Malaysia gives thumbs up to halal Christmas cake greetings, reversing 3-year ban: ‘this is not haram’

The new rule from the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) overturns an earlier ban on the public display of food items with festive greetings of non-Muslim faiths.

Jakim on Monday said there was no longer any restriction on businesses that have halal certification from writing any festive greetings on cakes or similar foods.

“Jakim will review and re-evaluate any related matters in the Malaysian Halal Certification Procedure Manual,” said the corporate communications section of Jakim’s halal management division in a statement.

“With this explanation, Jakim’s previous statement in 2020 is no longer applicable.”

In December 2020, it was reported that former Jakim deputy director general (operations) Abdul Aziz Jusoh had said that halal-certified shops were only allowed to put festive greetings on products that weren’t on public display.

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The Jakim directive was cited by a local bakery chain when it refused customers’ requests to write Christmas greetings, with the owners saying they feared losing their halal certification if they did not comply.

The bakery subsequently issued a circular to all its employees to decline customer requests to write Christmas greetings on any of its products and only provide a “Season’s Greetings” cake topper instead.

After Jakim’s Monday statement, calls to two of the bakery’s outlets on the pretext of ordering a cake with the words “Merry Christmas” confirmed that this could now be done, although there was still some confusion about whether such cakes could be put on public display.

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Tun Openg weighed in on the issue, describing the earlier ban as “stupid” while adding that writing festive messages on cakes is not “haram” or forbidden in Islam.

“I read in the news that baking a cake with Merry Christmas on it is a problem. Itu bodoh punya (that is stupid),” he said while opening a new riverfront and district office building

“What’s wrong with decorating a cake with Merry Christmas on it? This is not haram.”

Abang Johari urged residents of Sarawak not to be influenced by happenings on the Malaysian peninsula.

“This is why we left Barisan Nasional and formed Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), so we can make our own decisions,” he added.