Hassan Mahamdallie faces a halal/haram backlash; Isham Pawan Ahmad argues that much of what goes under the rubric of halal is not ethical; M Iqbal Asaria thinks halal finance is up the gum tree; Mohammad Aslam Haneef confesses he and his Islamic economist colleagues do not know how to teach halal economics; Adnan Delalić shows what halal and haram now means in German law; Christopher B Jones outlines three tomorrows of halal; Shaheed Tayob suggests that halal certification can be detrimental to small businesses; Zaynab El Bernoussi is astonished at the expansion of the halal market; Raza Ali just can’t understand those who see music as haram; Nayab Khalid promotes halal degrowth; Zahira P Latif finds British Muslims have a difficult time navigating a halal lifestyle; C Scott Jordan considers the limits of a false sense of importance and ego; Shazia Mirza leads a cast of halal comedy queens; Asim Siddiqui witnesses the birth of UK’s Halal Food Authority; and our list of ten halal/haram debates.
Also in this issue: Boyd Tonkin is overawed by Edward Burtynsky’s exhibition Extraction/Abstraction; Robin Yassin-Kassab is appalled with Arab world’s Thugocracy; Humera Khan studies the leadership qualities of the Prophet; Sadek Hamid remembers British orientalist explorers; Naomi Foyle’s verdict on recent poetry collections; short stories by John O’Donoghue and Juniad Ashraf; and poems by Mevlut Ceylan and Samantha Terrell.