Question 22: Asalamu alaikum Sheikh.
My question is as follows:
If your family has invited you for Iftar. You know that their source of income is not through halal sources example the person may be working in a bank or in a gambling company for instance. At the same time not going may affect family relationship. Are you allowed to accept the invitation and go? What is the ruling on this?
JazakumAllahu khair Sheikh
Answer: Walaikumussalam Brother,
If a person earnt an income in a haraam way, then used that money to purchase something from you or to gift you some of their income, that purchase money between you and them or their gift to you in itself is not haraam for you.
However, if not accepting their gift is likely to make them stop doing the illegal or haraam activity, then it is part of enjoining good and forbidding wrong to not accept that gift or a dinner invitation.
But if on the other hand, not accepting their gift is likely to exacerbate the problem, then not accepting the gift is stopping no haraam, rather it is creating more haraam or more Makruh. In that situation it may be better to accept the gift and delay forbidding wrong verbally to another time. Likewise, it is better to accept the dinner invitation that you mentioned and eat the food (albeit minimise what you eat if you want to as Abu Bakr vomitted out serioysly filthy act income food preferring not to eat it). And by attending the iftar invitation and eating some food although you cannot stop their haraam income but you can strengthen blood ties over an iftar which is an important part of Islam to strengthen blood ties. Whatever Munkar we cannot stop, we are not to blame, as the Prophet (s.a.w) said in a hadith, so long as we are not pleased with the wrong happening. If we can nicely remind them, then good. But if we cannot even remind them of the haraam to stop due to worse expected outcome, then just dislike the munkar in the heart and for now strengthen the family blood ties and take up the haraam issue address another time.
To sum up:
Accepting Iftar or any food invitation is very important especially when it is from a blood relative, thus we must not ordinarly refuse to attend. Refusing to eat food from haraam income earner is for applying social pressure to leave the bad deeds. Some Sahabah did not enter a host’s house due to haraam in it and this from a Sahabi places pressure to stop the haraam. If in iur case on some occasions it instead produces worse outcome, as judged according to the guidance of Allah, then according to Islam we ought to not seek to apply that pressure or way of objection.
And Allah knows best and He is the One to guide.