The Global Halal Revolution: Beyond Religious Boundaries
The halal industry has experienced explosive growth over the past decade, transforming from a niche religious requirement into a global phenomenon worth trillions of dollars. While many still associate halal exclusively with Muslim dietary practices, a groundbreaking bibliometric study reveals that non-Muslims are playing an increasingly significant role in shaping the halal landscape.
Halal certification now conveys more than just Islamic compliance to consumers worldwide. Research demonstrates that halal labels signal hygiene, safety, quality, and ethical production to broader audiences (Saleh & Rajandran, 2024). This expanded meaning has opened doors for halal products to appeal to non-Muslim consumers who prioritize these universal values.
The study, published in the Journal of Fatwa Management and Research, analyzed 222 peer-reviewed articles and reviews from the Scopus database published between 2015 and 2024. The research employed sophisticated bibliometric techniques including performance analysis, bibliographic coupling, and keyword co-occurrence mapping to uncover the intellectual structure of halal-related scholarship involving non-Muslims.
Top 10 Most Cited Halal-Related Publications Involving Non-Muslims
| Rank | Author(s) | Year | Title | Total Citations | Average Citations Per Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayyub | 2015 | Exploring perceptions of non-Muslims towards Halal foods in UK | 237 | 23.7 |
| 2 | Haque et al. | 2015 | Non-Muslim consumers’ perception toward purchasing halal food products in Malaysia | 149 | 14.9 |
| 3 | Samori et al. | 2016 | Current trends on Halal tourism: Cases on selected Asian countries | 115 | 12.8 |
| 4 | Rahman et al. | 2020 | The impact of tourists’ perceptions on halal tourism destination | 108 | 21.6 |
| 5 | Ali et al. | 2018 | Antecedents of consumers’ Halal brand purchase intention | 94 | 13.4 |
| 6 | Lubis et al. | 2016 | From market to food plate: Current trusted technology in halal food analysis | 91 | 10.1 |
| 7 | Battour et al. | 2018 | The perception of non-Muslim tourists towards halal tourism | 88 | 12.6 |
| 8 | Bashir | 2019 | Effect of halal awareness, halal logo and attitude on foreign consumers’ purchase intention | 84 | 14.0 |
| 9 | Wilkins et al. | 2019 | The acceptance of halal food in non-Muslim countries | 83 | 13.8 |
| 10 | Rasul | 2019 | The trends, opportunities and challenges of halal tourism | 79 | 13.2 |
- Rapid Growth in Interest: The most cited paper (Ayyub, 2015) averages nearly 24 citations per year, demonstrating sustained scholarly attention.
- Geographic Focus: Seven of the top 10 papers focus on Asian contexts, particularly Malaysia and Turkey, highlighting regional leadership.
- Diverse Themes: The list covers perceptions (Ayyub, Haque), tourism (Samori, Rahman, Battour), and branding (Ali, Bashir), showing the field’s multidisciplinary nature.
- Recent Relevance: Five papers from 2019-2020 appear in the top 10, indicating the field’s contemporary importance.
The Research Landscape: Where Knowledge Thrives
The study reveals a dynamic and rapidly expanding research field. Scholarly output grew steadily from just 4 articles in 2015 to impressive peaks of 36 publications in both 2020 and 2023. While 2024 showed a slight decline to 28 documents, this still represents significantly higher output than the early years.
This growth trajectory reflects increasing global attention to food safety, ethical consumption, and cultural inclusivity. The peak years coinciding with heightened global awareness of these issues suggests external factors, including globalization and the expanding halal economy, are driving research interest.
Geographically, Malaysia dominates the research landscape. Universiti Teknologi MARA leads institutional contributions with 19 publications, followed by Universiti Malaya (14), Universiti Sains Malaysia (8), and Universiti Utara Malaysia (6). This concentration reflects Malaysia’s national commitment to becoming a global halal hub, supported by government initiatives and international partnerships.
Indonesia also features prominently, particularly in keyword analysis, confirming Southeast Asia’s leadership in halal research and industry development. The regional focus, however, also reveals a significant gap: non-Muslim-majority regions like Europe, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa remain understudied. This geographical bias presents both a limitation and an opportunity for future research.
Top Keywords and What They Reveal About Halal Research
| Keyword | Occurrences | Total Link Strength | What This Tells Us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halal | 37 | 73 | The foundational concept anchoring the entire field |
| Halal Tourism | 33 | 48 | Tourism is a major application area where non-Muslims interact with halal |
| Halal Food | 28 | 46 | Food remains the primary sector for halal research |
| Muslim | 20 | 93 | Even when studying non-Muslims, Muslim perspectives remain central |
| Purchase Intention | 18 | 64 | Consumer psychology and decision-making are critical research areas |
| Malaysia | 16 | 48 | Malaysia serves as the primary research context and model |
| Attitude | 12 | 48 | Psychological factors driving acceptance are heavily studied |
| Consumer | 11 | 98 | Individual consumer behavior receives strong attention |
| Human | 11 | 98 | Human-centered research approaches dominate the field |
| Perception | 8 | 45 | How people interpret halal is a key research question |
- “Total Link Strength” measures how often keywords appear together in publications. Higher numbers indicate stronger thematic connections.
- “Halal” and “Muslim” appear together frequently (link strength 93), showing researchers examine non-Muslim perceptions through the lens of Muslim practices.
- Behavioral Terms (purchase intention, attitude, perception) collectively demonstrate psychology’s central role in halal acceptance research.
- Southeast Asian Dominance: Malaysia appears 16 times, while Indonesia appears 9 times, confirming the region’s research leadership.
Three Pillars of Halal Research
The bibliographic coupling analysis reveals three major intellectual clusters that structure the field of halal-related scholarship involving non-Muslims.
Cluster 1: Halal Consumer Behavior and Branding
This cluster, comprising 21 articles, focuses on how non-Muslim consumers perceive, evaluate, and purchase halal products. Research by Azam (2016), Ali et al. (2018), and Wilkins et al. (2019) demonstrates that brand reputation, trust, religiosity, and perceived quality influence consumer propensity to buy halal products.
Key findings include the role of halal logos and certification as trust-building mechanisms that transcend religious boundaries. Quoquab et al. (2020) show how these symbols influence customer loyalty in the Malaysian fast-food industry. Studies like Mohd Nawawi et al. (2020) examine the emergence of halal food industries in non-Muslim countries like Thailand, highlighting globalization’s role in spreading halal awareness.
The cluster confirms that non-Muslim acceptance of halal is influenced by both functional factors (safety, certification) and symbolic elements (identity, ethics). Consumer psychology and branding strategies are central to the discussion, as researchers explore how to effectively communicate halal’s universal values to diverse audiences.
Cluster 2: Halal Tourism and Destination Perceptions
This 17-article cluster examines how non-Muslim tourists perceive halal-friendly destinations and services. Han et al. (2019) and Rahman et al. (2020) analyze halal-friendly factors in non-Muslim countries like South Korea, exploring their impact on tourist satisfaction.
Battour et al. (2018, 2020) compare non-Muslim tourist perceptions in Turkey and Malaysia, while Samori et al. (2016) and Rasul (2019) provide broader Asian perspectives. Feizollah et al. (2021) contribute digital insights by analyzing halal tourism narratives on social media.
The cluster highlights halal tourism as both an economic opportunity and a platform for cross-cultural understanding. Non-Muslims encounter halal practices firsthand during their travels, fostering cultural exchange and mutual understanding. This demonstrates how halal literacy develops through experiential learning rather than formal education alone.
Cluster 3: Halal Awareness and Food Systems
This 16-article cluster focuses on how non-Muslim consumers perceive, understand, and use halal food. Foundational works by Haque et al. (2015) and Ayyub (2015) analyze non-Muslim perceptions in Malaysia and the UK, revealing knowledge gaps and varying acceptance levels.
Bashir (2019) and Soon and Wallace (2017) apply behavioral theories like the Theory of Planned Behavior to relate awareness and attitudes to purchasing intentions. Lubis et al. (2016) and Sohaib and Jamil (2017) expand halal literacy to include technological advancements in food analysis and meat industry standards.
Jalil et al. (2018) add a socio-ethical dimension by connecting halal food consumption with animal welfare concerns in both Muslim and non-Muslim contexts. This integration of ethics with food systems emphasizes how halal literacy encompasses universal values that appeal beyond religious communities.
Five Key Research Themes
The co-occurrence analysis further refines understanding by identifying five thematic clusters representing the field’s focal areas.
Halal Tourism and Cultural Integration
This red cluster highlights halal travel and its global availability. Keywords like “halal,” “halal tourism,” “Islam,” “Indonesia,” “Muslim tourist,” “tourism,” “China,” and “Islamic tourism” dominate. The presence of China and Indonesia demonstrates regional leadership in halal tourism development.
The research shows destinations increasingly modify their offerings to accommodate Muslim requirements while engaging with non-Muslim audiences. Tourism serves as a forum for intercultural understanding, exposing non-Muslims to halal customs in practical settings. This cluster emphasizes halal tourism as a driver of industry growth and a catalyst for mutual understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities.
Consumer Awareness and Ethical Considerations
This green cluster focuses on ethical dimensions, human perception, and consumer awareness. Keywords include “human,” “consumer,” “halal meat,” “awareness,” “perception,” “animal welfare,” and “acculturation.”
The findings demonstrate how halal literacy relates to individual understanding of ethical consumption, extending beyond religious observance to include cultural adaptability and animal welfare. Non-Muslims modify their views toward halal through exposure and education, developing ethical frameworks that often align with universal values.
The emergence of animal welfare discussions, particularly around halal meat production, reflects growing global concerns about humane standards. Halal literacy thus transcends religious boundaries and overlaps with universal ethics, consumer rights, and social responsibility.
Halal Food Perceptions and Purchase Behaviour
This blue cluster emphasizes consumer psychology surrounding halal food. Keywords like “halal food,” “Muslim,” “attitude,” “purchase intention,” “halal awareness,” “halal logo,” and “religiosity” indicate strong emphasis on how personal beliefs and symbols affect non-Muslim acceptance.
The halal logo emerges as a crucial trust-building mechanism, while religiosity highlights how personal beliefs influence consumer choices regardless of religious affiliation. The cluster illustrates the interaction between awareness and intention, with higher halal literacy directly impacting purchase propensity.
Research in this area frequently references behavioral theories like the Theory of Planned Behavior, linking cognitive understanding with real-world consumer behavior. Psychological and symbolic drivers of acceptance mediate how non-Muslims interpret halal in food contexts.
Halal Market, Certification, and Industry Development
This yellow cluster encapsulates commercial and industrial aspects of halal-related scholarship. Keywords include “halal market,” “halal certification,” “Islamic marketing,” “halal products,” “halal industry,” and “halal cosmetics.”
The analysis reveals halal has expanded beyond food and travel to encompass broader aspects of life, including cosmetics. Islamic marketing emphasizes strategic approaches to promoting halal to both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers, while certification emerges as a major theme serving as a standardization and trust-building tool.
The cluster demonstrates how industries convey authenticity and legitimacy through certification, another literacy-related dimension within halal scholarship. With global halal markets experiencing rapid growth, non-Muslim understanding becomes essential for inclusivity, competitiveness, and market acceptance.
Halal Supply Chains and Food Safety
This purple cluster focuses on logistical procedures supporting the halal ecosystem. Keywords include “Malaysia,” “halal logistics,” “mediation,” “food safety,” “food,” and “certification.”
Malaysia’s prominence reflects its global leadership in halal standards and certification. The emphasis on halal logistics highlights the importance of maintaining halal integrity throughout the entire supply chain. Food safety establishes halal as a quality control signal for all consumers, connecting halal scholarship to broader health concerns.
The reference to “mediation” points to the need for research on factors connecting halal-related scholarship and consumer acceptability. Understanding halal systems depends on robust certification and logistics infrastructures, demonstrating that halal literacy is also infrastructure-dependent.
Theoretical and Practical Implications
The study carries significant theoretical implications. It establishes halal literacy as a multidisciplinary concept at the nexus of supply chain management, tourism, cultural studies, and consumer behaviour. The findings confirm that behavioral theories like the Theory of Planned Behavior effectively explain how non-Muslim buying intentions are influenced by awareness, attitudes, and religiosity.
By connecting halal literacy with acculturation and intercultural communication frameworks, the research expands theoretical discourse. Non-Muslim exposure to halal practices promotes cultural adaptability, suggesting integration with innovation diffusion theory. The study conceptually connects religious literacy with global consumer literacy, theorizing halal as a worldwide sign of quality, ethics, and inclusivity.
Practically, the findings underscore the importance of enhancing non-Muslim halal literacy to promote inclusivity, trust, and market growth. Clear communication of halal standards through marketing, certification marks, and transparent supply chains can boost acceptance and loyalty.
For tourism practitioners, halal-friendly services can boost competitiveness, especially in non-Muslim regions as demonstrated by studies on South Korea and Turkey. Policymakers and educators can support awareness campaigns highlighting universal principles of food safety, moral consumption, and animal care.
The global halal sector must develop inclusive strategies catering to both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers to ensure further market penetration. Raising halal literacy opens doors to cross-cultural communication, long-term economic growth, and improved international positioning for halal-certified products and services.
Conclusion: Halal as Universal Value
This bibliometric investigation demonstrates that halal literacy has emerged as an embedded conceptual dimension within broader halal-related scholarship involving non-Muslims. The research reveals that halal literacy encompasses not just religious compliance but ethics, safety, inclusivity, and cultural understanding.
The findings highlight halal’s transformation from a religious requirement to a universal value system that appeals to diverse populations worldwide. Non-Muslim engagement with halal manifests through awareness, perception, trust, and interpretive understanding, suggesting that halal literacy operates as an underlying interpretive layer across consumer, tourism, and food-system research.
The study’s relevance extends to Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Halal literacy promotes ethical supply chains, sustainable food systems, and informed consumer choices. For industrial participants, it guarantees credibility and competitiveness in international markets, while for non-Muslim populations, it improves cross-cultural understanding and market inclusion.
By establishing halal literacy as an economic driver and emergent social requirement, this research positions it as a vital link between cultural diversity and global consumer practices. Future research should explore how non-Muslims interpret halal across digital commerce, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and logistics, examining behavioural mechanisms beyond purchase intention such as trust formation and intercultural engagement.
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