The influence of knowledge on wholesomeness, labelling and trust toward Muslim consumers purchase behaviour of Syubhah semi-processed food products Reezlin Abdul Rahman Sungai Petani Community College, Sungai Petani, Malaysia Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah Department of Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, and Mohd Nor Mamat Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – The available research works dealing with Halal food are centrally concerned with the Halal certification, logistics, export market, consumer awareness and business ethics with minimal study explores Muslim consumers’ purchase behaviour of Syubhah semi-processed food. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Muslim consumers’ knowledge on the wholesomeness, labelling, trust and purchase behaviour of Syubhah semi-processed food. Design/methodology/approach – The study respondents are Muslim consumers in the semi and rural areas. Through a self-administered survey, 780 usable responses were successfully collected. The study hypotheses were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling. Mediation analyses were conducted, focusing on the effect of trust on the relationship between consumer knowledge on the wholesomeness, labelling and purchase behaviour of Syubhah semi- processed food. Findings – This study confirms that lack of knowledge on the wholesomeness and labelling among the semi and rural Muslim consumers influences them to purchase the Syubhah semi-processed food. Trust significantly plays a significant mediation role on the consumer Syubhah semi-processed food purchase behaviour. Originality/value – This study confirms there is lack of knowledge among the semi and rural Muslim consumers on Syubhah semi-processed food. Such pessimistic indications of Syubhah food products carry varying consequences and implications for Muslim consumers, Halal food producers and the relevant religious authorities. Keywords Labelling, Muslim customers, Purchase behaviour, Syubhah, Semi-processed food, Wholesomeness, Halal, Knowledge, Trust Paper type Research paper Semi- processed foods 2009 Received 5 May 2020 Revised 13 May 2020 25 October 2020 6 February 2021 Accepted 20 March 2021 Journal of Islamic Marketing Vol. 13 No. 10, 2022 pp. 2009-2027 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1759-0833 DOI 10.1108/JIMA-05-2020-0133 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1759-0833.htm