CHAPTER 3
Halal sources and Halal
Verification
Prepared by:
Nuruul Hidayah Mansor
Lecturer ACIS
UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan
Updated: March 2024
CONTENT
3.1 Islamic Sources
3.1.1 Primary Sources
3.1.2 Secondary Sources
3.1.3 Alternative Sources
3.2 Related References of Regulations and Standards on
Halal
3.3 Technical Sources
3.3.1 Deoxyribonucleic Acid Test (DNA)
3.3.2 Alcohol
3.1 Islamic Sources
What are the sources of Islamic authority?
There are four sources of law:
1. al-Quran,
2. as-Sunnah (as distilled from the hadiths)
3. ijma' (consensus)
4. qiyas (the concept of analogical reasoning)
3.1.1 Primary Sources is the Kitabullah (Believed to be the
direct word of God ) as revealed to
There are two primary sources of Muhammad through angel Gabriel
Primary sources in Islam
(Jibril a.s) in Mecca and Medina. In
Islamic law. Arabic, there is only one authentic
1. Qu’ran and uniform text used throughout
2. Sunnah. the Muslim world.
The traditions and practices of the
prophet Muhammad. There are
three types of Sunnah. The first is
the sayings of the prophet –
Sunnah Qawliyyah/Hadith. The
second is the actions of the
prophet – Sunnah Al Filiyya. The
final type of Sunnah is the
practices prevailing during
Muhammad’s time which he did
not oppose – Sunnah Taqririyyah.
3.1.2 Secondary Sources
Secondary sources can be applied to issue legal and moral opinions about acts or
practices that are not mentioned explicitly in the primary sources.
The secondary sources are:
1. Ijma (Consensus),
2. Qiyas (Analogical Reasoning),
3. Istihsan (Equity in Islamic Law),
4. Maslahah Mursalah (Public Interest),
5. Urf (Custom),
6. Sadd al-Dhara'i (Blocking the Means)
7. Ijtihad (Critical Thinking).
Ijma (Consensus of Opinion)
● Ijma is defined as an agreement among the Muslim jurists in a particular age on a
question of law.
● Ijma and the other sources of law are to be used only when there is no clear guideline or
explicit rule in Quran and Sunnah on the matter under consideration. The core of all the
sources is the Quran and Sunnah.
● Ijma is acceptable only when there is a general agreement among Muslim jurists/
scholars, and this agreement is applicable only to secular matters.
● An Ijma among the jurists cannot change fundamental rituals and rules of worship.
Qiyas (Analogical Deduction)
Qiyas is the fourth source of Shari’a, and it is used only when a
matter has never been discussed under the above mentioned three
sources. It is a process of deducing a rule from the earlier sources.
It is the extension of a Shariah ruling from an original case to a
new case because the new case has the same effective cause as
the original case. Qiyas (a form of Ijtihad) is also validated by the
Quran and Hadith.
Istihsan
● Istihsan (juristic discretion) is a method used to come to a decision
that sets aside an established dalil.
● Istihsan is used in deriving an opinion to avoid rigidity or
inflexibility from the enforcement of certain rulings.
● Istihsan is done for a reason stronger than the reason achieved for
the original dalil, particularly as it seeks to uphold a higher value of
Shariah. For example, a departure from the general rule that
prohibits selling an object which is not in the seller’s possession in
salam contract (sale of an object where the price is paid now but
the delivery of the item is to be made in the future).
● Not all scholars accept the utilisation of istihsan in the formulation
of a decision. Some scholars reject the practice of istihsan, but this
rejection is limited for those who misuse istihsan to provide legal
validity for inappropriate ijtihad (independent reasoning).
3.1.3 Alternative Sources
3.1.3 Alternative Sources
● Istihalah is an Arabic word, which
Istihalah means transformation or change. It is
derived from the word halal. The term
istihalah is a derivative of the words:
istihal, yastahil, istihalat, which also examples of istihalah
mean change.
This transformation can occur
● the term istihalah in Islam means a naturally, as in the case of alcohol
permanent transformation from one when it is left in an open place or
condition to another (Kashim et al. exposed to the sun and it changes
2015). into vinegar
● Istihalah is also defined as something
unclean that changes by itself or
through any process (al-Zuhayli
1997)
SCHOLARS’ VIEWS CONCERNING ISTIHALAH
Basically, the scholars agree to accept the concept of istihalah as a process of purification or cleaning
of substance from unclean sources
The Hanafi, Maliki and Ibn The Shafi‘i and Hanbali madhhab stipulate
Hazm schools of jurisprudence
(madhhab) argue ● that unclean things do not become clean by
changing its nature.
● that istihalah is a process ● For the Shafi‘i madhhab, the change of
which allows unclean something haram into something halal only
substances to change into occurs in three circumstances, which are:
something clean either
naturally or through the 1. wine that turns into vinegar naturally,
agent of mixing with other 2. dead animal skin, except of dogs and pigs,
substances or other become pure after tanning
activities such as burning 3. something that turns into a new life such as
larvae from carcass.
several important points may be concluded as follows:
I. Any natural transformation should be recognized as istihalah sahihah.
Wine to vinegar, tree watered with pig filth and so on. Then its outcome
is permissible (halal) in Islam.
I. Nowadays, the main issue is the mixing of halal and haram ingredients
in the food and beverage industry. So, on what conditions can istihalah
can be categorized as istihalah sahihah (complete transformation) or
istihalah fasidah (imperfect)? The best method to determine is through
laboratory tests to ascertain whether the illegal substance or ‘ayn
material still exists or not. If it still remains intact, it is illegal (haram) and
if it does not then it is permissible (halal) to consume.
Istihalah Law:
The followings are istihalah law stipulations:
1) Istihalah process does not change things that are impure/najis into pure, unless when
they change by themselves (istihalah bi nafsiha) and they are not ‘ain impure (najis ‘ain).
When khamr turns into vinegar, whether by itself or by technically, it is considered pure.
2) All processes involving najis growth media, although when the ingredients processed
are halal, will make those ingredients mutanajjis. Therefore, purification is required.
3) Every ingredient derived from swine or its derivatives are haram for food, beverage,
cosmetics, and goods productions, either as raw material, additional substances, or
assisting material
3.3 Technical Sources
REQUIREMENT FOR LABORATORY TESTS
● This is to determine whether the mixing of clean and unclean substances or materials
have undergone istihalah or not
● This is dependent on the changes of illegal substances or materials through the
istihalah process which can be verified through laboratory tests since it is hardly
possible to find out with the naked eye.
● Whether the mixing of halal and haram substances or materials will result in halal or
haram food product.
3.3.1 Deoxyribonucleic Acid Test (DNA)
DNA ANALYSIS FOR HALAL
WHAT IS DNA? CERTIFICATION
DNA or
deoxyribonucleic acid is In the context of DNA analysis, the Halal status is to screen ingredients or finished
a basic molecule for an products of any pork-based sources either through contamination or formulation.
organism, and it Unfortunately, due to the complicated formulation of products in the current market, it is
contains the genetic impossible to identify products in the market that are free of haram based ingredients just
code that determines
by our naked eyes.
the characteristics of all
living things on earth.
The DNA analysis process for Halal verification starts with DNA extraction from the
product. Once the DNA is extracted and passes the stringent Quality Control in
analysis, the process proceeds with DNA matching in order to identify the animal
species. If the DNA found matches a pork’s DNA, it is then decided that the
product contains the pork-based ingredients. The result is absolute, regardless of
any part of the pig’s body part being used.
4.2 Technical Sources
4.2.3 Alcohol • Several approaches have been employed
to identify the content of alcohol in food and
drinks such as:
• Based on Islamic Law, several types of alcohol have
been found to be intoxicated liquid or drink that may 1. gas chromatography and polymerase
affect a person’s rationality. chain reaction, which are hardware driven,
• In the food industry, alcohol can be divided into two. slow and require high maintenance.
2. Based on research by Jarinah Mohd Ali,
1. First, alcohol that is derived from the process of et.al (2021)-The Identification of Alcohol
winemaking or other alcoholic beverages (khamar) that Percentage Limit in Halal Food Using
is prohibited and impure (najs) and Fuzzy Logic, As an alternative, fuzzy logic
2. second, alcohol that is made from other processes has been applied for the identification of
which exclude the alcoholic beverages-making the halal alcohol limit due to its
processes, that is not impure yet prohibited to be advantages, including it is more
consumed. economical (software-based), provide fast
authentication and reliable.
i. Rapid test kit
2. Machine/ Laboratory method
M1 ELISA TEST KIT
extract DNA
Determination of Alcohol by Volume in Bakery Products and Baked Goods with CDR FoodLab
The Analysis of Alcohol in Food
Alcohol Meter＜ALM-155＞ Food and Beverage Analyzers
