‘O You who Believe, Eat of the Tayyibāt (pure and wholesome food) that We Have Provided You’—Producing Risk, Expertise and Certified Halal Consumption in South Africa

Abstract

This article is an analysis of the development of halal consumption in South Africa. Research on the contemporary consumption of halal has argued for an articulation of Muslim identity in a variety of settings. What evades these scholarly analyses is the production of halal as a commodity. How is it that halal consumption, as defined by Islamic dietary law, has been produced into a separately identifiable product? This paper argues that in South Africa the production of certified halal has been produced through an extensive campaign that identified the power of the Muslim consumer, consumption as an Islamic imperative, and the contemporary risks to halal presented by food technology and cross-contamination. Communicating with the Muslim consumer and identifying risks to halal consumption established a particular form of halal-certification expertise. The result was an increase in the visibility of halal and the establishment of halal-certification organizations as necessary intermediaries for the proper practice of halal. In the process taqwa was recalibrated to mean vigilance against uncertified consumption as the inspection of a halal label was introduced into the determination of halal.

Trading Halal: Halal Certification and Intra-Muslim Trade in South Africa

“…Neoliberal refers to a standardized, technocratic and bureaucratic form of governance whereby halal is abstracted as a quality that can be measured, traced and investigated in order to facilitate global trade and public consumption beyond local Muslim networks. Muslim consumers now receive a barrage of information about product ingredient listings, food technology codes and manufacturing processes as potential risks to halal (Tayob 2016). The relevance of neoliberal governmentality for an analysis of halal lies in the transformations of knowledge and materiality that give rise to new forms of ethical subjectivity as individuals self-regulate their relation to each other and the world (Foucault 2007).…”

“…However, the process through which halal certification has emerged has not been a straightforward response to the new material conditions of food production and global trade. For example, in South Africa the demand for halal certification depends on a certification industry risk discourse that demystifies the complexity of global supply chains and food technology in articulating halal certification as a necessity for Muslim consumption (Tayob 2012(Tayob , 2016. Similarly for Malaysia, Johan Fischer has shown how the establishment of halal certification as an audit culture entails the same process whereby the state employs new forms of scientific knowledge in the regulation and investigation of halal, communicates risky aspects of contemporary food production to an unsuspecting public, and establishes certification as the solution (Fischer 2016).…”

“…For sanha, the complexity of food technology and cross-contamination render even the homes of Muslim friends and family suspect, unless goods intended for consumption have been certified. sanha articulates halal certified consumption as an Islamic imperative, a new injunction for the consuming Muslim in a globally integrated and complex world (Tayob 2016).…”

Sharia

“…Rights discourse, for instance, has become a globally recognised way of demanding recognition -one that has parallel forms in the sharia tradition, but is now invoked alongside and in contrast with it, linked to Western notions of human rights and individualism (Osanloo 2006). Sharia norms of food sourcing and preparation -'halal' -have become part of global capitalist enterprise, where religious rules intersect with those of food hygiene and new notions of risk (Fischer 2011;Tayob 2016). An entire Islamic banking sector has arisen catering for new markets for religiously sanctioned versions of contemporary financial instruments (Maurer 2002;Rudnyckyj 2019).…”

Ritual Slaughter and Feelings of Threat Amongst Polish Young Adults. A Study on University Students’ Attitudes in the City of Bialystok

“…Halal production has become subject to conflicts worldwide which involve a number of issues, including the ones related to its certification, market economy interests, state interventionism, religious interpretations (see e.g. Fischer, 2011;Voloder, 2015;Bergeaud-Blackler et al, eds., 2016;Tayob, 2016;Stolz and Usunier, 2018). at the level of the society, they are not only induced by burgeoning animal rights movements but also -among other factors -attitudes towards religious minorities, especially Muslims, who consume meat produced in concordance with those procedures.…”