Dought & clear - , Accepting a gift from a kaafir on the day of his festival

My neighbour is an American Christian, and she and her family brought
me a gift when it was Christmas. I could not refuse the gift, lest she
be offended.
Can I accept this gift, as the Messenger (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) accepted gifts from kaafirs?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The basic principle is that it is permissible to accept gifts from
kaafirs,so as to soften their hearts and make Islam attractive to
them, as theProphet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
accepted giftsfrom some of the kaafirs,such as the gift of al-Muqawqis
etc.
Al-Bukhaari gave a chapter in his Saheeh the title of: Accepting gifts
from the mushrikeen. He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Abu
Hurayrah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, narrating from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): "Ibraaheem (peace
be upon him) migrated with Saarah and entereda city in which there
wasa king or a tyrant, and he said: 'Give her Haajar (as a gift).'"
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was given
as a gift a (roast) sheep in which there was poison. Abu Humayd said:
The king of Aylah gave the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) a white mule and a cloak, and wrote to him. And he mentioned
the story of the Jewish woman and her gift of a poisoned sheep to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Secondly:
It is permissible for a Muslim to give gifts to kaafirs and mushriks,
with the aim of softening their hearts towards Islam, especiallyif
they are relatives or neighbours.
'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) gave a hullah (suit) to his
mushrik brother in Makkah, as was narratedby al-Bukhaari (2619).
But it is not permissible to give a kaafir a gift on the day of one of
his festivals, because that is regarded as approving of or
participating in celebration of the false festival.
If the gift is something that will help in celebrating the festival,
such as food, candles and the like, then it is even more haraam, and
some of the scholars are of the view that this is kufr.
Al-Zayla'i said in Tabyeenal-Haqaa'iq (6/228): Giving gifts on the
occasion of Nayrooz and Mahrjaan [two non-Islamic Persian festivals]
is not permissible, i.e., giving gifts on these two days is haraam,
and is in fact kufr. Abu Hafs and Kabeer (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said: If a man were to worship Allaah for fifty years, then on
the day of Nayrooz he were to give an egg as a gift to one ofthe
mushrikeen, intending thereby to venerate that day, he would have
committed kufr and his good deeds would be cancelled out. The author
of al-Jaami' al-Asghar said: If he gives a gift to another Muslim on
the day of Nayrooz, not intending thereby to venerate that day, but it
is the habit of some people to give gifts on that day, then this is
not regarded as kufr. But he should not do it on that particular day;
he should do it before or after, so that he will not be imitating
those people. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them."It says
in al-Jaami' al-Asghar: A man bought something on the day of Nayrooz
which he did not buy before that. If he intended thereby to venerate
that day as the mushrikoon venerate it, then he has committed kufr,
but if he wanted toeat or drink or enjoy himself, then he has not
committed kufr. End quote.
It says in al-Taaj wa'l-Ikleel (a Maaliki book – 4/319): Ibn al-Qaasim
regarded it as makrooh to give a gift toa Christian on the occasion of
his festival, or to give palm leaves to a Jew on his festivals. End
quote.
It says in al-Iqnaa', which is a Hanbali book: It is haraam to attend
the festivals of the Jews and Christians and to sellthem things or
give them gifts on the occasion of their festivals.
Moreover it is not permissible for a Muslim to give a gift to another
Muslim because of this festival, as stated above when quoting the
Hanafi view. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said: Whoever gives a gift to the Muslims during these festivals
unlike what he usually usually at other times, his gift should notbe
accepted, especially ifthe gift is something that helps in imitating
them, such as giving candles etc at Christmas, or giving eggs, milk
and lambs on Maundy Thursday which comes at the end of their fast
(i.e., the end of Lent). Similarly, no gift should be given to a
Muslim at the time of these festivals because of the festival,
especially if it is something that helps in imitating them, as we have
mentioned. End quote from Iqtida' al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem (1/227).
Thirdly:
With regard to acceptinga gift from a kaafir on the day of his
festival, there is nothing wrong with that, and that is notregarded as
participating in it or approving of it, rather it should be accepted
as anact of kindness, with the aim of softening his heart and calling
him to Islam. Allaah has permitted kindness and fair treatment towards
the kaafir who is not fighting the Muslims, as He says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"Allaah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who
fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of
your homes. Verily, Allaah loves those who deal with equity"
[al-Mumtahanah 60:8]
But kindness and fair treatment does not mean friendship and love,
because it is not permitted to take a kaafir as a friend or love him.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"You (O Muhammad) willnot find any people whobelieve in Allaah and
theLast Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allaah and His
Messenger (Muhammad), even though they were their fathers or their
sons or their brothers or their kindred (people). For such He has
written Faithin their hearts, and strengthened them with Rooh (proofs,
light and true guidance) from Himself. And He will admit them to
Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to dwell therein
(forever). Allaah is pleased with them, and they with Him. They are
the party of Allaah. Verily, it is the party of Allaah that will be
the successful"
[al-Mujaadilah 58:22]
"O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e.
disbelievers and polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards
them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you ofthe truth"
[al-Mumtahanah 60:1]
"O you who believe! Take not as (your) Bitaanah (advisors,
consultants, protectors, helpers, friends) those outside your religion
(pagans, Jews, Christians,and hypocrites) since they will not fail to
do their best to corrupt you.They desire to harm you severely. Hatred
has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal
is far worse. Indeed We have made plain to you the Ayaat (proofs,
evidences, verses) if you understand"
[Aal 'Imraan 3:118]
"And incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should
touchyou, and you have no protectors other than Allaah, nor you would
then be helped"
[Hood 12:113]
"O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as
Awliyaa'(friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Awliyaa' of each
other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Awliyaa'),then surely, he
is one of them. Verily, Allaah guides not those people who are the
Zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers and unjust)"
[al-Maa'idah 5:51]
and there is other evidence which indicates that it is haraam to take
a kaafir as a friend or love him.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:As
for accepting a gift from them on the day of their festival, we have
quoted above that 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib was brought a gift on the
occasion of Nayrooz and he accepted it.
Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated that a woman asked 'Aa'ishah: We havesome wet
nurses from among the Magians, andthey have a festival on which they
bring us gifts. She said: As for what is slaughtered for that day, do
not eat it, but eat from their vegetables.
It was narrated from AbuBarzah that he had someMagian neighbours who
used to bring him gifts on the occasion of Nayrooz and Mahrjaan, and
he used to say to hisfamily: Whatever is of fruits, eat it, and
whatever is otherwise, reject it.
All of this indicates that the festival does not make it forbidden to
accept their gifts, rather the ruling is the same whether it is their
festival or not, because that does not involve helping them with the
symbols of their kufr.
Then he pointed out thatmeat slaughtered by a kitaabi (Jew or
Christian)is halaal except that which is slaughtered for their
festivals, which it isnot permissible to eat. He said (may Allaah
havemercy on him): It is only permissible to eat of the food of the
people of the Book, during their festivals that which has not been
slaughtered forthe festival, whether it isbought or received as a
gift. As for meat slaughtered by the Magians, the ruling on that is
well known, and it is haraam according toall. As for that which is
slaughtered by the people of the Book for their festivals and that
which they slaughter as an act of worship to draw close to anything
other than Allaah, as the Muslims offer sacrifices as an act of
worship to draw closer to Allaah, namely as that which they sacrifice
to the Messiah, two views have been narrated from Ahmad concerning
that, the most well known of which in his texts is that it is not
permissible to eat it even if the name of something other than Allaah
has not been mentioned over it. The prohibition on that was narrated
from 'Aa'ishah and 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Umar … End quote from Iqtida'
al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem (1/251).
Conclusion: It is permissible for you to accept the gift from
yourChristian neighbour on the day of their festival, subject to the
following conditions:
1 – This gift should not be meat that has been slaughtered for the festival.
2 – It should not be something that may be used to help in
imitatingthem on the day of their festival, such as candles, eggs,
palm leaves etc.
3 – You should explain toyour children the belief in al-wala'
wa'l-bara' (loyalty and friendship vs. disavowal and enmity), lest a
love of this festival or a fondness for the giver be instilled in
their hearts.
4 – The gift should be accepted with the aim ofsoftening her heart and
calling her to Islam, not with friendship and love.
If the gift is something that it is not permissible to accept, then
the refusal to accept it should be accompanied by an explanation of
why it is being refused, such as saying, "We only refused your gift
because it is meat that was slaughtered for the festival, and it is
not permissible for us to eat it, or these things are only accepted by
those who are taking part in the celebrations, and wedo not celebrate
this festival, because it is not part of our religion, and it involves
beliefs that we do not believe in" and so on, which is a starting
point for calling them to Islam and explaining the danger ofthe kufr
that they follow.
The Muslim should be proud of his religion andapply its rulings, and
he should not give them up out of shyness or to impress anyone, for
Allaah is more deserving of us feeling shy before Him.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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