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Fatwa CenterRuling on eating Halaal food that could harm one's health
Question
Assalamuilaikum. I often eat this instant noodles called maggi but the problem is that i don't know if it's halal or haram it doesn't contain any haram food or drink but there has been cases where if people eat too much maggi, they will get some kind major kidney or liver (i don't remember which one it was) problems. And everytime i eat maggi, i will get a running nose for couple of minutes i heard somewhere that even IF its halal, it would be haram for me because it causes damage to my body. Is this true? More importantly that what if i say bismilah before eating maggi? i know its kufr to say bismilah before drinking an alchohol but is it the same for maggi? And i just wanted to know what if for example: i say ''alhamdulilah'' after drinking alchohol is it kufr? if so, is it the same for maggi? Jazakallah.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
If this food is free of prohibited ingredients, then the presumption is that it is lawful. All things are lawful in principle unless proven otherwise. Such foods may contain some preservatives or artificial colors. Some of them are extremely harmful to health and therefore are legally banned and their consumption is prohibited in Sharee'ah. It is prohibited for a Muslim to consume any food containing harmful ingredients.
However, some of these foods are not harmful unless consumed in large quantities. In case of excessive consumption, they become toxic to the human body. If that is the case, it is impermissible for the Muslim to consume such food (excessively) and incur harm on himself. It should be noted, however, that not all harm entails deeming food prohibited; rather, it is only the certain and significant harm – which causes death or sickness for instance – not mild harm. If someone is severely harmed, then the food becomes unlawful for him to eat even if this food is lawful in principle. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "There should be neither harm nor reciprocal harm." [Ahmad]
As for mild harm, like having a runny nose for a while, it does not make eating this food prohibited for you.
Please note that Kufr (disbelief) is a very serious matter and it should not be taken that lightly. It is not reasonable to compare your situation and that of a person mentioning the name of Allaah upon eating or drinking what is prohibited.
In fact, we have received similar questions from you indicating that you suffer from Waswaas (obsessive whisperings). We would like to advise you to repel such whisperings and totally disregard them so as to avoid undesirable results. We may, regretfully, disregard similar questions from you in the future so that we would not be enhancing those whisperings you are experiencing and also to devote that time to answer the large number of questions that we receive.
Allaah Knows best.
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