“Whoever truly believes in Allah and the day of Judgment, he will not sit at a table where alcohol is served” (Musnad Ahmed, Hadith #:14651; Shu’b al Iman #7380; Sunan Darimi #2137)
Mufti sb here the fatwa quotes a hadith of prophet P.B.U.H “Whoever truly believes in Allah and the day of Judgment, he will not sit at a table where alcohol is served”.. so i have a question, is the hadith relates to a person who eats at the table or also applies to the person who sits in the majlis too but never eats or drink anything… for example we usually go on lunch from work where most of my colleagues drink and then go home. so, for a muslim is it permissible to sit in the gathering on the same table as the luncheons are for team building provided that a muslim won’t eat or drink anything not even water or should we completely avoid such gatherings?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah
Under the shuruhaat of this hadeeth some scholars have explicitly mentioned it as the reason for abandoning or refusing an invitation to a gathering wherein alcohol may be served. The fuqaha’ mention that while accepting of an invitation is a praiseworthy action, and according most a wajib action, and yet if the gathering has some munkaraat like presence of alcohol, one should reject the invitation.
This is simply because the effects of munkar action is not limited to the munkar being present there, rather one’s presence there sets a precedent of the gathering being suitable and worthy of being attended. As a mulsim, it does not behove one to be in such a gathering where open transgression takes place.
In presence of such transgression, a Muslim is tasked to take measures of rectifying the munkaraat, either by hand, or by tongue or in the least by detesting the munkar. For such venues of food, the least one can do is disassociate oneself from sitting in such places where an on-looker will use this as an evidence for suitability of these actions.
Hence, it is prudent to stay completely away from such gatherings.
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi