#498: Ruling on Eating the Food of Kuffar Celebrations
QUESTION
” What’s the ruling on eating the food and the meat of Christmas, Easter and New year? I learnt the ruling of the food and meat is different…And the ruling on the meat when it is slaughtered by a Muslim for the Christian and when the Christian slaughter it themselves..Jazakallahu khayran”
ANSWER
It is not permissible for a Muslim who believes in Allāh and the Last Day to celebrate any other Yearly celebration annually aside the two Īd, talk more of the Christmas which is purported to be the day of the birth of Īsa – Alayhi salām.
Therefore, anything that constitutes a form of celebration on that day is Harām for the Muslim by the consensus of the Ulamā, this is because a celebration implies a concurrence which is tantamount to disbelief as the day is a Day of Shirk.
As for their food, then the Ulamā differed.
The majority position, and that maintained and held by Shaykhu Al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah is that it were permissible to eat the food they prepare on that day and share with the Muslim if in doing that, one only aims at eating food and not celebrating. And as long as one does not soften his hatred for their Shirk by so doing.
He said in the ‘Iqtidā:
: أما قبول الهدية منهم يوم عيدهم، فقد قدمنا عن علي رضي الله عنه: أنه أتي بهدية النيروز، فقبلها. وروى ابن أبي شيبة في المصنف: حدثنا جرير، عن قابوس عن أبيه: أن امرأة سألت عائشة، قالت: إن لنا أظآرا من المجوس، وإنه يكون لهم العيد فيهدون لنا؟ قالت: أما ما ذبح لذلك اليوم فلا تأكلوا، ولكن كلوا من أشجارهم
“As for accepting the gifts of theirs on the Day of their festival, we have preceded from Ali – radiyallāhu anhu – that the gift of the (Magian) Day of Nayrūz was brought to him and he accepted it. And it was recorded by Ibn Abī Shaybah in the Musannif saying: We were told by Jarīr from Qābūs from his father, that a woman asked Ā’ishah saying: we have companions from the Majūs and they used to have Days of Īd in which they gift to us? She answered: As for what they slaughter purposely for that day, then do not eat but eat anything from their trees.”
Up to where he said:
. فهذا كله يدل على أنه لا تأثير للعيد في المنع من قبول هديتهم، بل حكمها في العيد وغيره سواء، لأنه ليس في ذلك إعانة لهم على شعائر كفرهم.. وإنما يجوز أن يؤكل من طعام أهل الكتاب في عيدهم بابتياع أو هدية أو غير ذلك مما لم يذبحوه للعيد
“And all of these show that the Īd has no impact in forbidding the acceptance of their gifts. Rather, its ruling in their celebrations and in other than it is the same because there is no assistance in it in assisting them on the symbols of their Kufr. And it is permissible to eat of the food of the People of the Book on their Festival days by way of buying, gifting, or other than that as long as it was not of what they slaughtered for the purpose of their festival.”
Some other Ulamā hold that it would only be permissible if one feared the wasting of food or if one allowed it to get to the next day before eating it.
That is for the food aside meat.
As for meat, then it isn’t permissible whether it was slaughtered by the Muslim or the Kāfir as long as it was slaughtered with the intention of the Kufr Festivity.
Though Imām Al-Qurtubī – rahimahullāh – differed in that as was mentioned in his Tafsir, a very detailed rebuttal was written against him by Imām Al-Amīn Ash-Shanqītī – rahimahullāh – in ‘Adwā’u Al-Bayān.
As for the soup, there isn’t anything wrong in that even if it is feared that there are drips of oil from the meat to have mixed with it.
This is because the Sharī’a has not taxed us with the minute details of things.
For this reason, the Ulamā of Fiqh have a Qā’idah that says:
الصغير لا يصغر
“That which is already little isn’t severely taken to detail”
For that reason, the little effects of the Prostatic Fluid (Madhī) that may be left unknowingly on the cloth is not used to invalidate the Salāt.
And Allah knows best.
In summary, a Muslim must avoid anything on the festive days of the Kuffar as much as he can for it is Harām to be found in such celebrations.
Bārakallāhu fikum
Jazaakumullahu Khayran
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