KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Malaysia-based e-commerce companies are making giant strides in the global race to capture the multi-billion dollar halal market, but the real challenge is in getting universal recognition with over 100 different bodies worldwide defining what is and what isn’t permissible for Islamic consumption.

As Muslims around the globe spend more than US$100 billion (RM417.2  billion) annually on Internet shopping, many of them have become increasingly particular on how halal the products they buy are, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported today.

“We don’t have to worry too much when buying halal things from other countries, like cosmetics and food,” Nurulain Abdul Gani, a 27-year-old quality control officer at a Malaysian food company, was quoted saying.

According to the report, Malaysia-based Zilzar, a company launched in 2014, is at the forefront of the race in attracting Muslim shoppers because of its strategy in working with several agencies offering only halal certified merchants and products.

“It is our hope and belief that Zilzar and our colleagues will do for the halal industry market what Alibaba did for China,” Zilzar’s co-founder and chief executive officer Rushdi Siddiqui was quoted as saying.

But the challenge now is in obtaining halal certification for universal recognition of its products as there are 114 different Islamic bodies worldwide, with each having a slightly different way of defining halal terms, Rushdi said.

Zilzar currently lists some 2,800 different halal suppliers that were in accordance with the Islamic guidelines.

“The idea behind the e-halal sites is that they negotiate these difficult inspections by hiring halal experts and setting up compliance committees to filter and make sure all the vendors and products listed on their websites meet Islamic standards,” Sebastien Lamy, a partner in consulting firm Bain and Co, told WSJ.

Other Malaysian e-commerce companies are now also muscling in on the action, including Aladdin, a start-up by former astronaut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor launched in January seeking to compete with global giants Amazon and Alibaba.

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar had said that Aladdin represented an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to gain halal certification and immediately gain access to 30 markets globally.

The website, Aladdin Street, brands itself as the “world’s first exclusive premium halal e-marketplace.”

Among the major markets it would expand to over the next three years includes Indonesia, India, China, the Middle East, and parts of Europe.