Diversity within Unity: Import Laws of Islamic Countries on Haram (Forbidden) Products

Abstract

How do Muslim countries treat importation of goods that Islamic Law (Sharı’a) considers Haram (forbidden), namely, alcoholic beverages and pork products? Why do they do so? What might Muslim countries do, in accordance with the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO), to alter their policies?

Based on painstaking empirical research of the WTO protocols of accession and schedules of tariff concessions of every Islamic country in the world, this article answers each of these three questions, which may be summarized in aggregate as “diversity within unity.” All of the pertinent countries are members of both the WTO and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and a majority of their populations profess adherence to one of the world’s great faiths–Islam. Therein is their unity.