HYPOCRISY is the practice of claiming to have moral standards, beliefs or virtues that one does not actually possess or telling others to follow rules that one breaks oneself.
It involves a clear gap between a person’s words and their actual behaviour.
That seems to be the gits of a post on Threads by halal industry researcher Irham Ibrahim (@irham_ibrahim) who highlighted that a number of Muslim businesses do NOT meet many statutory requirements.
These include the all-important and much ballyhooed halal certification by the Islamic Development Board Malaysia (JAKIM).
Beyond that, worker welfare is also left to chance as many do not see fit to pay minimum wages, let alone make the statutory contributions to the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) or Social Security Organisation (SOCSO).
View on Threads
It was also pointed out that many Bumiputera enterprises fail to adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) quality assurance system that ensures products are consistently produced and controlled to high quality, safety and appropriate hygiene standards. It was asserted same goes for HACCP standards.
Editor’s note: HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, an internationally recognised, science-based preventive food safety management system.
Instead of only testing finished food products at the end of the line, HACCP identifies, evaluates and controls biological, chemical and physical hazards at every stage of food production – from raw materials to final distribution.
“Yet they have the audacity to advocate boycotting non-Malay businesses that comply with these standards and fulfil their legal obligations.” he lamented.
“You can’t preach Islamic economic solidarity while neglecting workers’ rights, regulatory compliance and ethical business governance.”
How halal are Muslim-owned eateries?
The intrepid halal traveller was not quite done as he went on to remark that “Islamic integrity is demonstrated through conduct, not ethnic identity”.
“Hypocrisy is not an Islamic virtue. It’s absurd” was the damning conclusion.
The views expressed garnered much support from like-minded Malaysians who are perhaps a bit put off by the constant divisive rhetoric being spewed from rightist quarters.
The poster went on to remark that “consumer ethics should be guided by justice, integrity and fairness, not racial identity or selective outrage”.
A Muslim lady professing to be employed in the food and beverage business owned by Chinese had gone through the “different level of difficulty” to meet JAKIM’s ultra-tight criteria for halal certification.
But she noted many Malay-owned businesses would neglect to do so themselves. The poster also replied that many Muslims would create a fuss about non-Muslim-owned businesses’ halal status but keep mum when it involves Muslim-owned enterprises.
“Where is the fairness in that?” she asserted.
The term “double standards” was used to describe the actions and attitudes of certain quarters who were keen to whip up racial sentiments while hiding behind the shield of halal certification.
It was pointed out that ALL food-related businesses were subject to both JAKIM and the Health Ministry (MOH) SOPs (standard operating procedures) even food trucks. The insinuation is do Malay-owned businesses comply?
Is it fair to assume that Muslim eateries are automatically halal? This was the pertinent question asked by this bemused foodie who noted that many non-Muslin restaurants that follow halal requirements but do not have the necessary JAKIM certification are criticised.
This sentiment was echoed by another Muslim commenter who seemed embarrassed that such Muslims would demand to impose rules and conditions upon others but not themselves.
“Flavour of the month” was how one social media follower saw it with the Rohingya refugees issue dominating headlines recently, it was time for the cybertroopers to home in on a new topic.
It is just a ruse to stir the emotions of the masses with impending polls around the corner claims this politically-savvy observer.
Perhaps, the entire brouhaha over halal certification among non-Malay businesses was best summed up best by declaring, “Hypocrisy and provocation – all in one plate – served daily on social media”. – Oct 21, 2026
