The assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) toward halal and haram issues on cosmetic products among Muslim students in UiTM Puncak Alam / Noralina Zakaria

Cosmetics are our daily life products that we cannot avoid but to use them every day. Cosmetic products range from skin care products, toiletries, hair care products, color cosmetics, deodorants, perfumes and many more. However, many cosmetic products that available in the market are most likely produced by non-Muslims. This leave Muslims all over the world with no choice but become dependent on products made by them. Because of this, the halalness of the most of the products is still in uncertainty. The objective of this study is intended to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) on halal or haram issues with regards to cosmetics products among Muslim students. A cross-sectional study involving distribution of a set of questionnaire consisted of 28 questions regarding knowledge, attitude and practice on halalness of the cosmetics was done among 410 Muslim subjects at UiTMPuncakAlam. The result was then analysed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program software version 19. Findings revealed that 79.8% of the subjects were moderate in knowledge, 92.9% of them has highly positive attitude towards this issue and 84.6% have good practice. Cronbach's Alpha value for each of KAP components are 0.726, 0.828 and 0.745. There were no significant different (p>0.05) found between KAP components and the spending pattern and also between the KAP components themselves except for knowledge and practice (p=0.000) and attitude and practice (p=0.040). The findings suggested that strengthening in public education regarding halal issues will highly improve the knowledge on halal cosmetics, public attitude towards the issue as well as their practice.