NEWS

2025.04.08

【Report】The International Workshop on Strengthening Accountability in Islamic Economic Systems was held!

With Special Emphasis on Trust-Building and Halal Standards, was held on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Ritsumeikan University, Osaka Ibaraki Campus (Online via Zoom)

First, the moderator and session chair, Dr. Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafai, Associate Professor,Research Center for Islamic Economics and Finance, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM), began the workshop and introduced Prof. Kosugi Yasushi the Director of Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University, who gave the welcoming speech.

Photo: On the right, Dr. Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafai moderating the session; on the left, Prof. Kosugi Yasushi delivering his welcome speech.

The presentations began with a lecture from Prof. Sahilah Abd Mutalib, Professor, Institut Islam Hadhari, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), an appointed member of The National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs Malaysia (MKI)-JAKIM who gave a speech entitled “Malaysia’s National Standards and Halal Certification: Achievements and Future Directions.”

From her position as a member of JAKIM, Professor Sahila gave a comprehensive description of all aspects of the Halal industry. She began by listing the wide scope of Malaysian Halal Certification schemes from food products and beverages through cosmetics slaughtering, logistics, consumable goods and medical products. She explained that halal rulings are taken from Quran and Hadith and applied through scholarly opinions which in Malaysia are according to the Shafi school. She emphasized that as well as being halal by definition, food must be from a Halal source, safe to eat, hygienic and nutritious.

Next, she pointed out that Malaysia is ranked first on the Global Islamic Economy Indicator for digital economy initiatives, infrastructure development, and increased focus on food security and health. Currently, market growth is being driven by GDP growth in Muslim countries, emerging markets such as China, India, Thailand, the expansion of the halal ecosystem, and ethical consumption assisted by increasing digital connectivity.

She concluded by saying that Malaysia has made significant strides in developing and implementing National standards (MS) and Halal certification, and the government’s Halal Industry Master Plan 2030 (HIMP 2030) has positioned Malaysia to capitalize on the growing global demand for halal products and services. Looking forward, Malaysia aims to further strengthen its standards and Halal certification frameworks to meet local and OIC/SMIIC market needs for ensuring Malaysia remains as a trusted and influential player in the Halal International Standards and Halal certification landscape.

Photo: Prof. Sahilah Abd Mutalib delivering her presentation

Next, Dr. Mari Adachi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Ms. Yuni Yulia Farikha Lecturer, College of Ilmu Tarbiyah Ihsanul Fikri, Indonesia, gave a joint presentation entitled “Strengthening Faith Through Sacrifice: Motivation Factors of Qurban Case Study Batur, Banjarnegara, Central Java, Indonesia.”

Dr. Adachi began by explaining the Islamic ritual of Qurban performed on Eid al Adhar at the end of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca as a celebration of Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice in obedience to God’s command. According to Islamic tradition, an animal should be slaughtered by each household that can afford to do so. The meat is then distributed so that even the poor can enjoy a good meal during the days of the Eid. In their fieldwork, they were surprised to find a rural community in Batur, Banjar Negara, Central Java, where low-income farmers enthusiastically celebrated this ritual even though a goat costs more than RP. 3,000,000, and sharing in purchasing a cow costs RP. 3,572,000, which is more than a family’s monthly income.

They investigated the Qurbani practices in Batur to identify the key factors that drive this remarkable act of charity by conducting a survey in February 2025, using a qualitative approach based on distributed questionnaires and interviews to the 6 Qurbani committees and 56 Qurbani participants in Krajan (central Batur) and north Batur. They found that in 2024, the village committee successfully collected 74 cows and 292 goats for sacrifice. This effort resulted in the distribution of 9,200 packages of Qurban meat, which they shared with people in surrounding areas, particularly those in need.

The study concluded that the factors which drive the residents to perform Qurban are religious motivation, solidarity, hereditary culture, the custom of saving for Qurban throughout the year and having a trustworthy Qurban committee to ensure trust and fair distribution. Indeed, Batur is an important example of the Qurbani tradition at village level, and this research reveals why relatively poor people show massive enthusiasm to participate actively in Qurban. As a recommendation, the researchers found it necessary to create some guidelines to develop more hygienic Qurbani management.

Photo: Dr. Mari Adachi and Ms. Yuni Yulia Farikha delivering their presentation

The fourth speaker was Dr. Shin Yasuda, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism Policy, Faculty of Regional Policy, Takasaki City University of Economics, Japan, whose presentation was titled, “Halal Tourism 2.0 in Japan: The New Wave of Trust-Building and Accountability in the Halal Economy in a Non-Muslim Country” 1:52:34

Dr. Yasuda began by explaining the remarkable growth in Islamic tourism since 2010 as halal tourism, Muslim friendly tourism, and Islamic hospitality. The expansion of Halal certification has been enabled by the establishment of halal certification systems and procedures. He described the tourism market based on the dissemination of Halal standards and the halal certification system as “Halal Tourism 1.0.” Since then, there have been various efforts to foster new waves of tourism during the 2020s through media such as halal travel influencers and content creators, and Dr. Yasuda calls this stage “Halal Tourism 2.0.”

Japan has been welcoming Muslim tourists since the 2010s, but an increasing number of independent certification bodies has led to a diverse range of halal standards, and establishing a unified Halal standard for certification in Japan is difficult, because the central government and local administrations are reluctant to cooperate. Recently, these certification bodies have been surpassed by individual Muslim and non-Muslim halal travel influencers using the media to develop their own halal tourism markets. This has gone beyond simply disseminating tourism information to promoting interest in the daily lifestyles of Muslim communities in Japan.

In conclusion, Dr. Yasuda recommended that Japan focus more creating “related food landscapes” by including design, people, customs and other cultural spaces for food.

Photo: Dr. Shin Yasuda delivering his presentation

The fifth presentation was by Dr. Rika Fatimah P.L., Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Indonesia, on “Global Gotong Royong (G2R) Tetrapreneur on Halal: Iconic People Movement on New Entrepreneurship Development's Standardization to Support Halal Economy.”

Dr. Rika began by explaining that Global Entrepreneurship is a hot topic worldwide, including Indonesia. With the 4th largest population in the world, Indonesia has a wide variety of cultural food and natural resources. She expressed the current situation as: “Indonesia has everything - but nothing. Yet!” In other words, Indonesia has consumer sophistication but very low investment in human capital and innovative research. As shown by the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI), Indonesian entrepreneurship emphasizes the end product rather than the process, and this has resulted in many startups (SMEs) but a lack of coordination or standardization.

To address this issue, in 2024, Indonesia introduced the Global Gotong Royong (G2R) to align Indonesian National Standardization with Global standards for supporting halal entrepreneurship. This national halal standardization agency has a technical committee consisting of many stakeholders, such as the government, professional consumers, and experts.

Dr. Rika Fatimah established the Global Halal Industry Foundation to assure that all aspects including the supply chain, food production, food safety comply with a halal way of life. This can only be achieved by unifying society under the Shariah with a humanistic approach to poverty reduction, and sustainability consistent with a halal ecosystem unified by belief in the one Creator of the Universe.

The intention is to design a master plan not only for Muslims but all societies by making Indonesia a global halal industry hub, and to achieve global recognition, “Brand Indonesia” should become iconic. She concluded by explaining how the G2RT (Tetrapreneur) and people movement in Indonesia is composed of various aspects of Indonesian society, including women’s movements, and how they are working with Halal movements in other Muslim countries such as Dubai towards establishing universal Global halal coordination.

Photo: Dr. Rika Fatimah P.L. presenting her research

The last presenter was Dr. Ammar Khashan, associate professor, Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University, who gave a lecture on “Drawing a Blueprint for Halal Economic Studies based on Qur’anic Semantics: An Attempt to Integrate Epistemological Maps of Halal and Wafaʾ.”

In his presentation, Dr. Ammar demonstrated that the Qur’anic linkage between fulfilling contracts and Halāl laws in Sūrat al-Māʾidah (5:1) reflects a divine-human ethical synergy. The vertical covenant with Allāh (obeying ḥalāl laws) necessitates horizontal fidelity in human transactions.

Al-Biqāʿī highlighted this through ʿilm al-munāsabāt, showing how the sūrah’s opening on contracts (5:1) and closing on divine sovereignty (5:120) frames all obligations as rooted in Tawhīd. The warning against arbitrary ḥalāl/ḥarām declarations (Q16:116) underscores that violating divine laws breaches both vertical and horizontal Wafāʾ.

Thus, his research establishes that Wafāʾ(fulfillment) is not merely contractual compliance but a holistic Tawhidic ethic. Trust in divine authority ensures societal integrity, as violating Halāl (e.g., fraudulent trade) corrupts both faith and social trust. Modern applications include reforming halal certification systems to reflect Qur’anic ethics of transparency and accountability. Future research should explore how munāsabāt can decode other Qur’anic ethical frameworks, bridging classical exegesis and contemporary challenges.

Using Qur’anic verses as proofs, Dr. Ammar demonstrated that Wafāʾas a Foundation of Trust, is not just a rule but a sacred responsibility that holds society together and Halal is a part of Wafāʾ, because following halal food rules is not just about diet; it is part of our dutiful obedience to God. Wafāʾ and Halal work together in Qur’anic teachings, focusing on purity and truthfulness as signs of Taqwā or God-consciousness.

This matters today because Wafāʾand Halal in business transactions ensure honesty and trust in halal trade and Islamic finance. He proposed that using Blockchain and other tools can help keep halal supply chains transparent and reliable and stressed that importance of building trust between religions and learning how other traditions view keeping promises and observing ethical food consumption. Dr. Ammar closed this presentation of his research by stating that the Qurʾān shows that Wafāʾ (fulfillment) and halal (permissible) are deeply connected concepts. Both teach faithfulness to God and fairness in society.

Photo: Dr. Ammar Khashan presenting his research

The closing remarks were given by Prof. Brewer of the AJI Support Program, who expressed his appreciation to the participants and thanked everyone who contributed in various ways to the success of this international workshop. He concluded by emphasizing AJI’s goals for future collaboration, sustainability, and wellbeing of humankind.