The Albaani Site

Questioner: I have a brother who doesn’t pray, is it allowed for me to eat and drink with him?

Al-Albaani: Is he older than you or younger?

Questioner: Older.

Al-Albaani: Has he reached the age where he is held responsible for his actions?

Questioner: Yes.

Al-Albaani: If you don’t eat and drink with him, where will you eat and drink from?

Questioner: From the food which he eats from …

Al-Albaani: If I were to say to you, ‘Don’t eat or drink with him,’ where will you then eat and drink from since he is older than you?

Questioner: I will eat, ya’ni, alone.

Al-Albaani: Alone, outside or inside the house?

Questioner: Inside.

Al-Albaani: Is your father alive? [Lit: do you have a father?]

Questioner: Yes.

Al-Albaani: Is your mother alive? [Lit: do you have a mother?]

Questioner: Yes.

Al-Albaani: They pray, inshaa Allaah?

Questioner: Yes.

Al-Albaani: Do you eat with them?

Questioner: Yes.

Al-Albaani: And your brother who doesn’t pray, doesn’t he eat with them [too]?

Questioner: He eats with us.

Al-Albaani: If you leave your brother that means that you will leave your father and mother, thus in this situation it is not allowed for you to say that you will leave your brother, because if you do you will leave your father and mother.

If you have some knowledge and can give some advice and direct your brother in a good way, especially since he is older than you, then do that in a manner that is best—not with harshness or coarseness.

Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 93.