Buying from a Shop That Also Sells Alcohol
Question:
Salam,
I have heard to drink, to sell or even help those who sell Alcohol is a sin. Now we all know that Murree bereau sells Alcohol and normal drinks. Is buying normal drinks from it also a sin since it is helping them.
Answer:
Salam,
My dear brother, I don’t know what Muree Bereau is, however the information you gave seems to be clear. Allow me to explain my understanding on this subject in a general context and leave it to you to decide what applies to this particular case:
To drink alcohol obviously is sin.
To sell alcohol that is consumed for drinking in principle is impermissible. The only exception is when the person has no other source of income and has to work in this business temporary before finding a religiously legitimate work.
As for buying non-alcoholic drinks from a shop that is selling alcohol, this depends on where we draw the line between ‘helping a sinful act’ and ‘an innocent purchase’. This (where to draw the line) is a feqhi issue and it depends on opinions based on personal understandings. According to my understanding it depends on the following situations:
a. If we live in a Muslim country where selling alcohol for consumption is forbidden for Muslims, and there is a Muslim shop that illegally sells alcohol, then a Muslim should refrain from buying from that shop.
b. If we live in a Muslim country where selling alcohol for consumption is NOT forbidden for Muslims (or if we live in a non-Muslim country) then I don’t consider buying from the ordinary shops - which also sell alcohol - forbidden. Nevertheless, if there is an easy access to a reasonable shop that does not sell alcohol then in my view it is preferable to buy from that shop.
c. If the case under question is known as an alcohol shop then in my view we should in principle avoid buying from it.
Please note that in the issues related to ‘Don’ts’ where the Shari’ah has not given an explicit directive and there is no legislation by the state, it is really up to the individuals to decide, with all honesty, what things they should avoid. Every individual has to come in terms with his God about what things (other than those that are clearly made Haram by the Shari’ah) he has made forbidden to himself and then he needs to remain loyal to this personal contract with God. In a non-Muslim country, when I go to a supermarket that also sells alcohol, I do not pass the aisles where alcohol shelves are. This is a principle that I have promised myself to follow based on my understanding of the general spirit of Islam. What I wrote above is also based on the principles that I try to follow. Another Muslim may have a different principle.
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August 2013
Salam,
I have heard to drink, to sell or even help those who sell Alcohol is a sin. Now we all know that Murree bereau sells Alcohol and normal drinks. Is buying normal drinks from it also a sin since it is helping them.
Answer:
Salam,
My dear brother, I don’t know what Muree Bereau is, however the information you gave seems to be clear. Allow me to explain my understanding on this subject in a general context and leave it to you to decide what applies to this particular case:
To drink alcohol obviously is sin.
To sell alcohol that is consumed for drinking in principle is impermissible. The only exception is when the person has no other source of income and has to work in this business temporary before finding a religiously legitimate work.
As for buying non-alcoholic drinks from a shop that is selling alcohol, this depends on where we draw the line between ‘helping a sinful act’ and ‘an innocent purchase’. This (where to draw the line) is a feqhi issue and it depends on opinions based on personal understandings. According to my understanding it depends on the following situations:
a. If we live in a Muslim country where selling alcohol for consumption is forbidden for Muslims, and there is a Muslim shop that illegally sells alcohol, then a Muslim should refrain from buying from that shop.
b. If we live in a Muslim country where selling alcohol for consumption is NOT forbidden for Muslims (or if we live in a non-Muslim country) then I don’t consider buying from the ordinary shops - which also sell alcohol - forbidden. Nevertheless, if there is an easy access to a reasonable shop that does not sell alcohol then in my view it is preferable to buy from that shop.
c. If the case under question is known as an alcohol shop then in my view we should in principle avoid buying from it.
Please note that in the issues related to ‘Don’ts’ where the Shari’ah has not given an explicit directive and there is no legislation by the state, it is really up to the individuals to decide, with all honesty, what things they should avoid. Every individual has to come in terms with his God about what things (other than those that are clearly made Haram by the Shari’ah) he has made forbidden to himself and then he needs to remain loyal to this personal contract with God. In a non-Muslim country, when I go to a supermarket that also sells alcohol, I do not pass the aisles where alcohol shelves are. This is a principle that I have promised myself to follow based on my understanding of the general spirit of Islam. What I wrote above is also based on the principles that I try to follow. Another Muslim may have a different principle.
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August 2013
