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Is it permissible for a Muslim to eat the food of the People of the Book and polytheists, or to accept their gifts prepared or given on the occasion of their holidays?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible for a Muslim to eat from the foods prepared by Jews, Christians, or polytheists for their festivals, nor to accept holiday gifts from them. This is because doing so entails honoring them, cooperating in the display of their rituals and innovations, and sharing in their celebrations. Such actions could lead to their festivals being adopted as festivals for Muslims, or to the exchange of invitations and gifts, which constitutes a trial (fitnah) and an innovation (bid‘ah) in religion. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that does not belong to it, it is to be rejected." Likewise, it is not permissible to give them anything as a gift on the occasion of their festival.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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