Vol. 6 No. 2 September 2021 E-ISSN: 2502-0633, P-ISSN: 2502-4647 http://jurnal.unissula.ac.id/index.php/ijibe DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30659/ijibe.6.2.104-118 104 IDENTIFYING AND MEASURING THE WEIGHTS OF HALAL COMPLIANCE RATING (HCR) COMPONENTS OF BEST HALAL PRACTICES BY APPLYING AHP METHOD Md Siddique E Azam 1* , Moha Asri Abdullah 2 , Anis Nijiha Ahmad 3 *Corresponding Author 1 International Institute for Halal Research and Training, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia, siddique77hstu@gmail.com 2 International Institute for Halal Research and Training, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia, mosri@iium.edu.my 3 International Institute for Halal Research and Training, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia, anisnajiha@iium.edu.my Abstract: The halal industry in the restaurant chain is lacking a rating system that would help the consumers to choose their preferences and enhance halal integrity. In this regard, as a first step to develop a halal compliance rating (HCR) tool, the first objective of this research is to identify and select the components of best halal practices for restaurants. The second objective is investigating the auditable and measurable areas of the selected ten HCR components. The objectives were achieved by reviewing existing relevant rating systems, standards, and research papers. The selected ten components were weighed by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method of decision making through the participation of 15 experts where the maximum priority was given to the ‘Hygiene and Food Safety (HFS)’ component with a weightage of 22.3%. The least priority was given to ‘Branding, Packaging, and Labelling (BPL)’ with a weightage of 4.4%. The consistency ratio was checked as 0.015. Additionally, the study investigates the auditable and measurable areas of the selected ten HCR components. Keywords: rating, halal compliance, AHP, halal restaurants. Received Revised Accepted Published June 7, 2021 September 9, 2021 September 14, 2021 September 30, 2021 To cite this article: Azam, M. S. E., et al. (2021). Identifying and measuring the weights of halal compliance rating (HCR) components of best halal practices by applying AHP method. IJIBE (International Journal of Islamic Business Ethics), 6 (2), 104-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.30659/ijibe.6.2.104-118 INTRODUCTION It is important for any business, whether it is product or service-based, to comply with the standards, and qualities for the respective management, and operational practices. One such market in the global economy is the global halal industry. With a global market value of US$2.3 trillion (excluding Islamic finance) the Halal industry, now, is one of the fastest- growing markets in the world (Elasrag, 2016). As the concept ‘halal’ (permissible) also associates the concept ‘Toyyib’ (good quality), the consumer size of the market is increasing at an annual rate of 20 percent with the growing Muslim population globally (Pacific, 2010). Apart from Islamic finance that occupies a 43 percent share of the market, the Halal food industry positions second occupying a 36 percent share of the market (Global Halal Market - Statistics & Facts | Statista, n.d.). As the leading country in the Islamic economy, Malaysia has its’ significant role to establish a strong and comprehensive halal standard