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:

dear brother burhan & team

assalamo alaikum

i will appreciate if you answer the followings:

1. is it possible for you to mail me this dua in arabic. (O Allah, make Your lawful bounties sufficient for me so as to save me from what is unlawful, and from Your grace grant me sufficient abundance to make me free from the need of all except You`." Related by Tirmidhi.)

2. i would like to read hadith. how do i view them in your site?

3. if a muslim brother in his restaurant/hotel serve alcohol and doesnot take that money for himself is it still gunah and haram?

if he(the muslim brother) buys the restaurant/hotel and lease to some other party(non muslim) and if they sell alcohol (the owner, muslim brother will not take the money of the drinks) is it permitted that way in islam?

or if he the muslim brother rent the hotel/restaurant to others to run and alchohol is served and muslim brother doesnot take that money still is it gunah?

pls. explain in detail all the above questions. i will be thankful to you

(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:

Serve alcohol in restaurant

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.

Q-1: is it possible for you to mail me this dua in arabic. (O Allah, make Your lawful bounties sufficient for me so as to save me from what is unlawful, and from Your grace grant me sufficient abundance to make me free from the need of all except You`." Related by Tirmidhi.)

Allah humma akfeni be-halaal-eka unn haraam-ek; wa aggnena min fadhleka amman siwaak.

Q-2: i would like to read hadith. how do i view them in your site?

Respected sister in Islam, there are several recorders of hadith, six of whom are deemed the most authentic:

1. Sahih Bukhari
2. Sahih Muslim
3. Tirmidhi
4. Ibn Maajah
5. Sunan Abu Dawood
6. Muwatta of Imam Maalik

Each of the above scholars have recorded their works in several volumes, and the works of Bukhari and Muslim are at least widely available in books or cd format in any good quality Islamic bookshop.

We regret that at the current moment we do not have a link on our website which could give you access to all the available authentic hadeeths.

Q-3: if a muslim brother in his restaurant/hotel serve alcohol and doesnot take that money for himself is it still gunah and haram?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 90:

90 O ye who believe! Intoxicants (alcohol, wine, etc.), and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are (all) an abomination of the Shaytaan's handiwork: eschew such (abomination) that ye may prosper.

The Lord Most High, Most Majestic has commanded the believers to practice ‘ijtenaab’ (eschew, abstain, stay far far away from, do not even approach it, etc.) from the evils like alcohol and gambling….thus if one professes to be a muslim and owns a restaurant, regardless of whether he accepts money for it or not, it would not behove and befit him to allow the serving of alcohol in his restaurant, if indeed he sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2776 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Allah's Messenger (saws) invoked the curse of Allah on ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.

If a muslim brother owns the restaurant where alcohol is being served, without an iota of a doubt, he will be an accomplice in the sin and will bear an appropriate share of the burden of the sin of allowing the consumption of something which has explicitly and specifically been declared by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

Q-4: if he(the muslim brother) buys the restaurant/hotel and lease to some other party(non muslim) and if they sell alcohol (the owner, muslim brother will not take the money of the drinks) is it permitted that way in islam?

Q-5: or if he the muslim brother rent the hotel/restaurant to others to run and alchohol is served and muslim brother doesnot take that money still is it gunah?

If the muslim brother who owns the restaurant has prior knowledge or knowingly leases a portion (or all) of his premises to a leaseholder whom he knows will indulge in the ‘haraam’, he will definitely be an accomplice in the sin and share an appropriate share of the burden of the sin.

Beloved sister in Islam, it simply does not behove and befit one who has professed belief in Allah and the Last Day to even remotely indulge or be an accomplice in anything which has been declared forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

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