They drink at my house!

[Dr. Shabbir]

Email from Mariam Qureshi

To: drshabbir@bellsouth.net
Subject: Question from Muslim student

Dear Dr. Shabbir,

Asalaamolaikum. My mom gave me your email address, and I had a couple of questions about Islam for you. I was wondering if it is haram to have other people drinking alcohol in your home. This alcohol is not something that I bought or was serving, but alcohol that these non-Muslims brought with them.

Is that permissible in Islam?

Finally, I was wondering about what type of male/female interaction is
allowed within a more liberal, modern context of Islam. I obviously know
that there are hadiths that state that you cannot even gaze at a member of the opposite sex unless it is for the purposes of marriage, but that seems fairly difficult in the extremely integrated American society (especially in closed academic quarters like medical school). I was wondering if you had any information on these two questions.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing your response,
inshaAllah,

Mariam Qureshi
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Dear beti, Wa alaikum Assalam!

Any person who brings alcohol to drink in a Muslim's home is too forward and insensitive. Such a person does not deserve to belong to your company (circle of friends) unless he or she honors your request to abstain from doing so.

Being careless of such infringements leads to further transgressions. Alcohol by itself hurts good moral behaviour.

Allah does not forbid believers to meet with other men and women in a gathering or party. Please note the difference between gazing and lowering the gaze.

QXPiii

24:30 Tell the believing men to lower their gaze, and guard their modesty. This helps them grow in character. Surely, God is Aware of what they do.

24:31 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, and guard their
modesty. That they should not display their beauty and ornament beyond what is decently and spontaneously apparent in daily lives. Hence, let them cover their bosoms with their sash (Dupatta, a light covering, scarf). And let them not display their beauty in the presence of anyone other than their husbands or fathers or husbands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, or their womenfolk, or their close dependents and attendants free of sexual desires. Or children who know nothing of women’s privacy; and they should not strike their feet so as to reveal what they conceal of their natural beauty and attraction. So, turn to God O Believers! - All together, in repentance that you may be successful (in establishing a benevolent society 33:59).

9:71 And the believers, both men and women, are colleagues one of another. They encourage the doing of Right and discourage the doing of Wrong (by personal example, the Qur’an being the eternal Criterion of Right and Wrong. 2:185). Together, they help establish the Divine System, and set up the Just Economic Order of Zakaat (9:60). This is how they obey God and His Messenger. These are the men and women on whom God will shower His Mercy. God is Mighty, Wise.

Salams to your wise mother,

Uncle Shabbir