What can and What cannot be eating from the Non-Muslims Food in and outside their Festival Periods
Praise be to Allah
First of all, there's no ikhtilaaf
(difference of opinion) in the rulings regarding Muslims eating the food of the
People of the Scripture. If it is food prepared outside their festivity, it is
permissible to accept it so as to soften their hearts and make Islam attractive
to them, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) accepted
gifts from some of the kaafirs. But
if the food is that which is shared on the day of their festival, we say if it
is;
1. GIFT: With
regard to accepting a gift from a kaafir
on the day of his festival, there is nothing wrong with that, so far it is
something that is not used in perpetrating or participating in it or approving
of it, rather it should be accepted as an act of kindness, with the aim of
softening his heart and calling him to Islam. Allaah has permitted kindness and
fair treatment towards the kaafir who
is not fighting the Muslims, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “Allaah does not forbid you to deal justly
and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor
drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allaah loves those who deal with equity”
[al-Mumtahanah 60:8]
But kindness and fair treatment does not mean friendship and
love, because it is not permitted to take a kaafir
as a friend or love him. Please take the pleasure of checking the following
verses of the Qur’an: al-Mujaadilah (Q58:
vs22), al-Mumtahanah (Q60: vs 1), Aal ‘Imraan (Q3: vs118), and many other verses
which speaks affirmative of it.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: As for accepting a gift from them on the day of their festival, we have
quoted above that ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib was brought a gift on the occasion of
Nayrooz and he accepted it.
Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated that a woman asked ‘Aa’ishah: We
have some wet nurses from among the Magians, and they have a festival on which
they bring us gifts. She said: As for what is slaughtered for that day, do not
eat it, but eat from their vegetables.
All of these indicates that the festival does not make it
forbidden to accept their gifts, rather the ruling is the same whether it is
their festival or not, because that does not involve helping them with the
symbols of their kufr (disbelief).
2. Other Than a Gift:
It is only permissible to eat of the food of the people of the Book, during
their festivals that which has not been slaughtered for the festival (which
means anything slaughtered for the festival, should be done away with), whether
it is bought or received as a gift. As for meat slaughtered by the Mushrikun, the ruling on that is well
known, and it is haraam (forbidden) according
to all. As for that which is slaughtered by the people of the Book for their
festivals and that which they slaughter as an act of worship to draw close to
anything other than Allaah (just as the Muslims offer sacrifices as an act of
worship to draw closer to Allaah as well), namely as that which they sacrifice to
the Messiah (Jesus), two views have been narrated from Ahmad concerning that,
the most well known of which in his texts is that, it is not permissible to eat it even if the name of something other than Allaah has not been mentioned over it. The prohibition on that was narrated from
‘Aa’ishah and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar … End quote from Iqtida’ al-Siraat
al-Mustaqeem (1/251). [Those bold characters indicates that even if they call
you as a Muslim to come and slaughter the meat for them since they know we don't
eat meat that names other than Allaah was mentioned on, it is still not
permissible to eat from it because the intention is sacrificing for what Allaah
has not ordained]
===
Conclusion: It is
permissible for you to accept the gift from your Christian neighbour on the day
of their festival, subject to the following conditions:
1 – This gift should not be meat that has been slaughtered
for the festival.
2 – It should not be something that may be used to help in
imitating them on the day of their festival.
3 – You should explain to your children the belief in al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ (loyalty and
friendship vs. disavowal and enmity), lest a love of this festival or a
fondness for the giver be instilled in their hearts.
4 – The gift should be accepted with the aim of softening
their heart and calling her to Islam, not with friendship and love.
Note: If the gift is something that it is not permissible to
accept, then the refusal to accept it should be accompanied by an explanation
of why it is being refused, such as saying, “We only refused your gift because
it is meat that was slaughtered for the festival, and it is not permissible for
us to eat it, or these things are only accepted by those who are taking part in
the celebrations, and we do not celebrate this festival, because it is not part
of our religion, and it involves beliefs that we do not believe in” and so on,
which is a starting point for calling them to Islam and explaining the danger
of the kufr that they follow.
The Muslim should be proud of his religion and apply its
rulings, and he should not give them up out of shyness or to impress anyone,
for Allaah is more deserving of us feeling shy before Him. And Allaah Knows
Best!
3 Comments
What a great controversy on this very topic.Do we know more than Allah s.w who said their food is legitimate. These verses of suuratu mai'dah verses 5,51,57 & 82 needs to put into a consideration.Thanks
ReplyDeleteFirstly, we’d have love it, if you rather drop your comment(s) next time using your google handle. That makes us to reach and serve you better; and we hope you’d come back to read the reply we’ve dropped on your comment and pray it meets you in the best position. Aameen
DeleteAs for the Qur’anic verses you’ve provided to look into, please know O our dear reader (may Allaah bless you), that they are evidences against your opinion and not for you. What are the verses stipulating? Please read through!
Suratul Maa-idah can be found in chapter 5 of the Qur’an, so, in verse 51 ( to begin with), Allah says (what means): “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.”
In verse 57, He (the Almighty) said (what means): “O you who have believed, take not those who have taken your religion in ridicule and amusement among the ones who were given the Scripture before you nor the disbelievers as allies. And fear Allah, if you should [truly] be believers.”
Likewise, in verse 82 He says (what means): “You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews and those who associate others with Allah ; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant.” Please know that the English translation of the verses provided is gotten from the widely known Qur’anic translation called ‘Sahih International’. Take the pleasure of confirming them yourself.
So, according to the verses, they’re all proofs for us which denote there’s limit to friendship we keep with the non-muslims. We don’t keep ally with them or develop full affection for them that which is supposed to be for a true Muslims. In fact, these can be used to back up the claim that we stated under the conclusion point number 3. Therefore, where’s the justification?
As for the clarification and misconception regarding Suratul Maa-idah verse 5, Please look forward to seeing that on our next blog post In Sha Allah. We hope you understand, and Allah grant you and us (all) eyesight that sees the truth, the mindset that ponder over it and the heart that is never reluctant to follow it. Na'am
https://www.fiqhhome.com/2019/12/islamic-perspective-concerning-new-year.html
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