Ḥalāl linguistic meaning understanding among Non-Muslim in Malaysia

Kefahaman makna linguistik halal di kalangan Orang Bukan Islam di Malaysia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53840/alirsyad.v6i2.210

Keywords:

Ḥalāl, Discourse, Linguistic, Understanding, Non Muslim, Malaysia

Abstract

Ḥalāl discourse is not only familiar to Muslims but also to non-Muslims in Malaysia. This study discusses the response of non-Muslims to ḥalāl discourse with the objective of identifying the ḥalāl linguistic meaning among non-Muslims in Malaysia. The discussion of meaning is based on the language interpretation used in Sunni pragmatic research, such as how language is perceived as having either literal or figurative meanings based on Mohamed & Yunis (2013) and Russell (1940) approach that focuses on meaning and fact in his language theory. The data in the discussion related to the non-Muslims response towards 5 categories of ḥalāl implementation, namely ḥalāl food, ḥalāl certification, ḥalāl sign, ḥalāl name or brand of the product, and ḥalāl supply chain. The data were the controversial ḥalāl issues from 2014 to 2018 taken from local newspapers such as Star Online. The discussion demonstrates that the understanding of non-Muslims linguistically can be traced from the keywords, such as understanding, compliance, awareness,acceptance, and recognised, which have denotatively positive meanings. However, there are other words with denotatively negative meanings, such as confusion and sensitivity. The result also shows ḥalāl does not only concern Muslims but non-Muslims as well. In principle, Islam does not prohibit non-Muslims from consuming the products offered based on the guidelines recommended in Islam. The findings reveal that ḥalāl understanding in Malaysia still needs to be strengthened among non-Muslims. Therefore, the understanding and knowledge of ḥalāl implementation are the main pillars in maintaining the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims in this society.

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Author Biographies

Muhammad Zulhilmi Ibrahim, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), MALAYSIA

Muhammad Zulhilmi bin Ibrahim has a Bachelor of Muamalat Administration (Honours) from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). He also graduated with a Master of Islamic Finance and Banking from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in 2016. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at the School of Language, Civilization, and Philosophy, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). His current areas of interest and exploration are discourse analysis, halal understanding, inter-religious, and linguistics. He begins the project by thoroughly researching and developing his ideas through creative thinking. His research title is A Discourse Analysis on Halal Understanding among Non-Muslims in Malaysia. 

Based on his work experiences, he was interned at ANAZA Sdn Bhd: Fish Farm, Kuah, Langkawi as an entrepreneur from Feb 2012 to May 2013. In 2013 (June- November), he worked as a teacher at Sekolah Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), Serdang, Selangor. From 2016 to 2018, he was appointed as a research assistant, Religious Discourse, the Northern University of Malaysia, for three years. From Sept 2020 until Feb 2021, he was again appointed as a research assistant, the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic and Movement Control Order (MCO) on Households in Kedah and Perlis, Northern University of Malaysia.

 

Munif Zarirruddin Fikri Nordin, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), MALAYSIA

 

 

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Published

2021-12-21

How to Cite

Ibrahim, M. Z., & Nordin, M. Z. F. (2021). Ḥalāl linguistic meaning understanding among Non-Muslim in Malaysia: Kefahaman makna linguistik halal di kalangan Orang Bukan Islam di Malaysia. Al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues, 6(2), 697–705. https://doi.org/10.53840/alirsyad.v6i2.210