In the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Do not keep company with anyone but a believer, and let no one eat your food but one who is pious)

The questioner : The questioner:The questioner : In the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , he says: What are the limits beyond which I do not allow my Muslim brother into my home or feed him my food?

The Shaykh : What we understand from this hadith—and Allah knows best—is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) sets a methodology for the Muslim to follow in his life, so that he does not keep company with anyone but a believer, and no one eats his food but one who is pious. The hadith does not mean that it is not permissible for a Muslim to feed a non-believer who is not righteous; rather, the hadith intends that he should not mix with anyone but a believer, and no one should eat his food but one who is pious. Mixing, keeping company, and friendship are one thing, and feeding a disbeliever or an open sinner on some occasion is another. This is permissible, but it should not be the methodology of his life. This is because the companion of the righteous and the truthful is influenced by their company for good, and the opposite is the opposite. —that is, he gives it to you for free—, , and the meaning of the hadith is that the companion of the righteous must come out of it with a gain, and the opposite is the opposite: the companion of the wicked must be harmed by it. As the Messenger (peace be upon him) illustrated, the good companion is like a seller of musk: either he gives you some of the musk for free, which is an obvious benefit; or you buy from him, which is a benefit less than that; or you smell a pleasant scent from him, which is also a benefit, though less than the previous two. Similarly, he illustrated the bad companion as like a blacksmith: either he burns your clothes with the fire he lights, or you smell a foul odor because of it. So, as they say, a companion is a dragger: a companion is a dragger. If he is righteous, he drags you to his righteousness; and if he is wicked, he drags you to wickedness. Therefore, it was said:
"Do not ask about a man, but ask about his companion *** For every associate follows the example of his associate"
From this comes a very important command from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he forbade, in more than one authentic hadith, the Muslim from mixing with the polytheist. He said (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him): , and he said (peace be upon him): , and he also said: , meaning: the Muslim lives far away from the polytheist and does not mix with him, such that if one of them lights his fire, according to the custom of the Arabs in their tents in the past—and also in the present—in some of the companions, their fires are visible to each other. The Messenger says: "Be far in your dwelling from the dwelling of the polytheist, lest you be influenced by some of his traditions, customs, morals, and dispositions." Therefore, it is not permissible for the Muslim to mix with anyone but the righteous. This is the intended meaning of his (peace be upon him) statement in the aforementioned hadith that was asked about: . Yes.