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,

I came across a situation in my family which bothers me. My sister was giving a yoghurt to my nephew to eat when i noticed that it was expired. When i told this to my sister she said it's perfectly alright for the child to have it. Simply because she has read this particular email about a family living under police custody in some middle east country and having to eat all the expired food and insects due to not being given any proper food, but nothing went wrong in their health because they prayed to allah the almighty to protect them. In my point of view allah the almighty was obviously taking care of that family because the situation is as such and that family needed god's blessings and obviously they were getting it. Does this mean that we also should eat expired food purposely expecting allah the almighty to protect us in return.? Isn't this putting the power of god into test in some way?? How far is doing such an act correct in islamic point of view? Pls help.

Thank 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:

Eating expired food

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.

If one fears that something one may consume is harmful, then intelligence and common sense dictate that one should avoid eating/drinking such a food or a drink.

If one intentionally eats/drinks something which they know might be harmful to their health, claiming that Allah Subhanah will protect them from its harm would not be appropriate! Its like one intentionally drinks poison or jumps from a 10-storey building claiming that Allah will protect them…..such ‘testing’ of Allah Subhanah’s Power and Strength is neither permissible nor appropriate for one who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day!

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