Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam o alikum,

jazakallah o khair for your service to the islam and muslim ummah.

my question is that i am living in europe. and here in the markets where food stuff is available all shops and departmental stores sell beer. even the small shops that are opened by muslims brothers, they also bought the food stuff (other than beer etc) like milk, oil, bread etc. from the same departmental stores and sell it on a higher price. ex. 1 liter milk cost 65 cents in non-muslim shop where he sell beer as well. but the muslim brother buy in bulk from the same departmental store but not beer and sell 1 liter milk pack in 85 cents. now my question has two parts. (1) is it halal to buy from the departmental stores where the beer is also sold? (2) the muslim brother who is the small shop owner, his earning is also halal??

jazakallah o khair....

may Allah increase our imaan and taqwa, ameen

Allah hafiz

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Buy food from store selling haraam products

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: is it halal to buy from the departmental stores where the beer is also sold?

The guidance of Islam prohibits a believer from indulging in or consuming the products which are declared as ‘haraam’ or unlawful in Shariah….but there is absolutely no harm or restriction on a believer from visiting or purchasing the lawful or ‘halaal’ items from a store which also happens to sell unlawful products.

Your Question: the muslim brother who is the small shop owner, his earning is also halal??

As long as the brother himself does not indulge in the trading of unlawful products, there is no reason to believe that his earnings will be considered unlawful in Shariah. If the brother buys and sells only lawful products and conducts his business within the prescribed boundaries of Shariah, it would be expected that his earnings would be ‘halaal’ and lawful in the Sight of the Lord.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan