Evidence types and weights
Each piece of evidence carries a weight. Stronger, more direct evidence counts for more; expired certificates and conflicting reports apply penalties.
| Evidence | Weight |
|---|---|
| Direct phone call with restaurant staff | 1.00 |
| In-person visit | 1.00 |
| Recognized certificate on file (verified, not expired) | 0.95 |
| Owner/manager verification form | 0.75 |
| Invited trusted contributor | 0.60 |
| Approved community correction | 0.35 |
| Public discovery data | 0.20 |
| Anonymous community report | 0.10 |
| Expired certificate (penalty) | -0.30 |
| Conflicting reports (penalty) | -0.25 |
Halal tiers
Every listing is assigned one of the following tiers, with the public wording shown:
- certified
- Certified halal evidence available
- owner verified
- Owner or manager verified halal status
- community reported
- Community reported — not independently verified
- unverified
- Unverified listing
- not halal
- Reported not halal
- unknown
- Halal status unknown
What we list — and what we don't
We list restaurants that serve verified halal food. Some of those also serve alcohol on the premises — and that is a matter of personal and scholarly preference, not something we rule on. So we publish them and flag the alcohol clearly (on the listing, in the amenities, and in the FAQ), and you can use the “No alcohol” filter to exclude alcohol-serving venues if you prefer. We present the fact; you decide.
We do not list a place as halal — and mark it not halal — when the food itself is not permissible, for example a venue that serves pork or uses non-zabiha / non-halal meat. Those are facts about the food, not preferences, so they disqualify a listing.
Recognized certifying bodies
A certificate counts as certified-tier evidence only if it comes from a recognized body, is verified, and is not expired.
- ISWA — Islamic Society of Greater Houston
- IFANCA — Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America
- HFSAA — Halal Food Standards Alliance of America
- HMA — Halal Monitoring Authority
- MCG — Muslim Consumer Group
- ISNA Halal — Islamic Society of North America — Halal
How the confidence score is calculated
The confidence score (0–100) combines a base evidence score, a structured-data score (whether the listing has a name, location, phone, hours, cuisine, neighborhood, and image), a freshness bonus for recent verification, and risk penalties (for example, an expired certificate, conflicting reports, or serving alcohol). The result is clamped to 0–100 and shown as a labeled band:
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 80–100 | High confidence |
| 60–79 | Medium confidence |
| 40–59 | Limited confidence |
| 20–39 | Low confidence |
| 0–19 | Insufficient evidence |
The score reflects evidence strength and freshness — not religious certainty.
Staleness and freshness
Information ages. We display a last-verified date on every listing and escalate the warning as time passes:
- 0–90 days
- Shown as “Verified [Month Year]” — no warning.
- 91–180 days
- Shown as “Last verified [Month Year]”.
- 181–365 days
- Amber warning: verified over 6 months ago — confirm before visiting.
- Over 365 days
- Red warning: data may be outdated — please verify directly.
- Never independently verified
- Shown as “Not independently verified”.