Eating with Hindus or Eating Their Food

10-3-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can we eat with Hindus or their food?

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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.

There is no harm in eating with Hindus as long as the food itself is free from what is forbidden. It is also permissible to eat in their utensils provided they do not cook impurities in their utensils like pork, etc.

If they cook impurities, then one should not use them unless he washes them. Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others reported that Tha’laba Al-Khashani said: “O Messenger of Allah! We travel about and when we come to Jews, Christians and Magians we can obtain nothing but their vessels.” He replied, “If you can obtain nothing else, wash them with water and then eat and drink out of them.”

Though the Hadeeth deals with the utensils of the People of the Book, but jurists apply the same rulings to the utensils of polytheists.

As for your second question, if non-Muslims enter in Muslim territory with the protection and agreement of Muslims, then it is not allowed to offend them or to harm them.

With regard to the attitude of Muslims towards non-Muslims, it is of their religion that they do not greet non-Muslim first. The Prophet said: “Do not start greeting the Jews and Christians with Salaam. If you meet one of them in the street, force him into its narrow side.” [Muslim]

For more benefit on greeting non-Muslims, please refer to Fatwa 88513, 83602, and 84225.

Allah knows best.