Praise
be to Allah
It is not
permissible to sell food during the day in Ramadan to someone who it is
known or thought most likely will eat it in the daytime, except in the case
of someone who is sick or is travelling, and other people with similar
excuses. There is no differentiation in that regard between a Muslim and a
non-Muslim, because the commandments of Islam are also addressed to
non-Muslims, according to the more correct scholarly view. Hence it is not
permissible for them to eat during the day in Ramadan, or to help them to do
that.
An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: The leading scholars and the majority view is
that the commandments of Islam are also addressed to the disbelievers, so
silk is forbidden for them just as it is forbidden for the Muslims.
End quote from
Sharh Muslim (14/39)
It says in
Sharh al-Kawkab al-Muneer (1/500):
The commandments
of Islam – such as prayer, zakaah, fasting and so on – are also addressed to
the disbelievers, according to Imam Ahmad, ash-Shaafa‘i, the Ash‘aris, Abu
Bakr ar-Raazi, al-Karkhi, and according to the view of Maalik as narrated by
al-Qaadi ‘Abd al-Wahhaab and Abu’l-Waleed al-Baaji. That is because of the
verses that include them, such as the verses in which Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O
mankind, worship your Lord”
[al-Baqarah
2:21]
“O
My servants, then fear Me”
[az-Zumar 39:16]
“And
establish prayer and give zakah”
[al-Baqarah
2:43]
“decreed
upon you is fasting”
[al-Baqarah
2:183]
“And
[due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House”
[Aal ‘Imraan
3:97]
“O
children of Adam…”
[al-A‘raaf 7:26]
“O
people of vision”
[al-Hashr 59:2].
End quote.
Among the
evidence that the commandments of Islam are also addressed to the
disbelievers are the verses in which Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“[And asking
them], ‘What put you into Saqar?’
They will say,
‘We were not of those who prayed,
Nor did we used
to feed the poor’”
[al-Muddaththir
74:42-44]
“And those who
do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has
forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual
intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty.
Multiplied for
him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein
humiliated”
[al-Furqaan
25:68-69].
Al-Ghazaali (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: This verse is about the multiplication of the
punishment for the one who combined disbelief, murder and zina (unlawful
sexual intercourse), who is not like one who combined disbelief with eating
and drinking.
End quote from
al-Mustasfa by al-Ghazaali (p. 74)
In
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (35/20) it says: Similarly, Allah, may He be
exalted, criticised the people of Shu‘ayb for their disbelief and giving
short measure; and he criticised the people of Loot for their disbelief and
homosexuality… This is the view of the Shaafa‘is and Hanbalis, according to
the correct view, and it is what is implied by the view of Maalik and most
of his companions. It is also the view of the Iraqi Hanafi shaykhs. End
quote.
A number of
scholars have stated that it is forbidden to sell food to a disbeliever
during the day in Ramadan.
It says in
Nihaayat al-Muhtaaj (3/471): An example of that is an adult, accountable
Muslim feeding an adult, accountable disbeliever during the day in Ramadan,
or selling him food when he knows or thinks it most likely that he will eat
it during the day, as my father (may Allah have mercy on him) stated in his
fatwas, because in both cases it will lead to sin and is helping in it,
based on the fact that the disbelievers are also required to comply with the
commandments of Islam, and this is the more correct view. End quote.
Al-Jamal said in
his commentary on Sharh Manhaj at-Tullaab (10/310): Not preventing
him from breaking the fast does not mean that it is not forbidden for him to
do that, because the commandments of Islam are addressed to him too. Thus
our shaykh ar-Ramli ruled in his fatwa that it is haraam for a Muslim to
give water to a dhimmi [non-Muslim living under Muslim rule] in Ramadan,
whether that is in return for money or otherwise, because by doing so he is
helping in sin. End quote.
It says in
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (9/211, 212), under the heading: Selling items
that are intended for the commission of unlawful deeds:
The majority (of
scholars) are of the view that anything that is intended for unlawful
purposes, and any action that will lead to sin, is haraam. So it is not
allowed to sell anything that it is known that the purchaser intends to use
it for purposes that are not permissible…
Ash-Shirwaani
and Ibn Qaasim al-‘Abbaadi stated that it is not permissible for a Muslim to
sell food to a disbeliever, if he knows or thinks it most likely that he
will eat it during the day in Ramadan, as was also stated in a fatwa by
ar-Ramli, who said:… Because that is helping in sin, based on the fact that
the more correct view is that the commandments of Islam are also addressed
to the disbelievers.
And Allah knows
best.