Community Guidelines

Seek Halal exists because the Muslim community needs a reliable way to find halal food, and that reliability depends on every contributor taking the process seriously. These guidelines apply to every restaurant listing, verification, photograph, comment, suggested edit, and report submitted on the platform.

Why Accuracy Matters

A halal status on Seek Halal is not a star rating or a matter of taste. Another person may decide what they can and cannot eat based on what is written. Contributors should only submit information they are genuinely confident in, and should be transparent about the limits of their own knowledge.

Trust Levels

Scout, Trusted, and Champion badges are earned through a history of reliable, accurate contributions over time, not through frequency of activity. They exist so that other users can quickly gauge how much weight to give a contributor's verifications. Attempting to inflate a trust score through fabricated activity, multiple accounts, or low-effort submissions undermines the system and is treated as a violation in its own right.

Choosing an Evidence Category Honestly

Every verification submitted requires an evidence category, and the category selected directly affects how much trust other users place in it:

• Valid Certificate - An official halal certification was observed displayed at the restaurant.
• Muslim Owned - The restaurant is known to be owned and operated by a Muslim.
• Menu/Sign Only - The menu or signage explicitly states the food is halal.
• Website - The restaurant's own website states the food is halal.
• Email - Written confirmation was received directly from the restaurant.
• Staff Confirmed - Staff confirmed, in person or by phone, that the food is halal.

Contributors should select the strongest evidence they actually possess, not the category that appears most convincing. If the only source is an in-person conversation, Staff Confirmed should be selected rather than Valid Certificate.

A restaurant that is known to be halal but has not been personally verified can still be added - simply select Unverified as the evidence category. Its halal status will still display, but its verification level will show as Unverified until another contributor adds supporting evidence.

Handling Disagreement and Nuance

Questions of halal certification and religious identity are not always simple or universally agreed upon within the Muslim community.

Halal certification itself is not always a straightforward yes-or-no matter. A restaurant may serve halal meat while also serving alcohol. A menu may mix halal and non-halal items. Certifying bodies and methods of slaughter can differ, and contributors and users may not all agree on which standards meet their own personal or communal understanding of halal. Where a valid certificate has been reported, Seek Halal presents that evidence category as reported, without asserting that it meets any particular standard. The final judgment as to whether a given restaurant's certification, ownership, or practices align with an individual's own standard of halal is left to that individual.

Similarly, Seek Halal does not adjudicate a contributor's or restaurant owner's religious identity. Where a contributor reports a restaurant as Muslim Owned, this is accepted as reported and reflects the contributor's own understanding, without Seek Halal making or implying any determination as to whether that identification would be recognised by any particular denomination, school of thought, or community.

Seek Halal does not take an institutional position on contested religious questions, and this platform is not the appropriate forum to resolve them. A report or suggested edit that disputes a contributor's religious self-identification, or the legitimacy of a particular certifying body or method, without alleging that the underlying claim was knowingly false, will not be treated as a valid basis for action. This is separate from a report alleging that a verification was deliberately fabricated, which remains subject to review under these guidelines.

How Verifications and Suggested Edits Work

Each verification submitted for a restaurant reflects one contributor's own evidence and experience. A restaurant's overall verification level is not set by any single verification, but is determined automatically by the strongest legitimate evidence category among all active verifications submitted for that restaurant.

Suggested edits serve a different purpose entirely. They are used to propose a change to a restaurant's own details, such as its halal status, restaurant type, cuisine tags, or permanent closure, and may be reviewed by a moderator before taking effect. Users can update their recent changes without moderation, provided halal status is not altered. Suggested edits do not modify or remove any individual verification.

If a specific verification appears fake, misleading, spam, or otherwise in violation of these guidelines or the platform's terms, it should be reported using the flag option rather than addressed through a suggested edit. Flagged verifications are reviewed by a moderator, who may remove the verification, remove an associated photograph, or dismiss the report if no violation is found.

Photographs

Only photographs that serve as evidence should be added: certificates, halal menu items, or signage. Unrelated food photographs, personal photographs, or any image that does not help another user assess a restaurant's halal status should not be uploaded. Photographs of identifiable individuals should not be shared without their consent, and only content the contributor has the right to use should be uploaded.

Adding Restaurants

New restaurants are added to Seek Halal through Google Places, which is integrated directly into the app. A restaurant's name, location, and contact details are retrieved and kept up to date directly from Google, and the platform automatically prevents a restaurant from being added more than once. When selecting a restaurant from the search results, contributors should take care to select the correct entry, particularly where a restaurant has multiple locations or a similarly named establishment exists nearby.

If a restaurant does not appear in the search results, it may not yet be available through Google Places and cannot currently be added manually.

Restaurant Owners and Staff

Restaurant owners and staff are welcome to add, verify, or correct their own restaurant's listing, and are held to the same evidence and honesty standards as any other contributor. Concerns about how a restaurant is represented on Seek Halal may be raised through Send Feedback in Settings.

Prohibited Conduct

The following are not permitted on Seek Halal:

• Fake, exaggerated, or spam verifications
• Using verification comments or notes to promote unrelated businesses, services, or content
• Harassment, abuse, or discriminatory conduct directed at other users, restaurant staff, or owners
• Sharing another person's private information without their consent
• Uploading content the contributor does not have the right to use
• Reporting content in bad faith, or for reasons unrelated to its accuracy or appropriateness
• Creating multiple accounts to inflate a trust score or evade a moderation decision

Reporting a Problem

Verifications that appear fake, spammy, or contain an inappropriate photograph should be reported using the flag option for moderator review. Reports should include sufficient detail for a moderator to assess the issue. Moderators evaluate content as it currently stands, so if a contributor corrects the issue before the report is reviewed, this is considered a positive outcome rather than a failed report.

Consequences of Guideline Violations

Moderators review flagged content and act on genuine violations. Depending on the nature of the issue, this may result in removal of a single photograph or removal of a verification in its entirety. An honest mistake is treated differently from deliberate or repeated abuse. Contributors whose content is removed are welcome to submit a corrected version that complies with these guidelines. Repeated or serious violations may result in account restrictions.

Questions or Disagreements Regarding a Moderation Decision

Any concerns regarding a moderation decision may be raised through Send Feedback in Settings.

Changes to These Guidelines

These guidelines may be updated periodically to reflect the evolution of the community and the platform. The version displayed in the app is always the current version.