are
supposed to replace the necessity of intra-
Muslim trade once considered central for the
practice of halal. However, a concomitant
development has been the increasing demand
for Muslim-owned suppliers to also obtain
certification. Implicit in these calls is the
Shaheed Tayob is assumption that Muslim involvement in
an anthropologist the supply, retail and distribution of food
of Muslim society is no longer sufficient for the practice of
with a focus on
halal. Indeed, this development has not
Muslim food
practices. been without significant controversy and

debate. This paper analyses the way in which the four competing
certification organizations in South Africa approach the issuing
of halal certificates to Muslim-owned establishments. This is
supplemented with data from Muslim traders and consumers as
they reflect on the ethics of halal certification, competitive business
practice and trust in contemporary South Africa. I argue that
research on halal certification focus on ethics and trust as central to
the practice of halal, with specific attention to the conflicts between
the industry demand for standardization and the Muslim trader and
consumer moral commitment to intra-Muslim trade.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Shaheed is an anthropologist of Muslim society with a focus on Mus-

lim food practices. His MA (2012) research focused on the emergence
of the halal certification industry in South Africa with specific atten-
tion to the transformations in practice that have accompanied the
institutionalization, documentation and scientific focus of the halal
certification industry. Since then he has completed a PhD on ethics
and Muslim food practice in Mumbai that looks beyond certification
to consider everyday food practices in the city. He currently teaches
anthropology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
CONTACT DETAILS
127A Upper Roodebloem Road, University Estate, Cape Town, 7925
E-mail : stayob@gmail.com
Phone : +27615252040

Halal Certification and Attracting
Foreign Muslim Tourists:
A Comparison between Pro- and
Anti-Certification Groups
Shuko Takeshita
J apan has experienced a surge of inbound

business from Muslim countries in
recent years, and this has sparked a “halal
certification boom” as restaurateurs, hoteliers,
and others in the hospitality and food service
industry have scrambled to obtain halal
certification. The halal issue first surfaced
in Japan in the 1990s to meet the needs of
resident Muslims, but being a small minority,
the needs of these Muslims were largely
ignored. But now if we fast forward to the
present, the significance of halal certification
has clearly been discovered. Today there
are hundreds of halal consultants and
halal certification organizations in Japan
all with the goal of making Japan a more
agreeable tourist destination for Muslims and
Shuko Takeshita developing export markets in Muslim nations.
is Professor in the One can say that halal certification has moved
Department of
away from its original religious context and
Japanese Cultural
Studies at Aichi today is approached more as a business.
Gakuin University Resident Muslims in Japan concur that
in Japan. the business of halal certification has gotten

out of control, giving one the impression that without certification
food cannot be considered halal, and many of these Muslims have
shed doubt on the whole “halal certification boom.” The scholarly
community too has expressed reservations about relying too much
on halal certification. Others have suggested that if our goal is to
bring in and attract more tourists to Japan, then we should not just
focus on the dietary rules of Islam but extend consideration to the
dietary preferences of other religions, vegetarians, and vegans.
Rather pointed views have been expressed regarding halal
certification, but there have also been sharp differences of opinion in
the way certification is perceived, especially the response to Muslim
tourists at Japanese sightseeing areas. This study highlighted these
differences of opinion through comparative analysis of a pro-
certification group and an anti-certification group at two different
popular tourist destinations in Japan. I focused on the various
factors influencing these different strategies: the pro-certification
group represented by the Halal Certification Subsidy Initiative, a
ward-sponsored project in Taito, Tokyo to attract more Muslim
tourists, and the anti-certification group represented by a strategic
private initiative in the city of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture aimed at
attracting Muslim tourists without relying on halal certification. By
examining the reality and the effects, then comparing the advantages
and disadvantages of these two approaches, I explored what is really
needed to attract Muslim tourists while offering some suggestions
for dealing with inbound marketing and business in the future.
I interviewed 79 Muslim tourists from South East Asia in
Taito Ward and Takayama City between November 2015 and
November 2017. While conducting these surveys, I also interviewed
management and service personnel as well as chefs and cooks from
the restaurants in Taito and Takayama.
As a result, I found three points motivating the different strategies
to attract Muslim tourists adopted by Taito and Takayama. First
is the different perspectives of their respective advisors. The

consulting company for Taito approached the Ward government
with the suggestion that restaurants in Taito should obtain halal
certification. The advisor for halal-related issues in Takayama is the
Nagoya Mosque. The mosque has been concerned about a pervasive
notion that “without certification, food isn’t halal and can’t be
consumed by Muslims” among restaurants in Japan. It was this
issue that prompted a representative of the Muslim Friendly Project
in Takayama to visit the Mosque for a consultation. The second
point motivating different strategic responses is the vastly different
scales of the two areas as tourist destinations. The difference is very
apparent when you consider that Takayama only gets about 460
thousand international tourists a year compared with Taito that
sees 8.3 million. In other words, Takayama is a relatively small town,
where every resident knows everyone else. And it is only because
of this small town intimacy that the Project could be initiated and
running on behalf of the community quickly. Finally, the third point
of contrast is the types of food offered in the two areas. Takayama
caters to the Muslim tourists looking to try local Takayama cuisine,
while Taito offers a whole range of halal-compliant foods. This
diversity reflected in these two very different tourist destinations is
a good thing, for the interests and needs of Muslim tourists is equally
diverse.
The different approaches advocated by the pro- and anti-
certification groups both have advantages. For example, certification
makes it immediately apparent to Muslim tourists who don’t
speak Japanese that a restaurant provides halal food, while clearly
disclosing the ingredients in the restaurant’s offerings allows Muslim
customers to determine for themselves whether the food is halal
or not. Of course, the two positions also have disadvantages. Over-
reliance on certification restricts the range and types of food that
are available, while having to check the ingredients every time you
sit down at a restaurant can be tiresome.
There are many things that could be done to attract Muslim

tourists besides encouraging restaurants to obtain halal certification.
First and most obvious is simply to gain knowledge and
understanding of Islam. Second, would be to recognize that there are
different interpretations of what foods are halal, so trying to adjust
to the strictest ideas would make it difficult to host Muslim tourists.
It’s important to start simply with what can be easily accomplished.
And third, restaurants might, with a little ingenuity, create an
atmosphere that Muslims can freely convey which foods they should
stay away from. Even without halal certification, there are certainly
many restaurants that can cater to Muslims. A little consideration
and thoughtfulness on the part of restaurateurs can enhance the
probability of attracting Muslim tourists.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Dr Shuko Takeshita is Professor in the Department of Japanese

Cultural Studies at Aichi Gakuin University in Japan. Her research
interests are cultural adaptability of husbands and wives, and the
cultural inheritance to their children in families comprising non-Jap-
anese Muslims husbands and Japanese wives. She received her PhD
in sociology from Kinjo Gakuin University in 2000. Her publications
include “Social and Human capital among Japanese-Turkish Families
in Japan,” Asian Ethnicity (2016), and “Intermarriage and Japa-
nese Identity,” Healy, E., et al., eds., Creating Social Cohesion in an
Interdependent World: Experiences of Australia and Japan, (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2016).
CONTACT DETAILS
12 Araike, Iwasaki-cho, Nissin 470-0195 JAPAN
E-mail : shtak@dpc.agu.ac.jp
Phone Number : 81-561-73-1111

The Rise and Decline of Influence of
Malaysian Concepts of Modern Halal
upon Asian Countries: The Cases of
Japan and Taiwan
Yukari Sai
T his paper explores knowledge sharing

and its process of localisation and
analyzes the influence of Malaysian
concepts of halal. Malaysia has provided the
standard interpretation of halal in industry
as one of the core parts of its national
development strategy since the 1970s and
has become one of the major players in
the global halal industry. The halal-related
industrial standards of Malaysia, which are
stipulated as the Malaysian Standard series
in both English and Malay, serve as a sort
of ‘textbook’ that is read, referenced, and
translated by those weighing entry into the
global halal market. The Malaysian approach
Yukari Sai is an as-
sistant professor at to halal at commercial level is used as a
the Waseda Insti- model in the Asian countries; nevertheless,
tute for Advanced it is controversial both domestically and
study, Waseda internationally, for it is sometimes viewed
University, Japan, as too commercialized and hegemonic. How
and specializes in
did the Malaysian concept of halal spread to
cultural anthro-
pology of food and other Asian countries? Based on participant
eating. observation and interviews, this paper

presents the current status and issues of modern halal in Japan and
Taiwan, that have begun to focus on halal in both product exports
and tourism. The interpretation of halal in these two non-Muslim
majority countries is explored with a focus on narratives and
relationships between various actors. Data were collected between
2011 and 2017 at various sites including halal conferences, expos,
and personal spaces. These cases suggest how relevant actors in
each country have or have not received, interpreted, and adapted
the Malaysian concept of halal. Further, the paper seeks to identify
and describe the reinterpretation of halal, which is based upon the
Malaysian conception and standards, outside Malaysia through
negotiation between local and transnational knowledge about halal.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Yukari Sai is an assistant professor at the Waseda Institute for

Advanced study, Waseda University, Japan, and specializes in cul-
tural anthropology of food and eating. Her works focuses on social
interactions through the food and eating practices in Asia and her
recent works include, ‘Muslim food consumption in China: Between
qingzhen and halal’ with J. Fischer in Halal Matters (London and
New York: Routledge, 2015)　and ‘Cooperation, Dialogue, Feedback:
Halal Chicken Menu at a University Canteen’ in Eating and Drink-
ing Culture (Tokyo: Domesu Publishers, 2017, in Japanese).
CONTACT DETAILS
E-mail: sai@aoni.waseda.jp

China as a Leader of the Halal
Business: An Opportunity to
Strengthen MENA Ties
Zaynab El Bernoussi
T he halal market is estimated at $ 1.6

trillion, which, understandably, salivates
producers able to achieve economies of scale
like many Chinese businesses. This large
market is also diversified and includes small
disposable incomes, looking for reduced
prices that are rendered possible by such
economies of scale, and large disposable
incomes that target high-end products
(particularly in the premium segments in
the Gulf). The Pew Research Center has
estimated that the Muslim population has,
by far, the fastest growing major religious
group for 2015 to 2060.The nature of the
halal market and its magnitude represent an
opportunity for China to further assert itself
Zaynab El Bern- as an irreplaceable trading partner but also an
oussi is professor of increasingly sought-after one in the Middle
international stud- East and North Africa region (MENA).
ies at the School of China is using its local Muslim communities
Humanities and to strengthen the diplomatic ties with the
Social Sciences at
Muslim world at large, including the MENA
Al Akhawayn Uni-
versity, Morocco. region. However, this is an opportunity

that carries a threat because the Chinese state has a tumultuous
relationship with the local Uyghur Muslim population. China is also
concerned with violence from radical Islamist groups both within
and outside of its borders. How the Chinese government deals with
the Uyghur opposition can sever Chinese relations with Muslim
countries. Some of the demands of the Uyghur are more space and
freedom of religious practice, which can be limited under an atheist
regime as the one of China. In an effort to respond to the needs of the
Uyghur community, the Chinese state has provided greater access to
halal products. However, there has been great controversy about the
Chinese halal labeling as “fake”. Many Chinese Muslims have more
trust in imported products from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and
beyond for their halal labeling than local Chinese halal products.
Given the magnitude of the halal market, it is in China’s interest to
gain local trust in its halal production and even become an exporter
in this segment. If China develops a trustworthy image as a halal
producer, this will serve the local Muslim community and even
strengthen ties with the Muslim world, including the MENA region.
The MENA’s substantial energy resources and needs of infrastructure
building are attractive to China. President Xi Jinping’s visits to the
region in 2016 attest to China’s interests in the region. The recent
US retraction from its role as a peace broker in the MENA is also an
opportunity to bring a new player. This new role can help China in
its growing international political assertiveness. The MENA, more
than any other region, can propel China both as a leader of the halal
market and a new international political hegemon.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Dr. El Bernoussi is professor of international studies at the School

of Humanities and Social Sciences at Al Akhawayn University
(Morocco), coordinator of the Human and Economic Development
Research Unit, member of the Hillary Clinton Center for Women’s
Empowerment (HCC), associated member of the Groupe d’études et
de recherches sur le Monde arabe contemporain (GERMAC) of UCL,
and an associated researcher at the History of Human Freedom
and Dignity in Western Civilization project by the European Union
(Denmark). She holds a bachelor of business administration from Al
Akhawayn University, a master in finance from IE Business School
(Spain), a master of public administration from Columbia University
(USA), and a PhD in political and social Sciences from UCL. Dr. El
Bernoussi was a Carnegie visiting scholar at the Carolina Center
for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations. She was
also a visiting scholar at Harvard University and Smith College. Dr.
El Bernoussi’s research is at the intersection of postcolonial theory
and dignity politics. She lived in China for two years and published
several encyclopedia entries on Islamic Bioethics with her mentor,
Dr. Baudouin Dupret.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Dr. Ayang Utriza Yakin

Postdoctoral Fellow “MOVE-IN Louvain”, with
the support of the European Commission (Ma-
rie-Curie Actions), at the Université Catholique
de Louvain, Belgium.
Prof. Dr. Louis-Léon Christiaans

Professor in Law and Religions and Chairman of
the Research Institute Religions, Societies, Cul-
tures, Spiritualities, at the Université Catholique
de Louvain, Belgium.
Prof. Dr. Baudouin Dupret

Research Director at the National Centre for
Scientific Research (CNRS), France and Visiting
Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Université
Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
Prof. Dr. Jean-Philippe Schreiber

Professor in History of Religions and Director
of the ‘Centre interdisciplinaire d’études du fait
religieux et de la laicité, at the Université Libre
de Bruxelles.’
Prof. Dr. Brigitte Maréchal

Professor in Sociology of Religions and Director
of the ‘Centre interdisciplinaire d’études sur l’Is-
lam dans le monde contemporain (CISMOC), at
the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.’

Panel III Panel IV
09.00-12.30 Chair Vincent Legrand (UCL) 13.30-16.30 Chair Farid El Asri (USL/UCL)

Florence Bergeaud-Blackler (CNRS/IREMAM, France)

"Pour une approche critique de la notion de halal en John Lever (University of Huddersfield, England)
sciences sociales" “Consuming halal in the age of globalised mass pro-
duction: compound practice - knowing what to eat?”
09.45-10.45: 1st session
SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES: THE HALAL CENTRE 14.15-15.15: 1st session
DEVELOPMENT LIVING HALAL AND RETHINKING HALAL
En-Chieh Chao (Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan,

Matteo Benussi (University of Cambridge), “Living
Republic of China), "The making of halal science:
Lard scandals, Shafi'i fatwas, and pharmacology lab in Halal in the Volga region: Lifestyle and Civil Society
Indonesia" Opportunities”
Yukari Sai (Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Wase- Harun Sencal (Durham Centre for Islamic Econom-
da University, Japan) "The Rise and Decline of Influence ics and Finance,) “Rethinking Halal: A Fuzzy Logic
of Malaysian Concepts of Modern Halal upon Asian Perspective”
Countries: The Cases of Japan and Taiwan"
15.15-15.30: Tea-break
10.45-11.00: Tea-break
11.00-12.30: 2nd session 15.30-17.00: 2nd session

CHINA: THE WORLD LEADER OF HALAL MARKET? CHALLENGING HALAL AND PROPOSING NEW PER-
SPECTIVES
Ma Jianfu (North Minzu University of China), " Migrants,
Foodways and Halal: Chinese Muslims in Central Asia Eleftheria Egel (management consultant, Germany),
and Their Localization"
“Does ‘Halal’ risk being left devoid of its spiritual
essence? The challenge of functioning in the neoliberal
Zaynab El Bernoussi (Al-Akhawayn University, Moroc-
co), "China as a Leader of the Halal Business" paradigm”
Hacer Z. Gonul (Université Libre de Bruxelles), “The Marc Deschamps (Halal Club Brussels, Belgium),
Dilemma of Chinese Food’s ‘Halal-ification’ in Global “Islamic Booble Pareto law: Towards a reasonable
Islamic Market and Ethnic Bias in China: The Role of harmonization of Halal norms and practices”
Hui Community”
Murk Muller (Attorney in Rotterdam and Berlin), “Con-
tractual Clarity for a Holy Commodity”
12.30-13.30: Lunch and Break
17.00-17.40 Some Notes on Halal: Between Ethics,

Economy, and Religion
Axel Gosseries (UCL/Chaire Hoover)
Brigitte Maréchal (UCL/CISMOC)
17.40-18.00 Concluding Remarks

Louis-Léon Christians (UCL/RSCS)
18.00: Closing

For this conference, we invite scholars and researchers to
reveal the genealogy of halal in the past during which Mus-
lim religious scholars started to write and to discuss ‘halal’
as a knowledge and discourse and to unravel Muslim social
practices towards halal. Next, we need also to discuss how
main actors in halal (ulama, state, halal certificate bodies,
scholars) are producing halal norms and standards
for ‘the other’.
This could lead us to rethink how they become a moral

agent (individually or institutionally) to control, to guide,
and to dictate what is lawful and unlawful for societies, in-
dustries, and companies. Eventually, we must explore a fiqh
(read: fatwa in Islamic law) about halal interpretation on
new discoveries and findings in science that will influence
our future generations. This circle of ‘halalness’ is the result
of a continuous contingency process within the Muslim
communities and scholars. Keynote speakers and select-
ed-speakers are, therefore, expected to write a manuscript
based upon an original and high-quality research, which
during the conference will be distributed for critical com-
ments, suggestions, and feedbacks.

Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations (UCLouvain, Belgium)

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Panel I John R. Bowen

09.30-10.15 Keynote Speech 15.15-16.15: 1st session

Shaheed Tayob (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), 16.15-16.30: Tea-break

Rossella Bottoni (Catholic University of Milan), “The

Antonio de Diego González (Halal Academy, Spain),

13.00-14.30: Lunch and Break

1. Halal Certification Bodies (HCB) and the “Imagined Standard-

2 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

2. Glocalisation and Dialogical Network of Halal

3. Historical transformation and development of halal

Université Catholique de Louvain | 3

5. The State, Halal Marketing, and Islamic Finance

6. Halal’s Fatwa and Role of Ulama’s Committee

4 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

7. Halal between Legislation and Judicial Practices

8. Halal Development and New Discoveries in Food, Pharmaceu-

Ayang Utriza Yakin, Louis-Léon Christians, Baudouin Dupret

Université Catholique de Louvain | 5

Prof. Dr. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Warde

Prof. Dr. John Bowen

Prof. Dr. John Lever

6 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Antonio de Di- Spain The Halal Building Sharia boards

Barbara Hayat Spain The Halal Halal Standard Harmo-

En-Chieh Chao Taiwan Department The making of halal

Hacer Z. Gonul Belgium Université The Dilemma of Chinese

Université Catholique de Louvain | 7

Lauren Marr USA Department “Cosa C’e Dietro” (what’s

Marc Des- Belgium Advisory ISLAMIC BOOLE-PA-

Mariko Arata Japan College of Serving foods to Mus-

Matteo Benussi UK Social An- Living Halal in the Volga

Ma Jianfu China North Minzu Migrants, Foodways and

8 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Rossella Bottoni Italy Faculty of The Italian Experience

Shaheed Tayob South Department The Ethics of Trust:

Shuko Takeshita Japan Department Halal Certification

Yukari Sai Japan Waseda The Rise and Decline of

Université Catholique de Louvain | 9

Antonio de Diego González

I n global trade, halal food has become a

10 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Université Catholique de Louvain | 11

12 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Antonio de Diego González (Málaga, 1986) is Postdoctoral

The Halal Academy

Personal Website : https://us.academia.edu/AntonioDeDiego

Université Catholique de Louvain | 13

Barbara Hayat Ruiz-Bejarano

A t the beginning of the millennium, the

14 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Université Catholique de Louvain | 15

16 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Dr. Barbara Hayat Ruiz-Bejarano (Zaragoza, 1968) is the Director

The Halal Institute

Université Catholique de Louvain | 17

T he purpose of this study is to explore

18 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Université Catholique de Louvain | 19

20 | Rethinking Halal: Genealogy, Current Trends, and New Interpretations

Université Catholique de Louvain | 21