Is it permissible to hire restaurants and halls in which alcohol and unlawful things are sold? Is praying and remembering Allah permissible inside those halls knowing that there is alcohol inside?
حكم التأجير على بائع الخمر
Fatwas / Sales Fatawa / Hiring from a person who sells alcohol.
Question
Is it permissible to hire restaurants and halls in which alcohol and unlawful things are sold? Is praying and remembering Allah permissible inside those halls knowing that there is alcohol inside?
حكم التأجير على بائع الخمر
Answer
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
To proceed:
There are many hadeeth established on The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) which prohibit sitting at tables where alcohol is drunk or ordered. One of the authentic hadeeth regarding this was narrated by al-Nasaai (6741) on the authority of Abu Zubair from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, shouldnot to sit at a table where alcohol is circulated.” in Fath al-Bari (9/250), Al-HafidhIbnHajar said this hadeeth has a sound chain of narrators. It is also narrated by Tirmidhi on the authority of LaithIbnAbiSalim from Tawus from Jabir who is a weak narrator because of reporting from Laith who is also weak. This ruling is not singled out for a table but any place where alcohol is present. For that reason I do not see the permissibility of hiring these halls that have alcohol in them because it is a place of disobedience which should be avoided. Al-Nasaai (5256) narrates a hadith on the authority of Ali who said that: “I made some food and invited the Prophet (peace be on him) (to come and eat). He came and entered and then he saw a curtain on which there were images, so he went out and said: 'The Angels do not enter a house in which there are images.” The pious predecessors from among the companions and those who came after them did not attend feasts because of sin and disobedience which were lesser than the sin of drinking alcohol. It has also been authentically transmitted that ibn ‘Umar invited Abu Ayyub for a meal. Abu Ayyub saw a curtain covering a wall in the house. Then ibn 'Umar said, "I have been overpowered by my wife on this matter." Abu Ayyub said, "I never feared that this would happen to you. By Allah I will not eat your food." Then he went away. Commenting on these two hadith, Bukhari said: it is correct to perform prayer in these places because of the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace be on him) as in the hadith reported by HashimIbnSiyar from Yazid al-Faqir from Jabir that The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “The earth has been made for me a place of prostration and a means of purification”[Bukhari (323), Muslim (810)]. However there is no doubt that it is obligatory to stay away from these places because of acts of disobedience prevalent there. It is not permissible for one to pray in those places if s/he can find another place.
And Allah knows best.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
To proceed:
There are many hadeeth established on The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) which prohibit sitting at tables where alcohol is drunk or ordered. One of the authentic hadeeth regarding this was narrated by al-Nasaai (6741) on the authority of Abu Zubair from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, shouldnot to sit at a table where alcohol is circulated.” in Fath al-Bari (9/250), Al-HafidhIbnHajar said this hadeeth has a sound chain of narrators. It is also narrated by Tirmidhi on the authority of LaithIbnAbiSalim from Tawus from Jabir who is a weak narrator because of reporting from Laith who is also weak. This ruling is not singled out for a table but any place where alcohol is present. For that reason I do not see the permissibility of hiring these halls that have alcohol in them because it is a place of disobedience which should be avoided. Al-Nasaai (5256) narrates a hadith on the authority of Ali who said that: “I made some food and invited the Prophet (peace be on him) (to come and eat). He came and entered and then he saw a curtain on which there were images, so he went out and said: 'The Angels do not enter a house in which there are images.” The pious predecessors from among the companions and those who came after them did not attend feasts because of sin and disobedience which were lesser than the sin of drinking alcohol. It has also been authentically transmitted that ibn ‘Umar invited Abu Ayyub for a meal. Abu Ayyub saw a curtain covering a wall in the house. Then ibn 'Umar said, "I have been overpowered by my wife on this matter." Abu Ayyub said, "I never feared that this would happen to you. By Allah I will not eat your food." Then he went away. Commenting on these two hadith, Bukhari said: it is correct to perform prayer in these places because of the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace be on him) as in the hadith reported by HashimIbnSiyar from Yazid al-Faqir from Jabir that The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “The earth has been made for me a place of prostration and a means of purification”[Bukhari (323), Muslim (810)]. However there is no doubt that it is obligatory to stay away from these places because of acts of disobedience prevalent there. It is not permissible for one to pray in those places if s/he can find another place.
And Allah knows best.