Question: 

Please advise me how to deal with the current situation I am facing. (Not sure if I am just making things unnecessarily more difficult for myself as I don’t know the rules applicable to such situations).

Basically the others in the house tend not to be very “particular” about where they buy food from. This as they buy food from restaurants/food outlets where although it is claimed that they offer halaal food (ie their meat is from halaal butchers), these restaurants/food outlets don’t necessarily store/prepare this food separately to their non-halaal products. If I complain then parents and others think I’m being fussy for not eating the food. I have personally however seen at least twice where the halaal food was prepared using the same “facilities” as the non-halaal food (at the one restaurant I saw them take the “halaal” pizza out of an oven in which they were also putting in pizza with pork/bacon toppings, and on the other occasion I saw at another restaurant how they fried the egg on a “grill” without wiping the grill down despite having immediately before that fried bacon on the same grill). According to my understanding, in such situations the halaal food becomes un-halaal through cross contamination. (Am I correct?)?

So the problem is that sometimes, not very often, the others in the house bring food home from these places, and they keep it in the fridge (and then warm it up later in the microwave and in the past have put some in the freezer). The food is kept either in the containers from the food outlets or other forms of containment (which are usually not “airtight sealed” but mostly are “covered” somehow like with a piece of foil/plastic or a lid etc). So I think it is unlikely that there is actual mixing of the food. So does putting this “contaminated” food in the fridge/microwave/freezer render the other food at home which are put into these devices also contaminated and therefore unhalaal? I thought that it becomes unhalaal because I heard that halaal food becomes contaminated if stored with unhalaal food, and therefore has to be kept separate.

So does the other halaal food at home become contaminated through being kept in the same fridge, or being put into the microwave/freezer. And if so, if I touch this "contaminated food", or their containers, or the inside of the fridge with wet/dry hands- must I wash my hands or would I still be pure enough to make Salaah without washing hands?

Please advise how to go about dealing with the situation (as it is not practical to keep washing my hands after coming into contact with these items, the fridge or kitchen table, nor to wipe/wash down all the items in the fridge/freezer/oven/microwave constantly). Also when they’re “dealing” with this food (ie putting it on plates, warming it up, consuming etc) then they scratch in the draw for cutlery and they’re obviously touching the chairs and table (without having washed their hands despite “dealing” with this food). As a result I even feel uncomfortable to eat using the same table at which this food was eaten. Also the others in the house won’t listen to me regarding not eating food from these places (so that isn’t really an option), however this has been going on for a long time (well over a year), and I am struggling to cope. Please give me an easy & practical solution/approach to this situation?

Can I just assume that all the other food at home (ie food/ingredients in the fridge/freezer etc which are halaal and not from these “questionable” food outlets) is halaal and therefore I don’t have to keep washing every time I come into contact with stuff in the kitchen? (I would prefer this in the circumstances).

Answer: 

Yes, if pork or bacon (which is Najis and Haraam) was cooked in the same oven or on the same grill where your family’s order was cooked then there is a very strong possibility that the impurity from the oven and grill may have contaminated the food cooked (on the same apparatus) for your family. In this case, it is obviously impermissible to consume such food.

If Najis/Haraam food (due to contamination) is kept in closed containers and it has not leaked out of the containers in the fridge or freezer, nor has food particles splashed when being heated in the microwave, then there is no need to wash any of these appliances. Also, the food in the sealed or closed containers does not cause the other food in the same fridge/appliance to become Haraam (just by being kept in the fridge or freezer) unless there has been some sort of contamination. Yes, if the food leaked out in the fridge or splashed in the microwave when being heated due to the heating bowl not being covered with a lid, then it will be necessary to wash the microwave.

If you touch Najis/Haraam food directly with your bare hands or you touch any of the appliances that has traces of such food remaining on them due to leakage then it will be necessary for you to wash your hands (prior to Salaah) due to the impurity coming onto your hand as well. If you have not come into contact with the food or food particles then there is no need to wash your hands merely due to touching the appliance wherein it was stored or heated. Similarly, if members of the family remove utensils from a drawer or cupboard and no impurity transfer onto the remaining utensils or the cupboard or the table and chairs then there is no need to have them washed. If the impurity transfers onto any of them then having them washed will be considered as necessary.

There is no need for you to entertain doubts unnecessarily, but if the family is buying food from non-Muslim outlets where contamination with Haraam food such as pork and bacon (as stated in your query) is unavoidable then you should be wary and conscious of it taking all necessary precautions. We cannot be lax and consider everything as above board and in order, nor should we go to the other extreme and entertain doubts unnecessarily.

اگر اس ظن غالب ہو کہغیر مسلم طلبہ ان برتنوں میں کوئی نجس چیز مثلا خمر و خنزیر بھی دالتے رہتے ہیں تو بوقت ضرورت دھو کر استعمال کرنے کی اجازت ہے ۔۔۔۔۔احسن الفتاوی ص ۱۱۴ ج ۸

غیر مسلمانوں - - - -اگر ان کے ہاتھ نجس نہ ہو تو ان کے ساتھ کھالینا بھی جائز ہے - -آپ کے مسائل اور ان کا حل ص -- ---- ۳۹۶ ج ۸

AND ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST

ANSWERED BY: Mufti Mohammed Desai 

CHECKED AND APPROVED BY: Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B

Date: 24 Shawwal 1441 

English Date: 17 June 2020