From an outsider's perspective, the Malaysian Muslim preoccupation with what is halal may seem obsessive, and, when applied predominantly to food, is a tad shallow.
Indeed, there is more to halal-ness than what goes into one's mouth. With regard to food, what is halal is not just the animals (and other ingredients) that are permitted in the Quran, but also how they were slaughtered, whether the animal was treated humanely throughout its life, whether the people in the food industry conducted their business honourably, and whether the money used to buy the food was honestly earned.
Outsiders usually know of the first two requirements because those are the most publicly questioned by Muslims when trying to ascertain whether something is halal to eat.
But, at the most basic, "halal" means permitted — what is permitted by God; and halal-ness and understanding its parameters guides Muslims in how they ought to conduct themselves both in their private and public lives.
Halal also governs what comes out of a person's mouth. Muslims are required to be honest, and to bear true witness — even against one's own brother, if need be.
However, there is a limit in how much one can speak. Islam forbids defamation.
However, unlike the common law's definition of defamation, which is to damage a person's good reputation, Islam enjoins all Muslims to refrain from speaking ill of others, regardless of the person's reputation.
The only exceptions are when it concerns unjust leaders; people who sin publicly and unashamedly; and to right a wrong. It is this last exception that many refer to when choosing to make accusations against people in the food industry, and the same excuse is used by those who choose to reiterate the slander.
These acts usually follow a tired formula: An anonymous message is posted up on social media, claiming that a product (sometimes a long list) has porcine ingredients and therefore is not halal after all.
The message gets shared around until the defamed party and/or a religious certifying authority steps in and clarifies the matter. But, by that time of course, the damage has been done.
So sinful is the act of defamation that Islam likens it to eating the flesh of one's dead brother; worse than adultery; and unworthy of God's acceptance of all deeds and prayers until the wrongdoer repents and has received the forgiveness of the defamed person.
To be clear, even when done in the interest of righting a wrong, an accusation must actually be true and backed up with proof. It is not sufficient to claim "It doesn't look like the real thing", or to say, "I only meant well".
For, Islam has very strict rules of evidence, and it is the accuser that is supposed to prove the case, not the accused.
Lamentably, in almost all the cases that have been viraled on social media, the accusations have proven to be baseless. Some are acts of economic sabotage masquerading as religious concern. Such people do a great disservice to their faith.
There is no fatwa on such a specific act, because when defamation is already listed as a sin in the Quran, logic would have it that everyone should know.
But, perhaps religious leaders should not take for granted their followers' abilities to extrapolate life's nuances. A discussion of this during a Friday khutbah (sermon) would not be amiss.