1. I go to restaurants sometimes and they use the same dishes and spoons to touch the Halal and Haram foods. Is it all right to eat food which has been cooked or served with utensils or on crockery in which Haram food has been placed?
This question comes under the heading of using utensils of the People of the Book. There is a Qur'anic verse which allows us to eat the food of' the People of the Book in Chapter 5 verse 5: "Today wholesome things are lawful for you, and so is the food of those who were given the book lawful for you, while your food is lawful for them…."
There is an incident in one of the battles in which the Muslims entered the dwellings of the unbelievers and there was a sheep skin full of fat. One of the Companions got hold of it and said, "I am not going to give any part of this to anyone." He was allowed to eat that food without enquiring whether the utensils were good or bad.
There is a specific Hadith in which a man said to the Prophet that the Companion Abu Tha'labah al Khushani asked, "O' Prophet, we live in the land of the People of the Book. Are we allowed to eat with their utensils?" The Prophet replied that it would be better if he could find other utensils, but that if that wasn't possible he could wash the utensils and use them.
In most restaurants in this country the utensils are washed thoroughly. If they are not using the same utensils for Halal and Haram foods we can eat food touched by them.
However, the basic attitude is that unless we are absolutely sure we consider that these are pure and clean and we are allowed to eat in them. And that is why we say if you doubt whether utensils are used in Haram you consider them to be clean because this is the basic law.
(16 - Foods 3)
