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Is it forbidden to mention God - such as by saying "Bismillah (In the name of God)" or "Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God)" - when eating or drinking food purchased with ill-gotten money, or when wearing clothes obtained through illicit means?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Reciting "Bismillah" (Tasmia) is prescribed for permissible acts and acts of worship. However, it is not prescribed for forbidden or disliked acts, because the purpose of "Bismillah" is to seek blessings in the action. Forbidden and disliked acts are not intended to be multiplied or blessed. "Bismillah" is subject to the five legal rulings: it is forbidden for that which is inherently forbidden, disliked for that which is inherently disliked, and not sought for trivial matters. As for something that is inherently permissible but obtained through an unlawful means, the relied-upon opinion is that reciting "Bismillah" is not forbidden when consuming it. Based on this, it is not forbidden to recite "Bismillah" when eating food or wearing clothes, even if they were obtained through unlawful means. Whoever is afflicted with haram wealth must get rid of it, repent, and return the rights to their owners.

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

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