Halal or Haram?

Every belief, culture, and religion has its own specific set of dos and don’ts, and most has been practised without much question of the logic behind it.

To make things complicated, some practise selective “obedience” to these sets of dos and don’ts according to their convenience or, at times, personal gain, be it political mileage or personal benefit.

A recent (or an ongoing) pig farming fiasco and the RCI report on Tabung Haji mismanagement are two good examples. Pork is prohibited by Islamic teaching but is widely consumed by non-Muslims. This distinct difference more often than not is being blown out of proportion because it can be easily abused to confuse the populace — an easy and comprehensible subject for most. Stopping the pig farming industry (let’s put the hygiene factor argument aside) doesn’t make one more pious, nor does criticising pork eaters make one more Islamic. Furthermore, pig farming businesses have been feeding many families; taxes collected from this industry may have gone into funding projects that benefited the Muslim community too. If distinguishing is to be held to one religious principle, then other more damaging activities should be condemned too. A good example is the recent Tabung Haji saga.

What amazed the public was that self-styled Islamic politicians and scholars avoided digging into the core problems and abuses, but instead focused on the timing and motivation behind the release. Very little debate on the follow-up performance of the restructuring of TH since the extension of the sukuk issued to fund the SPV, UJSB, when it matured in May 2026. Little were questioning the per-individual fund used to arbitrage the high dividend, when the main objective of TH is to provide and ensure affordable means for Muslims to perform Haj once in a lifetime.

Pig farming vs TH abuses — which one carries more weight: Islamic reputation, or the afterlife judgement? We have not even come to the debate of the fund used to bail out the mismanagement that led to billions of losses — is it halal or haram?