Questioning Halal status of food from a Muslim’s house

[Zahoor]

Salam and peace.  If you are invited to the house of a Muslim for a meal, and if that person also visits the Masjid for prayers, is it wrong to ask them if the food is Halal at their place?   The man who calls himself a “sheikh” was lecturing away like mr. know-all and said that a person who is Muslim and visiting the Mosque, we should trust each other and not ask about the food in their home.  Does this come from hadith?  Please give your opinion.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Walaykum As Salam and peace to you.   Yep, from hadith, which explains the unreasonable nature of the concept.  Here’s the hadith:  "It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you enters upon his Muslim brother and he offers him food, let him eat from his food and not ask about it. And if he offers him something to drink, let him drink what he offers and not ask about it.”  (Collection of Ahmad, 8933. This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 62.

There is nothing wrong in asking anything from any one provided the question is based on good intentions and for a significant reason.  I agree that we should trust each other which is a wide spectrum gesture of etiquette.  Nonetheless, there may be times when you feel you need further confirmations on certain issues even if the person concerned is a Muslim and visits the Masjid.  After all, everyone who visits the Masjid isn’t necessarily doing everything the Halal way.   There are exceptions.  Some may visit the masjid yet on occasions they may overlook the Halal aspect of a meal and eat non-Halal.  These things happen.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Wa'Salam.   Not just that, but also there are “Muslims” who visit the Masjid yet they are not free from committing zina and consuming alcohol.  If any one invites you to their home for a meal, and you don’t know them too well, you certainly have the right to ask and confirm the status of the food. 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Very true, and very good point.

[Zahoor]

JazekAllah khair. This is what I thought as well.  But many of our teachers have too high an opinion of the fake hadith school and of themselves which makes it quite pointless talking to them. They have Q&A sessions after lecture presentation, but no discussions are welcomed nor allowed on the Sheikh’s answers to the questions of the audience.  Whatever nonsense he says in his response, you have to accept.    Otherwise they gaslight you making you feel guilty by quoting all kinds of absurd and false ahadith.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Who was this sheikh?

[Zahoor]

Don’t recall his name. I don’t attend these lectures too often as many of them mention a lot of things I find illogical and they are all the time straying outside the Qur'an. This sheikh as I know is a Muslim from Guyana but don’t know his name. 

[Ruhi_Rose]

If  he is from Guyana then he may have his own reasons but he shouldn’t generalize.  And of course, Guyana Muslims are one of the staunchest Hadithists.   What I mean is, Guyana is a non-Muslim country.  Muslims are a minority making up 7% of its population which is approximately 60,000 Muslims.   Total of those Guyanese Muslims who have immigrated to North America would be just a few thousands.  In most North American Masjids run by Guyanese Muslims, majority of visitors are also Guyanese Muslims.  It’s a small community and they are all known to each other .. at least formally ..  well enough to be assured about their Islamic lifestyle.  But if you are from a big Muslim country with a huge population like Egypt or Iran or Pakistan or Turkiye, then that compact community atmosphere isn’t there.  The number of visitors at the Masjid are a lot more.  In this case, you might be invited for a meal to the house of a friend’s friend for instance.  You may not know the person that well, you presume they eat Halal but you want to be assured.  In all such cases you are definitely entitled to confirm if the food is Halal. 

[Zahoor]

JazekAllahkhair again sisters.  Appreciate your helpful input.