Contemporary ijtihād and taqlīd in halal certification: an uṣūl al-fiqh analysis

This research examines the halal certification system, particularly the halal logo, through the analytical framework of ijtihād (independent legal reasoning) and taqlīd (adherence to scholarly authority) within uṣūl al-fiqh (Islamic legal theory). The study addresses fundamental questions: Does halal certification constitute valid ijtihād? What are the resulting implications for taqlīd? How do uṣūl al-fiqh scholars conceptualize these concepts in relation to contemporary certification systems? Employing library-based research and inductive methodology, the researcher analyzed classical works in legal theory alongside contemporary halal certification studies, utilizing qualitative analytical techniques including interpretation, inference, classification, reasoning, comparison, and exemplification. The research demonstrates that halal certification represents a recognized form of collective institutional ijtihād operating through three distinct phases: establishing halal standards (istidlālī ijtihād), implementing these standards for product certification (tanzīlī ijtihād), and monitoring ongoing compliance (istiṣḥābī ijtihād). This ijtihād constitutes an individual obligation (farḍ ʿaynī) upon the designated authority such as JAKIM, drawing upon comprehensive Islamic legal sources including the Qur'an, Sunnah, qiyās, istiḥsān, istiṣlāḥ, ʿurf, and istiṣḥāb. Critically, characterizing halal certification as ijtihād produces significant consequences for taqlīd: the general Muslim population may legitimately follow the halal logo ruling without independent verification, while the prohibition against overturning equivalent ijtihād, recognition of legitimate scholarly disagreement, and acknowledgment of the probabilistic nature of such rulings all flow from this characterization