Q227 :A friend of mine advises me not to eat any
food cooked or prepared by anyone other than a follower of Islam,
Christianity or Judaism. According to him, it is not permissible in
Islam to eat any food prepared by a Hindu or Buddhist, etc. How far is
this correct?
A227 : Perhaps your friend has a very restricted
view of the Qur’anic verse which states that “the food of the people of
earlier scriptures is permissible for you to eat”. There is no
disagreement among scholars that this verse refers to slaughtered
animals. What is meant is that animals slaughtered by Christians and
Jews are permissible for Muslims to eat because it is forbidden in
their religions to consecrate the slaughter of any animal for any one
other than Allah. This does not apply to other religions. Hence, the
restriction on Muslims not to eat the slaughtered animals of the
followers of other religions. This ruling does not apply to the
preparation of food which does not include anything unlawful for a
Muslim to eat. If you are eating vegetable dish, you need not ask who
prepared it, because it does not matter from the viewpoint of Islam
what religion the cook follows. Allah has made it permissible for us to
eat anything the earth produces with the exception of those items which
He has specifically forbidden. What is forbidden for Muslims to eat is
that which Allah has forbidden for a specific reason. He has not
forbidden anything due to the identity or the faith of the person who
handles or cooks it. When something is forbidden, it remains so, even
though a Muslim may prepare it. We cannot eat pork, or something
consecrated for anyone other than Allah, even though it may have been
handled throughout its process of preparation by a Muslim. Similarly,
vegetables and fruits and lawful meat do not benete unlawful if they
are handled by a Hindu or an atheist or anyone else. Otherwise, Muslim
countries would not have allowed any imported food from Korea, Japan,
Thailand or other countries where the overwhelming majority of the
population do not follow any of the three divine religions.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )