Questionable cooking practices

18-11-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

I would like to know if the chips/fries bought from a non-Muslim are harem. He does not fry the chips and Haram things like sausages in the same oil but he admitted that he use the same equipment to get them out of the oil. Does the use of the same equipment to get both the chips and the sausages from their different oils make these chips Haram? Please answer this ASAP as it causes a lot of arguments in our house.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

The preponderant opinion of Muslim scholars is that eating and drinking in the utensils of polytheists is permissible as long as one is certain of their purity. This is for the Hadith of Jabir who said: "We were on an expedition along with the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) we got the vessels and water receptacles that belonged to the polytheists and used them. And he did not object to that action" [Reported by Abu Dawood and the Hadith is sound].
Also for the Hadith of Anas reported that "A Jew invited the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) to eat some barley bread and the fat tail of a sheep, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) accepted it" [ Ahmad ].
After knowing this rule we know for certain that in the situation mentioned the equipment used for removing the Haram material (pork) became impure by touching the oil in which the pork items were cooked. If the same utensils are used to take out the chips and sausages, etc. before cleaning them they also become Haram since the oil remaining on the utensils, though little is impure and is mixed with the other oil and makes it impure as well. So, the chips and sausages fried or touched with that oil are also impure. In fact, eating, drinking, and using any impure material is forbidden.
Allah knows best.