Can I accept this gift, as the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) accepted gifts from kaafirs?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The basic
principle is that it is permissible to accept gifts from kaafirs, so as to
soften their hearts and make Islam attractive to them, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) accepted gifts from some of the
kaafirs, such as the gift of al-Muqawqis etc.
Al-Bukhaari
gave a chapter in his Saheeh the title of: Accepting gifts from the
mushrikeen. He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said, narrating from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) migrated
with Saarah and entered a city in which there was a king or a tyrant, and he
said: ‘Give her Haajar (as a gift).’” And the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was given as a gift a (roast) sheep in
which there was poison. Abu Humayd said: The king of Aylah gave the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) a white mule and a cloak,
and wrote to him. And he mentioned the story of the Jewish woman and her
gift of a poisoned sheep to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him).
Secondly:
It is
permissible for a Muslim to give gifts to kaafirs and mushriks, with the aim
of softening their hearts towards Islam, especially if they are relatives or
neighbours.
‘Umar (may
Allaah be pleased with him) gave a hullah (suit) to his mushrik brother in
Makkah, as was narrated by al-Bukhaari (2619).
But it is
not permissible to give a kaafir a gift on the day of one of his festivals,
because that is regarded as approving of or participating in celebration of
the false festival.
If the gift
is something that will help in celebrating the festival, such as food,
candles and the like, then it is even more haraam, and some of the scholars
are of the view that this is kufr.
Al-Zayla’i
said in Tabyeen al-Haqaa’iq (6/228): Giving gifts on the occasion of
Nayrooz and Mahrjaan [two non-Islamic Persian festivals] is not permissible,
i.e., giving gifts on these two days is haraam, and is in fact kufr. Abu
Hafs and Kabeer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: If a man were to
worship Allaah for fifty years, then on the day of Nayrooz he were to give
an egg as a gift to one of the mushrikeen, intending thereby to venerate
that day, he would have committed kufr and his good deeds would be cancelled
out. The author of al-Jaami’ al-Asghar said: If he gives a gift to
another Muslim on the day of Nayrooz, not intending thereby to venerate that
day, but it is the habit of some people to give gifts on that day, then this
is not regarded as kufr. But he should not do it on that particular day; he
should do it before or after, so that he will not be imitating those people.
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” It says in al-Jaami’
al-Asghar: A man bought something on the day of Nayrooz which he did not
buy before that. If he intended thereby to venerate that day as the
mushrikoon venerate it, then he has committed kufr, but if he wanted to eat
or drink or enjoy himself, then he has not committed kufr. End quote.
It says in
al-Taaj wa’l-Ikleel (a Maaliki book – 4/319): Ibn al-Qaasim regarded
it as makrooh to give a gift to a Christian on the occasion of his festival,
or to give palm leaves to a Jew on his festivals. End quote.
It says in
al-Iqnaa’, which is a Hanbali book: It is haraam to attend the
festivals of the Jews and Christians and to sell them things or give them
gifts on the occasion of their festivals.
Moreover
it is not permissible for a Muslim to give a gift to another Muslim because
of this festival, as stated above when quoting the
Hanafi view. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: Whoever gives a gift to the Muslims during these festivals unlike what
he usually usually at other times, his gift should not be accepted,
especially if the gift is something that helps in imitating them, such as
giving candles etc at Christmas, or giving eggs, milk and lambs on Maundy
Thursday which comes at the end of their fast (i.e., the end of Lent).
Similarly, no gift should be given to a Muslim at the time of these
festivals because of the festival, especially if it is something that helps
in imitating them, as we have mentioned. End quote from Iqtida’ al-Siraat
al-Mustaqeem (1/227).
Thirdly:
With
regard to accepting a gift from a kaafir on the day of his festival, there
is nothing wrong with that, and that is not
regarded as participating in it or approving of it, rather it should be
accepted as an act of kindness, with the aim of softening his heart and
calling him to Islam. Allaah has permitted kindness and fair treatment
towards the kaafir who is not fighting the Muslims, as He says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Allaah
does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not
against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily,
Allaah loves those who deal with equity”
[al-Mumtahanah 60:8]
But kindness
and fair treatment does not mean friendship and love, because it is not
permitted to take a kaafir as a friend or love him. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“You (O
Muhammad) will not find any people who believe in Allaah and the Last Day,
making friendship with those who oppose Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad),
even though they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their
kindred (people). For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and
strengthened them with Rooh (proofs, light and true guidance) from Himself.
And He will admit them to Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to
dwell therein (forever). Allaah is pleased with them, and they with Him.
They are the party of Allaah. Verily, it is the party of Allaah that will be
the successful”
[al-Mujaadilah 58:22]
“O you
who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and
polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have
disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth”
[al-Mumtahanah 60:1]
“O you
who believe! Take not as (your) Bitaanah (advisors, consultants, protectors,
helpers, friends) those outside your religion (pagans, Jews, Christians, and
hypocrites) since they will not fail to do their best to corrupt you. They
desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths,
but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made plain to
you the Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses) if you understand”
[Aal
‘Imraan 3:118]
“And
incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you, and
you have no protectors other than Allaah, nor you would then be helped”
[Hood 12:113]
“O you
who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Awliyaa’ (friends,
protectors, helpers), they are but Awliyaa’ of each other. And if any
amongst you takes them (as Awliyaa’), then surely, he is one of them.
Verily, Allaah guides not those people who are the Zaalimoon (polytheists
and wrongdoers and unjust)”
[al-Maa’idah 5:51]
and there is
other evidence which indicates that it is haraam to take a kaafir as a
friend or love him.
Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: As for accepting
a gift from them on the day of their festival, we have quoted above that
‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib was brought a gift on the occasion of Nayrooz and he
accepted it.
Ibn Abi
Shaybah narrated that a woman asked ‘Aa’ishah: We have some wet nurses from
among the Magians, and they have a festival on which they bring us gifts.
She said: As for what is slaughtered for that day, do not eat it, but eat
from their vegetables.
It was
narrated from Abu Barzah that he had some Magian neighbours who used to
bring him gifts on the occasion of Nayrooz and Mahrjaan, and he used to say
to his family: Whatever is of fruits, eat it, and whatever is otherwise,
reject it.
All of this
indicates that the festival does not make it forbidden to accept their
gifts, rather the ruling is the same whether it is their festival or not,
because that does not involve helping them with the symbols of their kufr.
Then he
pointed out that meat slaughtered by a kitaabi (Jew or Christian) is halaal
except that which is slaughtered for their festivals, which it is not
permissible to eat. He said (may Allaah have mercy on him): It is only
permissible to eat of the food of the people of the Book, during their
festivals that which has not been slaughtered for the festival, whether it
is bought or received as a gift. As for meat slaughtered by the Magians, the
ruling on that is well known, and it is haraam according to all. As for that
which is slaughtered by the people of the Book for their festivals and that
which they slaughter as an act of worship to draw close to anything other
than Allaah, as the Muslims offer sacrifices as an act of worship to draw
closer to Allaah, namely as that which they sacrifice to the Messiah, two
views have been narrated from Ahmad concerning that, the most well known of
which in his texts is that it is not permissible to eat it even if the name
of something other than Allaah has not been mentioned over it. The
prohibition on that was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar …
End quote from Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem (1/251).
Conclusion:
It is permissible for you to accept the gift from your Christian neighbour
on the day of their festival, subject to the following conditions:
1 – This
gift should not be meat that has been slaughtered for the festival.
2 – It
should not be something that may be used to help in imitating them on the
day of their festival, such as candles, eggs, palm leaves etc.
3 – You
should explain to your children the belief in al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ (loyalty
and friendship vs. disavowal and enmity), lest a love of this festival or a
fondness for the giver be instilled in their hearts.
4 – The gift
should be accepted with the aim of softening her heart and calling her to
Islam, not with friendship and love.
If the gift
is something that it is not permissible to accept, then the refusal to
accept it should be accompanied by an explanation of why it is being
refused, such as saying, “We only refused your gift because it is meat that
was slaughtered for the festival, and it is not permissible for us to eat
it, or these things are only accepted by those who are taking part in the
celebrations, and we do not celebrate this festival, because it is not part
of our religion, and it involves beliefs that we do not believe in” and so
on, which is a starting point for calling them to Islam and explaining the
danger of the kufr that they follow.
The Muslim
should be proud of his religion and apply its rulings, and he should not
give them up out of shyness or to impress anyone, for Allaah is more
deserving of us feeling shy before Him.
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