**2. Is it Halal or Islamic?**

One challenge faced by academicians and practitioners is to identify the right terminologies as well as the proper clarifications of the concepts. At the moment, the most commonly used terms are 'Halal tourism' and 'Islamic tourism'. At the moment, due to the multidisciplinary scope of the subject matter, there exist confusions regarding the two terms. As a result, the terms are often used interchangeably by researchers in both conceptual and empirical papers as if the two concepts are similar [1, 3, 6, 8–12]. However, since the Quran does differentiate between the terms 'Mu'minoon' ('Islamic person') and Muslim (persons who profess to be Muslims), it is necessary to clarify the difference between the terms 'Islamic', 'Halal' and 'Islam related'.

At the outset, it must be understood that 'Islam' is the name of the religion, whose first prophet was Adam and whose final prophet was Muhammad. One of the meanings of the term Islam is 'a state of peace achieved through surrender to God' [13]. Another meaning of the term Islam is 'submission'. Therefore, the term 'Muslim' means a person who submits to God and is used for an adherent of the Islamic faith.

According to one very authoritative book entitled *The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam*, which was written by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a globally respected Islamic scholar and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, the term Halal is defined as 'That which is permitted, with respect to which no restriction exists, and the doing of which the law-Giver, Allah, is allowed' [14]. Therefore, Halal term means 'permissible' according to Islamic teaching (Sharia law). Halal is also one of the five actions (*al-ahkam al-khamsah*) that categorize the morality of human action in Islam, others being *Fard* (compulsory), *Mustahabb* (recommended), *Makruh* (disliked) and *Haram* (forbidden) [15]. From Islamic perspective, Halal as defined above refers to any practice or activity in tourism which is 'permissible' according to Islamic teaching (Sharia). Therefore, using the term 'Sharia compliant' or 'Halal' is giving the same meaning.

The term 'Islamic' is precisely applied only to that which relates directly to the faith and its doctrines (such as Islamic law/Sharia, Islamic values, principles and beliefs, Islamic worship) [13]. It is therefore closer to the Arabic term 'Mu'minoon' [16]. This is because Islam indicates the faith as an ideal based on the core Islamic sources which are the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet [9, 17]. It therefore follows that Muslim men, women and country may not necessarily be Islamic and that 'Islamic men' and 'Muslim men' have different meanings [17, 18]. Moreover, another element needs to be present to make an activity 'Islamic' which is *Niyyah* or intention. An action or activity is accepted by God becomes Islamic when the intention of the person who performed it is to seek the pleasure of God [18, 19]. This is based on the very famous hadith by the Prophet Muhammad:

*'Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose "hijrah" (migration) was to Allah and His Messenger, then his "hijrah" was to Allah and His Messenger. And the one whose "hijrah" was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry her, then his "hijrah" was for what he made "hijrah" for' (Al-Bukhārī and Muslim).*

The background to the above hadith was that the companions of the Prophet were discussing the actions of their fellow Muslims performing Hijrah (moving from the Holy city of Makkah to Madinah). The Prophet S.A.W divided the actions into two categories—those that are accepted by God and those that were not. The former is when the intention was to seek the pleasure of God, whilst the latter is when the intention or motives were for other than pleasing God [17, 19]. Therefore, an activity that is accepted by God and deserving of reward from him is categorised as 'Islamic'. Based on the above argument, using the terms 'Islamic' and 'Halal' as if they have similar meaning is inappropriate. It would be better to use 'Halal' as brand name rather 'Islamic' for any related product and service in tourism industry.
