QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Is it allowed for Muslims to go to the pub if they do not drink alcohol. If it is not allowed, then why not? Then going to the supermarket will also be impermissible because alcohol is also sold there, wouldn’t it??
Questioner: Brother from UK
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
It is allowed to go to the supermarket to buy and sell halal things, because other than alcohol, there are various halal things available there, and Muslims go there to buy and sell these things. However, going to the pub is not allowed, because there is dancing, music, frivolous and indecent acts occurring there. Thus, going to these is associating oneself to a place of blame and bad atmosphere, which incline one towards sin and sin is brought about from it, and every act which sin is brought about from, is also a sin and impermissible.
In reply to the question about going to the festivals of non-Muslims for the purpose of only trade, my master Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan states, ‘If the gathering isn’t religious, rather it is only a place of entertainment and amusement, then merely going to trade in itself is not impermissible or prohibited, with the condition that there is nothing that inclines one towards any sin. This permissibility is only in that scenario whereby going to the place does not involve any sin. For example, going to a dance place where there is no area separate and away from it, then this necessitates the bringing about of sin from this, and that which sin is brought about from is a sin itself. Furthermore, the permissibility of going is only with the intention for trade, not with the intention of observing the entertainment. Thus, going with this intention is completely prohibited, even if the entertainment is not religious. This is because their celebrations and gatherings include severely disliked & legally forbidden acts and traditions, as well as the fact that being pleased with haram is also haram, as is detailed in Durr Mukhtar etc.
[Fatāwā Ridawiyyah, vol 23, pg 523-526]
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Hamza Hussain
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0617] Can Muslims go to the Pub if they don’t drink any Alcohol?