JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 140 the usage of these products. Nowadays, these products are used daily by many people, and their consumption is increasing every year. Approximately 9–15 products of different kinds of cosmetic and personal care are used by adults in their daily life (1,2). Besides that, cosmetic and personal care is becoming an important part of human life and con- sidered as a necessity for personal hygiene, improving attractiveness, protecting skin and hair against harmful ultraviolet light and pollutants, and to slow down the ageing process (3). The cosmetic industry is rapidly growing and offers a promising return to industry play- ers. Among the factors that encourage the growth of this industry are the adoption of a new lifestyle both by youth and by the ageing population and the climate changes. The tendency to follow current trends such as the preference toward natural and organic beauty products, the development of new products due to the development of science and technology, the innovation on the use of different ingredients, the rising demand for brightening or antioxidant face creams, and the growth of global economies makes the cosmetic industry a state of innovation and expansion in the Western and in the Asian world, as well as in Muslim countries (4–7). Products aimed at the Muslim population have to follow the halal guidelines. According to Mordor Intelligence(8), global halal cosmetic products are expected to reach a value of United States dollar (USD) 51.40 billion by 2022 at a projected compound annual growth rate of 14.79% from 2017 until 2022. The growth of this industry has resulted in huge participation of local manufacturers in the halal cosmetic sector besides the international brands. Halal status is among the major concern of Muslim consumers, particularly in foods and beverages, and other aspects of their lifestyles. In the early development of the halal industry, most of the attention was given to halal food. However, the halal industry has extended into other sectors including cosmetic and personal care, pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, and logistics industry such as transportation, packaging, and warehousing. The word halal is an Arabic word (halla, yahillu, and hillan) which means permitted, al- lowed, permissible, released, liberated, and lawful by the Islamic law (Shariah). The word halal is mentioned in the Quran to explain an act, object, or conduct in which an indi- vidual has the freedom of choice and the practice does not carry either a reward or a pun- ishment (3,9). It refers to the whole system of principles and rules that should be abided by every Muslim. For the halal products, particularly cosmetic, halal can be interpreted as permissible for consumption by Muslims. The halal status of products is an important element for Muslims because it might affect the prayer and other religious obligations. Nowadays, halal has become a brand that offers a quality and wholesome product. The discussion on halal and tayyib became relevant when the halal industry began to develop. Before that, the word halal was rarely discussed along with the term tayyib but always associated with the fi ve defi ning law in Islam or the scale of fi ve values, namely, the obligatory (wajib), recommendable (mandub), permissible (mubah), reprehensible (makruh), and forbidden (haram) (9). The word tayyib has a strong foundation because the word halal in many verses of the Quran mentioned halal followed by tayyib to de- scribe and expand the meaning of the word halal. The four verses in Quran, namely, in surah al-Baqarah (2:168), surah al-Maidah (5:88), surah al-Anfaal (8:69), and surah an-Nahl (16:114), described halal as lawful items such as foods that Muslims are obliged to choose except in an emergency state, and the halal foods should be in good condition and wholesome. In the current context, tayyib can be interpreted as a good quality, trusted, hygienic, safe, healthy, and wholesome (9). In short, halal is not a term

INTERPRETATION OF HALAL COSMETICS IN MALAYSIA 141 that merely discusses food and other religious aspects, but also has a broader meaning in its scope and application (3). Halal is now becoming a lifestyle, and, in principle, it is not limited to Muslims and does not imply a religious perspective. It is becoming a phenomenal global issue because of the benefi ts and quality that it offers to consumers. The choice of using halal products is now possible because of the development of human knowledge and technology that leads to the improvement of human intellect, understanding, and lifestyle change. Recently, the halal industry offers great opportunities and profi ts to industry players from all over the world, including non-Muslim countries. Therefore, there is a need to provide a proper and standard guideline as a reference, particularly for Muslim and non-Muslim cosmetic manufacturers. Such a guideline can avoid confusion and could decrease the gray area regarding the open category of “not forbidden” that might need further explanations, and hence it can help in defi ning the open aspect to become clearer and more practical. Malaysia, as the leader in the halal industry, had introduced a guideline to control the application of halal certifi cation and logo for cosmetic products. Cosmetic and personal care is one of the seven Malaysia’s halal certifi cation schemes offered by JAKIM (10). However, detailed practical descriptions of “tayyib” and its rational association with “ha- lal” have not been well clarifi ed. Alzeer et al. (11) introduced a practical description and application of “halal–tayyib” relationship that considered halal as a subject and tayyib as a process. This should lead to consider “clean and pure food” as the main objective in achieving the main goal of the comfortable feeling. Regarding cosmetics, this description can be related to the element of safety in the sense that cosmetics and personal care products should be nontoxic and pose no risk under normal use (11). Besides the element of safety, the source of ingredients in cosmetic pro- duction is the main factor for halal certifi cation and recognition. In the overall design of cosmetic products, a careful selection of active ingredients and an evaluation of potential ingredients are critical steps (12). In addition, the complexity of the formulation and the variety of the ingredients of cosmetic products may contribute to diffi culties in the adul- teration verifi cation. And fi nally, the ingredients found in cosmetic products may also provoke health and environmental effects that have prompted this study to highlight the ingredients as one of the major factors requiring the attention of the halal guidelines (13–15). The objective of this study was to provide information about the halal cosmetic area in relation to health risk and halal status by identifying the critical points for the ingredi- ents of halal cosmetic. The fi rst step is to identify the differences between halal and gen- eral cosmetics and their classifi cations, followed by a discussion of issues related to the safety of cosmetic ingredients that may affect the halal status of the cosmetic product. The signifi cant role of this study is to provide information on the importance of produc- ing halal cosmetic products that have attracted the interest of consumers globally in the halal beauty industry. MATERIALS AND METHODS The data were collected from primary and secondary sources, namely, the regulation and standard from the authority’s bodies in Malaysia, academic journals, and reference books related to Islamic studies. The main documents that were analyzed include Malaysian