ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West Eating & Drinking Introduction Muslims [in predominantly Muslims countries] normally live in their own homes, villages and cities, in the midst of their families and relations, eating variety of foods and drinking different drinks that they desire; They are familiar with the ingredients of these foods and know that they are free from all that their religion has forbidden, their faith has rejected, and their rich Islamic values have kept distance from.

However, when they migrate to foreign countries to reside in the midst of non-Muslim communities, they are faced with problems in eating and drinking because they don’t find foods that are familiar and desirable to them, nor are their ingredients known to them. This is so because the host community is not Islamic; it has it own values, customs and habits which naturally do not abide by the laws of Islam.

So, when a Muslim desires to eat any food in a restaurant [in a non-Muslim country], he is faced with the problem of whether or not the food is permissible and pure. General Rules Since the followers of the past revealed religions (that is, the Jews, the Christians and the Zoroastrians) are ritually pure, many of the problems concerning the status and permissibility of the food are resolved when we live in their midst.

It becomes permissible for us as Muslims to eat from their food no matter whether they touched it with their wet hands or not as long as we do not know or are not sure that it consists of what is forbidden to us, like intoxicating drinks. As for meat, fat and their extracts, there are specific rules that will be discussed later on.

A Muslim is allowed to eat the food prepared by a non-Muslim who is not from Ahlul Kitab [for example, a Hindu or a Buddhist], provided that he does not know or is not sure that the non-Muslim touched the food with wetness; and provided that he does not know or is not sure that the food consists of what is forbidden to him like intoxicating drinks. As for meat, fat and their extracts, there are specific rules that will come later on.

A Muslim is allowed to eat any food made by a person whose faith and religion is not known to him, no matter whether that person touched it with wetness or did not touch it, provided that he does not know or is not sure that the food consists of what is forbidden to him.