What is the ruling on what is called the open buffet, where you pay one hundred riyals and eat as much as you want?
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Question:
In some restaurants, there is what is called the open buffet, where you pay one hundred riyals and eat as much as you want. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
I hold that this is not permissible because it is unknown; one does not know what one is eating. Perhaps one eats a lot, or eats something expensive, or eats something cheap. It is unknown what one is eating. However, if it is stated that everything is at its price, such that if one eats from this item it is at such a price, and if one eats from that item it is at such a price, then it is known, and there is no harm. Yes.
In some restaurants, there is what is called the open buffet, where you pay one hundred riyals and eat as much as you want. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
I hold that this is not permissible because it is unknown; one does not know what one is eating. Perhaps one eats a lot, or eats something expensive, or eats something cheap. It is unknown what one is eating. However, if it is stated that everything is at its price, such that if one eats from this item it is at such a price, and if one eats from that item it is at such a price, then it is known, and there is no harm. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1626 -3022] ما حكم ما يسمى بالبوفيه المفتوح، تدفع مئة ريال وتأكل ما شئت؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.