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Is it permissible to live and eat with a non-Muslim family when studying abroad?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible to travel to non-Muslim countries except for a legitimate need. If travel is permissible, it is not allowed to reside with a family there due to the presence of unlawful seclusion (khalwa) and forbidden acts (munkarat). However, residing with a family that has no women and no forbidden acts is permissible if there is a need for it. Regarding eating from their utensils, the majority of scholars hold that it is permissible unless their impurity is known, with the caveat that it is not permissible to eat or drink from utensils made of gold and silver, according to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) hadith. Jurists have used the verse, "And the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you" as evidence for the permissibility of using the utensils of non-Muslims. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also performed ablution from a water-skin belonging to a polytheist, and the fundamental principle in this matter is purity.

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

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