Renting a House to Non-Muslim Tenants

7-10-2021 | IslamWeb

Question:

I printed two rent contracts between my father and two non-muslim tenants. The first is a couple (in the contract it appears that they are not married but maybe they are extralegally married) and in their house I saw meat (I do not know if it is halal) and the second I do not have information but I may have heard music coming from their house. Is it halal? If not, are my father's earnings still halal for me?For further details, I am a 15 year old maliki muslim.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The basic principle is that it is permissible to rent a house to someone who rents it for a permissible purpose, even if the tenant is a non-Muslim.

Al-Mudawwanah reads:

“I (the author) said: “If I rent my house to a Christian man, or a Jew or Magi, is that permissible according to the view of Maalik?”

He replied: “Yes, as long as he does not rent it to sell alcohol or pigs in it.” [End of quote]

Therefore, as long as your father rented the house for a permissible purpose and did not rent it out for a forbidden purpose, then the rent is lawful, and the rent fee is permissible.

Allah Knows best.