Masyarakat Islam Sarawak Makanan Halal Dan Kefahaman

Abstract

This research focuses on the sensitivities of Muslims in Sarawak towards the choice of halal food in their daily lives. Although they know the basic principles related to halal, haram or syubhah food, there are some who still have little concern on halal, haram or syubhah food. Furthermore in Sarawak, Muslim visitors, especially first time visitors from the Peninsular of Malaysia who come on business or social visits face a challenge in identifying convincing food premises that offer halal food. The author will investigate the depth of Muslims in Sarawak’s understanding of the concept of halal food in Islam, sensitivities towards adoption of halal food, the status of food premises in Hotels, other food premises and restaurants, food products, premises that sell halal food, centers for the slaughters of animals as well as the roles of Islamic Religious Department of Sarawak (JAIS) in addressing this issue. This is a quantitative research, with questionnaires distributed as the instrument of study. A total of 150 respondents from various educational backgrounds, ethnicities, age and occupations were selected by random sampling to represent the population of the study. A set of questionnaires that include 30 items were distributed to the respondents. Findings were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package for Social Science 20.1 for Windows. In general, the analysis expected to receive positive feedbacks from the respondents in aspects including the level of sensitivities towards choosing halal food, and not to be manipulated by food operators who put profits before the qualities of products they offer.