IslamicFinance.de

If we look back at the emergence of the Muslim Lifestyle markets as a global phenomenon, we can see an interesting pattern developing. From 2004 - 2007, Malaysia was the epicenter of the Halal movement, bringing the terms ‘Halal market’ and ‘Halal industry’ into the global business vocabulary. Bidding to become a global Halal hub, the development of their Halal food sector made Malaysia a role model for other countries looking to position themselves in this fast-growing marketplace. Abdalhamid David Evans, Founder, HalalFocus.net/ImaratConsultants.com, will be speaking about this topic at the Muslim Lifestyle Expo 2016 in Event City, Manchester on the 30 October 2016.

2013, Dubai launched their ‘Capital of the Islamic Economy’ initiative, and in doing so, shifted the epicenter of the Halal market from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. This move incorporated Halal food into the broader concept of the Islamic Economy, along with Islamic Finance, personal care and cosmetics, modest fashion, family-friendly travel, media, entertainment and the digital economy. Impressive Dubai-style conferences and, for the first time, well-researched market data and trends from DinarStandard and Thomson Reuters all helped to bring a new level of sophistication and mainstream acceptance to the Halal market. And yet there was still something lacking. In all the excitement of the Big Numbers, there was an underlying feeling that something was missing from the picture. Mankind is encouraged – instructed even – to eat food that is ‘Halal and tayyib’ i.e. lawful and wholesome, healthy; there has been a great deal of emphasis of the lawfulness of our food, but much less on the tayyib aspects of our food, and indeed our lifestyles in general.