Question
I would like to know what is the ruling regarding a person that eats food that he is not given permission to? For example, during a Jalsa which had taken place over the weekend, it was made known that students are not allowed to eat in the basement where the guests are being served unless they are on khidmat, so if some student come down to eat without having done any khidmat will the food be مباح for them or حرام or مكروه?
Also what is the ruling regarding guests that come down to eat but fill their containers to take food home where as the Madrassah does not give permission for that?
Answer
If the food that was prepared for the guests is different from the food that was prepared for the students; it will not be permissible for anyone uninvited, like a student who did not get permission to partake of the food, to join in. This is even more so important if the students have been clearly given instruction. If the host (in this case the organisers), solely for convenience of management, has allocated separate areas to feed the same food to the guests and the students. And the food was prepared and made permissible for the guests as well as the students. As such, it would be permissible for any of the groups to eat in an area that was not designated for them but it is undesirable. A guest should sit where his host seats him. If the guests were not made owners of the food—which is generally the case for these kind of meals in our ‘Urf—then it would not be permissible to carry the food away without the express permission of the host.
References
إذَا كَانَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى مَائِدَةٍ فَنَاوَلَ غَيْرَهُ مِنْ طَعَامِ الْمَائِدَةِ إنْ عَلِمَ أَنَّ صَاحِبَهُ لَا يَرْضَى بِهِ لَا يَحِلُّ لَهُ ذَلِكَ، وَإِنْ عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ يَرْضَى فَلَا بَأْسَ بِهِ، وَإِنْ اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْهِ لَا يُنَاوِلُ، وَلَا يُعْطِي سَائِلًا، كَذَا فِي فَتَاوَى قَاضِي خَانْ.
(الفتاوى الهندية 5: 344)
و سُئل محمد بن مقاتل (صاحب محمد بن الحسن، توفي بعد المئتين) عن رجل دعا قوما إلى طعامه ففرقهم على خِوانه، هل لأهل خوان أن يتناولوا شيئا من خوان آخر وهو ممن ليس يجالسهم على خوانهم؟ قال: ليس له ذلك. وإذا ناوله ممن معه على خوانه فلا بأس به. قال الفقيه (أبو الليث السمرقندي): والقياس ما قاله، ولكن في الإستحسان أن كل من كان في تلك الضيافة إذا أعطاه جاز، وبه نأخذ.
(كتاب النوازل للسمرقندي ص 522 دار الكتب العلمية)
سئل ابن مقاتل عن قوم جالسين على خوان وتناولوا شيئا ممن على خوان آخر ومن هو ليس بجالس معهم يخدمهم، قال: ليس لهم ذلك، ولو ناول من معه على خوانه لا بأس، قال الفقيه هذا قياس، وفي الاستحسان أن كل من كان في تلك الضيافة إذا أعطاه جاز وبه نأخذ، كذا في الحاوي للفتاوى.
(الفتاوى الهندية ٤/٣٨٣)