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Utensils and Vessels
January 12, 2008 on 2:04 am | In Ibadah, Islam, Q&A, Tahara| By Ilm Seeker
What utensils and vessels (called inaa' in Arabic, which includes cups, plates, utensils, and the like--though we'll call it "utensils" for simplicity) are halal to eat from? This is important--your du'a is at stake! If you eat from haraam, Allah will not accept your du'a.
Scholars agree that all utensils made from pure and clean things--other then silver and gold, because we're prohibited from eating from those--are pure and clean. So throw out your silverware, even if it's only partially silver; gold plating is not allowed, either.)
Is it halal to eat from the cutlery (vessels--plates, cups, etc.) and utensils of non-Muslims? This issue most impacts Muslims living in non-Muslim localities, such as North America. What's the answer? Scholars disagree on this. Let's look at the opinions.
Opinion 1: We can eat from their utensils, because Allah made the food of non-Muslims lawful--the only things that make their utensils najas is najas stuff.
Opinion 2: We can eat from their utensils--when necessary. Abu Tha'labah Al-Khushani asked the Prophet, "we're in a land inhabited by People of the Book. Can we eat from their utensils?" The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "Don't eat from them, unless you can't find an alternative, in which case, wash them and eat from them."
Opinion 3: We can use them if we don't see non-Muslims eating pork or driking wine on them. Because in one hadith--a long hadith--the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) ran out of wudoo water. He used water from a water-skin of a mushrik and made wudoo with that (as did all his companions--because of barakah).
So what's the conclusion? Allahu 'alim, scholars put forward opinion three--you can use their utensils--so long as they're not used for wine or eating najas stuff--because of the hadith of the water-skin.
What about eating at non-Muslim restaurants? If you go, and they serve alcohol, pork, or najas things, and they cook it on the same skillet/pan/grill/pot/container as your food, then it's haraam. But if it's, for example, a seafood restaurant, and the majority of their food is ok, then it's ok. (But, it's preferable to avoid this situation if you can.)
Wallahu ta'ala 'alim.
Abdul-Bary Yahya. Lecture. AlMaghrib. The Purification Act. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2006.
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salaam
more specific daleel for the last paragraph might be a good idea.
Comment by bruce — January 13, 2008 #
Wa’alikum as-salaam,
The last paragraph is an extension of the “it’s ok if you don’t see them eating najas on it” ruling. Wallahu ‘alim–shaykh Abdul-Bary didn’t give us any more specific daleel other then the above discussion on the issue :(
Comment by Ilm Seeker — January 14, 2008 #