HALAL COMPLIANCE ISSUES ON TRENDING FOODS AMONG CHILDREN: SHAFI‘I SCHOOL OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE APPROACH AND HALALAN THAYYIBAN EDUCATION IN BRUNEI

Abstract

Trending foods promoted through social media increasingly shape children’s food choices in Brunei Darussalam, often prioritising visual appeal and popularity over halal compliance and health. Although often discussed in nutritional and behavioural terms, this issue remains underexamined as a halal compliance and educational problem, particularly within Brunei’s Shafi‘i-based Islamic governance context. This study examines the halal compliance implications of trending foods through the Shafi‘i school of Islamic jurisprudence (the dominant Sunni legal school in Brunei Darussalam) and explores how halalan thayyiban (the Islamic principle of lawful and wholesome consumption) education can strengthen children’s halal awareness through curriculum-based learning. A qualitative design was employed using a semi-structured elite key informant interview with the Head of the Science Curriculum Unit, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam, supported by document analysis of curriculum framework, policy, and halal guidance materials, with data analysed thematically. The findings show fragmented curriculum integration across subjects, limited explicit guidance for evaluating trending foods, insufficient classroom-based assessment tools for pupils’ halal and thayyib (wholesome) reasoning, and a need for stronger teacher support. The study further shows that the Shafi‘i school provides the jurisprudential basis for halal assessment, maqasid al-shariah (the higher objectives of Islamic law) provides the higher ethical objectives of food-related decision making, and halalan thayyiban functions as the educational bridge linking both dimensions in children’s everyday food choices, with policy implications for curriculum standards, teacher training, and classroom-based assessment in Brunei’s primary education system.