# RxHalal > RxHalal is a free, private, evidence-based tool that helps Muslims and clinicians check medicines, ingredients, and excipients for Halal, Harmful (Haram), or Uncertain contents. Every result is cited. No accounts, no tracking — saved medicines live only on the user's device. RxHalal does not provide medical advice or issue Islamic rulings (fatwas). It surfaces ingredient information from public, trusted sources (DailyMed, MHRA, FDA Inactive Ingredient Database, manufacturer disclosures, USP, IFANCA, AAOIFI, WHO, PubMed) and helps users ask their pharmacist, prescriber, or qualified scholar the right questions. Each result shows top reasons, confidence level, citations, and what to ask. ## Catalog snapshot - **Medicines:** 169 - **Ingredients:** 148 - **Vaccines:** 19 - **Blog posts:** 100 - **Detection engine:** v1.3.0 (on-device rules + label parse + E-number patterns) - **Updated:** 2026-05-19 ## Performance & loading (for crawlers summarizing UX) - Route-level skeleton screens on client navigation; top progress bar during transitions. - Bottom-nav routes preload on hover/focus (`intent` preload). - Service worker caches shell + `/support`, `/status`; stale-while-revalidate for `/api/public/health`. - Personal routes (`/my-meds`, `/family`, etc.) are `noindex` and blocked in `robots.txt`. ## Canonical entity URL patterns - Medicine: `/results/{id}` (e.g. `/results/amoxicillin-500-cap-sandoz`) - Ingredient: `/ingredients/{id}` (e.g. `/ingredients/gelatin`) — each page answers “Is {name} halal?” with FAQPage JSON-LD, visible Q&A, speakable summary, and ChemicalSubstance schema. - Compare: `/compare?a={medicineId}&b={medicineId}` (e.g. `/compare?a=amoxicillin-500-cap-sandoz&b=azithromycin-250-tab-teva`) — side-by-side halal status, inactive-ingredient diff, FAQ, and HowTo schema when both medicines are selected. - Condition: `/conditions/{id}` (e.g. `/conditions/diabetes`) - Blog article: `/blog/{slug}` ## Pages - [Home](/): Overview, problem statistics, features, how it works, trust signals. - [Scan Medicine](/scan): Live barcode camera (BarcodeDetector or ZXing), photo OCR → ingredient analysis, paste, and manual lookup with typeahead. - [Search Medicine](/search): Search by brand, generic, ingredient, or NDC. - [Compare Medicines](/compare): Side-by-side comparison of two medicines and their inactive ingredients. - [Conditions](/conditions): Browse common medications grouped by condition (diabetes, hypertension, infections, pain, etc.). - [Ingredients Library](/ingredients): Browse ingredients with halal status, common sources, evidence, and questions to ask. - [Vaccines](/vaccines): Halal-aware ingredient facts for major vaccines (MMR, flu, COVID-19, hepatitis, etc.) with what is known vs. rumored, grouped by platform. - [Blog](/blog): Evidence-based explainers tied to specific ingredients, medicines, and conditions. - [About](/about): Mission, methodology, sources, safety notice. - [FAQ](/faq): Halal medicine questions — gelatin capsules, ethanol, excipients, and how RxHalal works. - [Support](/support): Help hub — FAQ links, offline tips, email support, status. - [Status](/status): Live system status and catalog counts. - [Privacy](/privacy): Privacy-first policy — no tracking, local storage only. - [Terms](/terms): Information-only terms, no medical advice, no fatwa. - [Disclaimer](/disclaimer): Medical & religious disclaimer. ## Reason codes (used in results) - `stearateSourceUnknown` — Magnesium stearate present; source (plant or animal) not disclosed. - `gelatinAnimalUnspecified` — Gelatin capsule shell with unspecified animal source. - `glycerinSourceUnknown` — Glycerin/glycerol present; source not disclosed. - `ethanolPresent` — Ethanol used as solvent or preservative. - `porcineDerivative` — Confirmed porcine-derived ingredient (haram for most schools). - `alcoholFreeAlternative` — An alcohol-free formulation exists from another manufacturer. ## Common questions (AEO-ready Q&A) **Q: Are gelatin capsules halal?** A: It depends on the source. Bovine gelatin from a halal-slaughtered animal is generally accepted; porcine gelatin is not. Many capsule shells use unspecified animal gelatin and are therefore flagged Uncertain. Plant-based HPMC (hypromellose) capsules are halal. See [/ingredients/gelatin](/ingredients/gelatin). **Q: Is magnesium stearate halal?** A: Magnesium stearate can be plant- or animal-derived. RxHalal flags products with undisclosed sources as Uncertain. Ask the manufacturer for a source certificate. See [/ingredients/magnesium-stearate](/ingredients/magnesium-stearate). **Q: Is ethanol in liquid medicine halal?** A: Scholarly opinions differ. Many accept trace ethanol used as a solvent (not for intoxication) when an alternative is unavailable; others avoid it. RxHalal labels formulations with ethanol so users can choose. See [/ingredients/ethanol](/ingredients/ethanol). **Q: Does the MMR vaccine contain pork?** A: No. MMR does not contain porcine gelatin per current US/UK/EU regulator-cited formulations. See [/vaccines](/vaccines). **Q: Is glycerin in toothpaste or cough syrup halal?** A: Glycerin may be plant- or animal-derived. When the source is not disclosed, the product is flagged Uncertain. See [/ingredients/glycerin](/ingredients/glycerin). **Q: How does RxHalal decide a medicine's halal status?** A: We match each ingredient against a curated database tied to DailyMed, MHRA, USP, FDA IID, and manufacturer disclosures. We then publish a status (Halal / Uncertain / Harmful), a confidence level, the top reasons, and the underlying citations. We do not issue fatwas. See [/about](/about). **Q: How do I compare two medicines for halal ingredients?** A: Open [/compare](/compare), pick medicine A and B, then read the comparison summary, ingredient differences (only in A / only in B), and pharmacist questions. Shareable URL: `/compare?a={id}&b={id}`. **Q: Which ingredients should I read first if status is Uncertain?** A: Start with commonly flagged excipients: [/ingredients/gelatin](/ingredients/gelatin), [/ingredients/magnesium-stearate](/ingredients/magnesium-stearate), [/ingredients/glycerin](/ingredients/glycerin), [/ingredients/ethanol](/ingredients/ethanol), [/ingredients/polysorbate-80](/ingredients/polysorbate-80). ## Public API - `GET /api/public/health` — JSON, no auth, CORS-open. Returns `{ status, version, detectionEngineVersion, ts, counts: { medicines, ingredients, vaccines, blogPosts } }`. Cache 60s. - `GET /.well-known/security.txt` — responsible disclosure contact (no auth). - `GET /opensearch.xml` — browser search plugin descriptor (search template → `/search?q={searchTerms}`). ## AI rate limits (server functions) Per client IP, rolling 10-minute windows (best-effort on serverless): - Ingredient analysis: 20 requests - Label photo OCR: 12 requests - Pharmacist letter polish: 15 requests - Unknown-ingredient clarifier: 25 requests Exceeded limits return an error message asking the user to retry. ## Official accounts - LinkedIn: ## Data attribution The RxHalal ingredient and citation database is published under CC-BY-4.0. Attribution: "RxHalal — https://rxhalal.com". Manufacturer-disclosed ingredient lists remain property of the respective manufacturer; we link to the source-of-truth (DailyMed, MHRA, USP) rather than mirroring labels. ## Optional - [Sitemap](/sitemap.xml) - [Robots](/robots.txt) - [Manifest](/manifest.json)