Gifted Liquor and Pork: What to Do?

24 September, 2018

Q My company gave me some gifts. I found out that part of the gift contains liquor and pork. I don't know what I should do with them. Should I gift them to a non-Muslim friend, return them or get rid of them?

Answer

Jamal Badawi

24 September, 2018

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

Liquor should not be gifted or sold, but pork may be gifted to a non-Muslim neighbor or friend.

Responding to your question, Dr. Jamal Badawi, Professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and a cross-appointed faculty member in the Departments of Religious Studies and Management, states:

If a Muslim is aware of the content of such a gift, then he or she should politely decline to accept it and explain the reasons for that. If you meant by “found out” that you found it after you opened it, then I suggest the following:

1- Liquor should not be sold or gifted as there is a specific Hadith on that.

2- You may gift the pork to your neighbor since I know of no Hadith on that, even though I personally do not favor it as it may be seen as compromising one’s identity.

Almighty Allah knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.