Resources > Engaging Muslims > Engaging as individuals > Does the Bible say whether Christians can accept an invitation to eat Iftar in a mosque?

Can Christians eat Iftar in a mosque?

Iftar is the name given to the meal eaten at the end of a day of Muslim fasting. Often mosques will organise community Iftars and invite civic and faith leaders along with the general public.

Islam came along after Christianity, so the Bible does not address it specifically but it does contain relevant teaching. What Christians could eat and where they could eat it was a live issue in the first century.

The issue at that time concerned meat offered to idols. Sacrifices were being offered in pagan temples all the time. People could eat in such temples and a great deal of the meat sold on the market had been slaughtered in a temple. Some Christians had scruples about eating it.

Paul addressed the question in some detail in 1 Corinthians chapters 8: 1-15 and 10: 18-33.

Q1. Was the meat itself a problem?

Paul’s answer was no, because “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (10:26) This agrees with what he said 1 Timothy 4:4-5 about no food being unclean for believers if they receive it appropriately.

Q2. Are there any limits on the believers freedom?

Yes. Paul instructs the believers in Corinth that although there is no harm in the meat, if a fellow believer has a delicate conscience, then out of concern for that believer, a Christian should not eat. (8:9-13; 10:28-29). He makes a similar point in Romans 14. In each case, the one who has issues of conscience is described as the ‘weaker believer’.

Q3. Is it OK to accept invitations to eat with unbelievers?

Paul is very clear on this. Yes, eat with unbelievers (10:27). He concludes the subject with an exhortation (10:31-33) to be ready to do anything to reach others with the gospel so long as it does not cause offence.

Q4. How applicable is this to being invited into a mosque to eat?

A mosque is not a temple. No animal sacrifices take place there. In most cases, the food served at an iftar has come from the same supermarkets and takeaways that everyone uses.

Iftar meals are not necessarily full of meat but the meat Muslims eat has to be ‘halal.’ That means that certain customs have to be observed and some words pronounced, but these days such things happen in factory-like conditions. Meat is not offered to any deity, rather recognition is made that life belongs to the Creator. Muslims seek to worship the God of Abraham but they do not know him as we do (see the words of Jesus in John 4:22). There is only one God and he is God of Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 3:29).

Our most important example in this respect is Jesus himself. He did not hesitate to eat in the homes of people whose food was bought with money acquired through sinful activities. He did so that they might be saved.