Eating Food Items as Gifts from Non-Muslims

21-6-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can we accept food items given by the non-Muslim friends either on their feast or any other time?

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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 food of non-Muslims is of two kinds:

1- That which should be slaughtered. This has different rulings: If the non-Muslim is a Jew or a Christian, it is lawful to eat his food. This is because Allah has made the meat of animals slaughtered by them lawful for the Muslims. Allah Says (what means): {This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. among the losers.} [Quran 5: 5] If the non-Muslims are neither Jews nor Christians by being magians or idol-worshippers, then their slaughtered food should not be eaten because it is forbidden.

2- Other foods: It is lawful to eat them if they are presented by any non-Muslims, be they Christians, Jews or others. We are also calling your attention to the fact that it is lawful to accept gifts from non-Muslims. The Prophet did so. Abu Hunayd narrated: “The King of Aylah presented a white mule and a garment to the Prophet .” [Al-Bukhari]

For more benefit on giving or accepting gifts from non-Muslims on the occasion of their festivals, please refer to Fataawa 161811, 129821, 131758, 316801, 82713 and 82006.

Allah knows best.