Eleventh International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

MS1500: Halal (Food General Guidelines), published by the Malaysian Department of Standards, establishes criteria used by the Malaysian government to determine whether foods are halal—that is, whether they are permissible for Muslims to consume. While grounded in the authoritative literature of Islam—the Qur’an and the Hadith—this document transcribes religious rules to make them relevant to industrial production and markets. Products certified as halal are directly governed by these standards and only indirectly by scriptural texts. Transcription, then, is significant for the practice of Islam in Malaysia and, generally, for religious practice in neoliberal societies—societies that valorize market rationality (judging value according to principles of optimization [Stephen Gudeman 2008]). This paper explores the codification of standards in MS 1500 as an example of the extension of market rationality into a religious domain that creates the possibility for people to become consumers as part of their religious practice. It also creates the possibility for injecting religious values that are not strictly tied to maximizing calculations into practices of consumption. By examining MS1500, I explore what is involved in transcribing religious rules into the sphere of industrial production. I also consider who has the authority to undertake this transcription and why it is deemed necessary. Drawing on fieldwork in Malaysia among halal-industry professionals, I also consider voices of dissent and discomfort about such transcriptions.