Dining is a fundamental biological need which serves as a social function for binding people in a society. It is a human sociality that people eat together; however, it could turn to be very complex in a multi-religious society where people have different dietary requirements prescribed by their religions. Limited studies reveal halal dining practices and its influence on social cohesion in a multi-religious society. In this study, we investigated and explored how Muslims uphold their religious commitment of halal dining within the inter-religious context and how non-Muslims perceive halal dining and participate in this commensality. This study aims to explore the behavioral patterns of halal dining experiences among urban millennials in a multi-religious societal context. The study was undertaken to measure the influence of halal dining experience on the socialization process between Muslims and non-Muslims which may affect the condition of social cohesion among them. This study also attempts to explore the inclusiveness of halal diners and their interactions. Adopting a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted among Muslims and non-Muslims urbanite millennials residing in Klang Valley. This study finds that dining dissimilarities challenge aspects of multi-religiosity but do not cause a major disruption in building a cohesive society. Thus, the issue that comes to fore is the manner in which people positively or negatively deal with their differences during commensality. The outcome of this research aspires to serve as a reflection of halal dining experience in a multi-religious society towards building a cohesive and united society. � Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.

In the study of religion, syncretism has been conveyed as a controversial concept and has become an issue for debate because it depicts ‘impurity’ or ‘inauthenticity’. The term has been widely used by some Western scholars to elaborate on its practice among Ancient and Christian societies, and at the same time, it is also used in the context of Muslim communities, particularly in describing the practice of traditional cultures in Malaysia that were rejected by Muslim reformers. In practice, however, traditional culture cannot be easily distinguished from Muslim practices. Thus, what explains the desire of some Muslims to continue practising elements of their traditional culture associated with syncretism? This paper aims to discover the factors influencing the intention of the Kedayan people to practise elements their traditional culture that are associated with syncretism. Data were self-administered among 414 respondents and analysed using descriptive and inferential analyses of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The results of this study revealed that the Kedayan people have a tendency to continue with practices of their traditional culture that may still contain remnants of syncretism. In addition, the results also revealed their agreement with the common perception of traditional culture and subjective norms as factors influencing Kedayans’ intention to practise their traditional culture.