Date : 02-02-2010

Question :

What is the legal ruling on exchanging visits with non-Muslims knowing that they bring alcoholic drinks with them?


The Answer :

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.


It is prohibited for a Muslim to sit at a table where alcoholic drinks are served. This is because Allah the Almighty says {What means}: " Already has He sent you Word in the Book, that when ye hear the signs of God held in defiance and ridicule, ye are not to sit with them unless they turn to a different theme: if ye did, ye would be like them. For God will collect the hypocrites and those who defy faith - all in Hell:-" {An-Nisa`, 140}.


Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with them): 


Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said, "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day let him not sit at a table where wine is being drunk." {Related by Ahmad and some scholars graded it Hasan (Good)}. 


Al-Sarkhasi says, "A Muslim must avoid sitting at such table, however, he should ban others from drinking wine as a form of forbidding Munkar (Evil), if that is possible. Otherwise, he is as cursed as they are" {Shareh al-Sayer, V.1:57}. And Allah the Almighty knows best.