It depends on the country. In Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the law gives the power to issue Halal certificates to government agencies, so a mosque cannot certify a business on its own. In the United States, Britain, Canada and much of Europe, no law reserves the role, and some mosques, imams and mosque-backed councils do certify food.
This article was first published in April 2023. It has been updated with the current legal rules in 10 markets, examples of mosques and imams that certify today, the competence requirements in the OIC Halal accreditation standard and Indonesia’s October 2026 deadline.
Reviewed by Hafiz Maqsood Ahmed.
The question matters to more than mosque boards. Muslims spent $1.53 trillion on food in 2024, according to DinarStandard’s State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2025/26, and exporters into that market need a certificate that importing governments accept. A letter from a local imam can reassure a neighborhood. It will not clear a container in Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur.
For a business deciding whom to approach, the first step is to understand what being Halal certified means in the market where the product will be sold. The rules below show why the answer to the mosque question changes at every border.
Where the law decides who certifies
In most Muslim-majority markets with a formal Halal regime, certification is a state function or a licensed activity. A mosque can take part only through the structures the law sets up.
| Market | Who may issue Halal certificates | Can a mosque certify on its own? |
|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | BPJPH, the government’s Halal agency, issues certificates; the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and a ministry-appointed fatwa committee rule on Halal status | No |
| Malaysia | JAKIM and the state Islamic religious departments only | No |
| Singapore | MUIS only, under the Administration of Muslim Law Act | No |
| UAE | Bodies registered with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and accredited | Only as a registered, accredited body |
| Saudi Arabia | For imports, foreign bodies recognized by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority | Only if recognized |
| France | Private certifiers; three mosques are approved by the state to authorize ritual slaughtermen | Yes, for slaughter authorization |
| United States | Any certifier; several states require registration or disclosure | Yes |
| Britain | Any certifier | Yes |
| Canada | Any certifier; labels must name the certifying body | Yes |
| Australia | Any certifier for domestic sales; approved Islamic organizations for export | Yes, domestically |
Indonesia. BPJPH has issued certificates since 2019. By Oct. 6, 2025, it had issued 2.79 million certificates covering 9.6 million products, working with 108 inspection bodies and 1,778 registered Halal auditors, according to BPJPH. The mandatory phase for micro and small food businesses and for imported food ends this month: BPJPH’s head, Ahmad Haikal Hasan, told Parliament in June that there would be no delay to the requirement, which applies from Oct. 18, 2026.
Malaysia. Only JAKIM and the state Islamic religious departments may issue Halal certificates under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011, Jamil Khir Baharom, then the minister in charge of religious affairs, told Parliament in 2018, Malay Mail reported. Under the 1972 law it replaced, he said, anyone could issue a certificate.
Singapore. MUIS has the sole legal power to issue Halal certificates under Section 88A of the Administration of Muslim Law Act, and issuing one without its approval is an offense punishable by a fine of up to 10,000 Singapore dollars, up to 12 months in jail or both, according to MUIS.
UAE. A certifier must hold a commercial license and accreditation from a body the ministry accepts before it can register with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology. A mosque committee without accreditation does not qualify.
Where mosques and imams already certify
Outside state-run systems, mosque involvement is common and, in places, written into public records.
France. A Ministry of Agriculture circular lists three mosques approved to authorize ritual slaughtermen: the Grand Mosque of Paris, the Grand Mosque of Évry-Courcouronnes and the Grand Mosque of Lyon (circular C2013-8004). That approval covers who may slaughter, not product certification in general. Recognition abroad can change: JAKIM withdrew its recognition of the Lyon mosque’s certification arm in February 2025, according to Malaysia’s state broadcaster, RTM.
New York. The state’s Halal Foods Protection Act requires certifiers to register and requires restaurants, caterers and food carts that sell Halal food to post and file their certification, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The certifier forms the department has published include an imam at IQRA Masjid in Brooklyn and Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, a council of more than 100 member organizations and mosques.
Britain. The Halal Monitoring Committee, a registered charity, says on its website that it has the support of more than 600 mosques and is governed by a committee made up mainly of scholars.
Germany. The Islamic Center Aachen says it has certified Halal food since the 1970s and moved the work into a separate company, Halal Certification Islamic Centre Aachen GmbH, in 2021, according to its website.
Canada. The Halal Monitoring Authority grew out of a study that an association of Canadian Islamic scholars, Jami’yyatul Ulama Canada, began in 2004, according to HMA. Since 2016, federal rules have required Halal labels and advertisements to name the certifying body.
What a certifier needs that most mosques lack
Religious knowledge is necessary but not enough. The OIC’s accreditation standard for Halal certifiers, OIC/SMIIC 2:2019, sets requirements for the people and processes behind every certificate.
Turkey’s Halal Accreditation Agency, which applies that standard, requires each audit team to include an Islamic affairs expert with at least a post-secondary qualification in Islamic rules and two years of experience, technical auditors with education in the product category and four years of experience, and certification decisions made unanimously by at least three people, according to its accreditation guideline. Staff must also declare that they are commercially independent.
Those requirements point to the practical gaps for a typical mosque: food scientists who can read an ingredient specification, auditors trained to inspect a plant, access to laboratory tests for pork DNA and a system for surveillance audits and recalls. They also explain why buyers abroad ask whether a certifier is recognized by importing countries before they ask who founded it.
The risks when certification is fragmented
Where anyone may certify, the number of certifiers tends to grow faster than oversight. An Australian Senate committee found in 2015 that the number of certifiers had risen from about 13 in 2011-12 to some 22, described the domestic system as “clearly in disarray” and recommended a single halal certification authority, according to its report. The committee found no evidence linking certification fees to terrorism financing.
Disputes between mosque networks and certifiers can also confuse consumers. In 2013, after pork DNA was found in pastries certified by the Halal Food Authority, the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal wrote to about 1,400 British mosques urging them to avoid HFA-certified meat, Halal Focus reported.
A mosque that certifies a local restaurant whose owner sits on its board, or that depends on that owner’s donations, also faces a conflict of interest that accreditation standards are designed to prevent.
Roles mosques can play
Mosques can still strengthen halal assurance without issuing certificates themselves. Indonesia’s model shows how: Law 33 of 2014 allows Islamic religious organizations with legal-entity status to set up halal inspection bodies, which must be accredited by BPJPH and employ at least three halal auditors, according to an analysis by Bina Nusantara University. Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, put its inspection body through BPJPH accreditation assessment in 2023, NU Online reported. Indonesia has also trained 103,675 halal process facilitators who help micro businesses certify under a self-declaration route, BPJPH said.
In markets without a state system, mosques can:
- Teach congregations how to read halal marks and check a certificate’s scope and expiry date.
- Keep a public list of local restaurants and butchers with current certificates from recognized bodies.
- Pass consumer complaints to the certifier and, where state laws apply, to consumer protection officials.
- Advise small food businesses on how to choose a halal certifier that their target markets accept.
- Partner with an accredited certifier, supplying Shariah expertise while the certifier supplies auditors and laboratories.
What this means for businesses
A business selling only to a local community in the United States or Britain may find that a mosque-backed certificate satisfies its customers, provided it complies with any state registration or disclosure law. A business that exports, or sells to retailers and food-service chains, needs a certifier recognized by the authorities in its target markets: BPJPH in Indonesia, JAKIM in Malaysia, MUIS in Singapore and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority for Saudi Arabia. Indonesia’s new requirement, in force from Oct. 18, 2026, makes that distinction more costly to ignore.
Related reading: Halal Supply Chains
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