MUI: Implementation of Halal Product Guarantee Law Must Be Monitored and Questionable Products Guarded Against
Jakarta – The Head of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Halal Division, KH Masyhuril Khamis, has reminded all stakeholders to monitor the implementation of Law No. 33 of 2014 concerning the Guarantee of Halal Products (UU JPH). The MUI Halal Division also cautioned Muslims to be vigilant against dubious products (syubhat) whose legal status is ambiguous or questionable, regarding whether they are permissible (halal) or forbidden (haram).
Kiai Masyhuril explained that products which are haram must certainly be avoided. Beyond haram products, what must be guarded against are dubious products. In this regard, the MUI Chair cited a hadith recorded by Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim concerning syubhat.
Abu Abdillah Nu’man ibn Bashir reported that he heard the Prophet Muhammad say: “Verily, the halal is clear and the haram is clear. Between them are ambiguous matters (syubhat) about which many people are ignorant. Whoever avoids these ambiguous matters has absolved himself with respect to his religion and honour. Whoever falls into these ambiguous matters falls into that which is haram, like a shepherd who pastures near a forbidden area and may inadvertently enter it. Verily, each king has a sanctuary, and verily, Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Know that within the human body is a lump of flesh. If it is sound, the entire body is sound; if it is corrupted, the entire body is corrupted. Know that this lump is the heart.” (Reported by Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim)
Kiai Masyhuril stated that from this hadith, Muslims understand that products fundamentally exist in only two categories: halal or haram. Syubhat merely represents a limitation in knowledge regarding whether a product is halal or haram.
“Therefore, if there is a product whose legal status we cannot verify ourselves, we need assurance that what we consume is either halal or haram,” Kiai Masyhuril told Republika on Wednesday (25 February 2026).
He emphasised that regarding guarantees of a product’s halal or haram status, Indonesia has the Halal Product Guarantee Agency (BPJPH), which is responsible for ensuring that products bearing a halal label are genuinely halal.
In connection with this, he stated that the MUI Halal Division must continue to remind society that halal is a necessity of life. The Halal Product Guarantee Law must be monitored collectively.
“If a product whose origin we do not know, what components it contains, how it is processed, and if it is meat whether it is slaughtered according to Islamic methods or not, then it can be considered a dubious product, and we must be cautious about such matters,” he said.