Are Imqaret Halal?

It depends on what the label says.

Medium confidence

About this ruling

Condition: Verify the product or supplier in hand
Evidence confidence: Medium means the sources are named, but they do not pin the evidence to a specific market or product. Use this page as orientation, then read the pack in your hand.

How we score High, Medium, and Low

Reviewed 27 September 2026

Imqaret (mqaret) are deep-fried Maltese date-filled pastries.

Next step Ask whether any wine or brandy went into the date paste. How to verify

Scan a label

How to verify

Confirm date filling has no wine/brandy.
Ask pastry fat (lard vs vegetable).
Ask whether the fryer is shared with meat/pork items.
Do not assume Busy Bee date/fig rolls are currently Halal-certified—any past list was named products only and has expired.
Homemade with vegetable oil is the controlled option.

Quick checks

Date paste: no alcohol.
Pastry: no lard.
Fryer: dedicated or vegetable-only if you are strict.

What decides the answer

Vegetable-fat pastry + dedicated/veg fryer + plain date filling
Halal
Shared fryer with pork/non-Halal meat
avoid for strict practice
Unverified street imqaret
Halal if verified
Lard pastry
Haram
Wine/brandy in filling
Haram

Why this ruling

Imqaret (also mqaret) are Malta's fried date pastries: a strip of soft dough rolled around a paste of chopped dates, cut into diamonds and deep-fried until crisp and golden. The date filling is usually scented with aniseed, orange or lemon zest, bay and cloves.^[4] They are sold hot from stalls at village festas and outside Valletta's City Gate, and restaurants serve them with vanilla ice cream.

What decides it

Part	Usually	Halal?
Date filling	Dates, zest, aniseed, cloves, bay	Yes
Anisette or other liqueur in the filling, in some recipes	Alcohol	No
Dough	Flour or semolina, water, margarine or butter	Yes, if the fat is clear
Lard in the dough, in some kitchens	Pork fat	No
Frying oil	Vegetable oil	Yes, if not shared with pork

The dates are Halal, so three things decide the pastry. Some family recipes add a splash of anisette or another liqueur to the date paste; this site treats food made with alcohol as not Halal. Some doughs are made with lard.^[3] And at festa stalls the fryer may also cook other things; ask what else goes into the oil.

Buying them

At a stall, ask three questions: what fat is in the dough, is there any alcohol in the dates, and is the fryer used for anything else. Frozen and packaged imqaret sold in supermarkets list their fat and flavourings on the label. A press report once described Halal Monitoring Malta certification for some named Busy Bee sweet rolls, including a date roll, valid from February 2025 to February 2026;^[1]^[2] that certificate has expired, and we have no confirmation of renewal.

At home, simmer chopped dates with orange zest, aniseed and a little water until soft, wrap in an oil or butter dough, and fry. For another Maltese sweet, see figolla; for the dates' Gulf cousins, luqaimat.

Where you'll find it

Street stalls and village festa fryers
Date-filled diamond pastries dusted with sugar
Bakery trays and tourist sweet boxes

Frequently asked questions

Are imqaret Halal?

The date idea is fine; the fryer and pastry fat decide. Unverified street imqaret stay Halal if verified.

Is the date filling Halal?

Usually yes—dates, citrus zest, spices. Ask if any wine or brandy was added to the paste.

Why do shared fryers matter?

Oil absorbs fat from everything fried in it. If the same oil fries pork or non-Halal meat products, many Muslims avoid that oil for sweets.

Are there Halal-certified date sweets in Malta?

Very few, and none we can confirm for fried street imqaret. Ask the vendor about the oil and the filling, or bake them at home.

Scholarly view

Dates are Halal. Deep-frying in shared oil used for non-Halal foods is the main practical problem for cautious consumers; alcohol in spiced date paste is less common but must be asked.

Sources

Named Islamic, certifier, manufacturer, and regulatory sources used on this page. Inline markers like [1] jump here. Retrieval dates show when we last checked the live URL. Editorial methodology.

Islamic / scriptural

Qur'an 5:3

Qur'an Retrieved 20 July 2026

Certifier / jurisdiction

Busy Bee Halal Monitoring Malta certificate report — historical

Malta Haber Retrieved 21 July 2026

Certifier: Halal Monitoring Malta · Jurisdiction: Malta

Secondary report: 30+ named products including date roll, stated valid Feb 2025–Feb 2026. Expired historical evidence; no first-party renewal confirmed.