If we are in the lands of the disbelievers, such as the Hindus and the Majus, may we eat their food, or how should we conduct ourselves? Please inform us of this, and may Allah reward you.

The questioner : What should we do if we stay in the lands of the disbelievers, the Hindus, and the Majus? May we eat from their restaurants? Or how should we conduct ourselves? Is there any sin upon us in doing so? Please inform us of this, and may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : As for food that does not require ritual slaughter, such as bread, rice, and the like, this is eaten from their food and one does not ask about it. The same applies to fish, because ritual slaughter is not a condition for it. As for what requires ritual slaughter, such as meat, if those who served us that food are from the People of the Book, namely the Jews and the Christians, then it is lawful for us to eat what they have slaughtered, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: "Their food: their slaughtered animals". And just as this is the implication of the Book of Allah, it is also what the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicates. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate from a sheep that a Jewish woman in Khaybar offered him as a gift when it was conquered. He also ate from the food of a Jew who invited him to barley bread and a thick soup. And 'Abdullah ibn Mughaffal was approved in taking locusts from the fat that was thrown when Khaybar was conquered. Thus, the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), both in terms of explicit statements and approvals, indeed the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in terms of actions and approvals, indicate the lawfulness of the slaughtered animals of the People of the Book. It is not befitting for us to ask how they slaughtered them, or whether they invoked the name of Allah over them or not. This is because the original state of an action performed by one who is qualified to perform it is that it is sound and not prohibited. And in "Sahih al-Bukhari", it is narrated from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that a group of people came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, a group of people bring us meat, and we do not know whether they invoked the name of Allah over it or not?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Invoke the name over what you eat, and do not investigate the actions of others. 'A'ishah said: "And they were recent converts from disbelief". If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) directed these people, who were recent converts from disbelief and for whom such matters were generally obscure, to not ask, then this is evidence that it is not befitting for a person to overburden himself or delve too deeply, and that what is befitting is to take matters at face value without difficulty or hardship upon oneself.
However, if those who are serving you food are not from the People of the Book, and it contains something that is not lawful except through ritual slaughter, then it is not lawful for you to eat from it. This is because the slaughtered animals of those other than the Jews and the Christians are forbidden and not lawful. This is based on His saying: The implication of this restriction, , indicates that the slaughtered animals of non-Muslims other than them are not lawful. This is a point of consensus among the scholars. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.
This is a letter we received from the Yemen Arab Republic from a questioner who used the initials Y N Y for his name. He says in his letter: