#486: A Muslim Sister Cooking for a Non-Mahram
QUESTION
“Assalamu alaykum…Can a sister make Iftar and sahur for a bro who is non maharram but a co-tenant. And also,can she make it for her fiance,when they are yet to be married”
ANSWER
Wa alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh.
Alhamdulillāh.
Generally, it is permissible for a man to eat the food cooked by a non-mahram lady whether they are co-tenant or not, but because food is one of the things that bring about love, affection and the inclination of the heart, the Ulamā have declared such to be Makrūh.
Also, if there is an intent behind her preparation of the food, or a surety of it leading to a Fitnah, then it becomes Harām.
This is the fatwa of the Ulamā.
This is because of the Qā’idah Fiqhiyya that says:
The means that leads to Harām is Harām by itself
A conjugate of the Qa’ida:
The means that leads to Wājib is Wājib by itself
It is also so by virtue of the Qā’idah:
ما لا يتم ترك الحرام إلا بتركه فتركه واجب
“That without whose abandonment a Harām cannot be abandoned is obligatory to be abandoned”
Az-Zarkashī – rahimahullāh – explained this Qā’idah in detail in Al-Bahru Al-Muhīt
The chances are high in this case, it can be said that the co-tenant may fall into infatuation on her if she cooks for him.
It may also be said that if he is already infatuating and lusting over her, cooking for him will make him continue to do that.
Likewise, he wouldn’t be able to stop lusting over her unless she desists from presenting him with the food.
Therefore, what is prudent and free from blemish is that she not prepare food for non-mahram brothers who can fall into infatuation over her.
The questioner has not explained what she means by ‘Fiance,’ this is because people have different meanings to the word.
For that reason, we can’t respond to that half of the question. And in the Sharī’a, we don’t consider the word, we consider the reality.
Allāh knows best.
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran
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