Halal certification among UMKM in a Muslim-minority market: A maslahah mursalah perspective

Purpose – This study analyses the implementation of halal certification among Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in an urban district with a Muslim-minority population and evaluates that implementation through maslahah mursalah. Design – Qualitative field research with a normative-empirical approach was conducted in Paal Dua District, Manado City, from December 2025 to February 2026. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with twelve food and beverage MSME operators, two Halal Product Process (PPH) Assistants, and two members of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council of North Sulawesi Province, supported by structured observation and document analysis, and were then analysed through hybrid thematic coding. Findings – Certification uptake among the informants is uneven. Three interrelated barriers account for this pattern: limited procedural understanding, assistance that is discontinued before completion, and the belief that Muslim ownership together with ingredients presumed to be lawful already guarantees halalness. Read through maslahah mursalah, different functions of certification operate at the dharuriyah, hajiyah, and tahsiniyah levels, rather than certification as a single whole occupying all three at once. Research Implications – The findings rest on a small purposive sample within a single district and describe the cases studied rather than the MSME population of that district. Consumers were not interviewed, and actual halal compliance was not measured through product testing or audit. Originality – This study separates the obligation of halal consumption, which is grounded in explicit textual authority, from the modern administrative certification mechanism that is properly the object of maslahah mursalah reasoning, and applies the three levels of benefit to primary evidence gathered in a Muslim-minority setting.