Assalam'alaicum wa rahmatoullahi wa barakatouh My father, who is a non-Muslim, is very generous.As he knows that my husband and I don't have a lot of money, he gives us all the meat we need. We know that we should eat only the meat which has been slaughtered by Muslims, but what can we do with all the meat my father gives us? Are we going to throw it in the garbage? One may say that we should tell him where to buy it (i.e. halal store), but when someone gives you food so generously, it would be very impolite to tell him where he should go to buy it, wouldn't it?
Praise be to Allah.wa alaikum us-salaam wa-rahmat ullaahi wa-barakaatuh
All Praise be to Allaah.
First of all, we pray that Allaah hastens
with blessing your generous and considerate father with the guidance of Islam,
for indeed He is The All-Hearer, and the One who grants the requests of His
worshippers. It is incumbent upon you to invite him to Islam and show
him and explain to him the light of truth. Your should solicit the assistance
and participation of your husband in this effort as well.
Second of all, regarding the ruling on
eating the meat found in non-Muslim countries, please refer to question
# 103.
Thirdly, a Muslim should be clever and
sagacious in choosing the appropriate words and gentle-mannered approach to
inform such a kind person of the place where one can buy "halaal"
meat. Since he is already spending money on the meat whether he buys Islamically-slaughtered
meat or otherwise, your guiding him to the appropriate place preserves the benefits
and interests from all facets, i.e.: not refusing his gift; and achieving
the permissibility of eating the meat. In fact, it would be a wise idea
even for the meat he buys for himself and his house, as it will be better and
healthier. Perhaps you could approach him with the idea as a suggestion
and not as a firm requirement, explaining to him the reasons behind it both
from the point of view of the Islamic shari'ah as well as health reasons.
Thus, it would not be something you are presenting as forcing your opinion upon
him; rather, you would express the importance of the issue for you, while at
the same time complimenting and praising him for his generosity, expressing
your embarrassment for having opened the subject. I would expect such
a generous man to accept a well-mannered approach, don't you think?