The Ruling on Giving a Disbelieving Neighbor a Share of One's Slaughtered Animal

Question :

Is it permissible for a Muslim to give a portion of his slaughtered animal to his disbelieving neighbor or not?

Answer:

It is permissible for a Muslim to give a share of the meat of his slaughtered animal to a disbelieving neighbor in order to soften his heart, to fulfill his obligations to his neighbor, because of the absence of any evidence to indicate that it is forbidden, and based upon the generality of Allah's Words:
Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity.

A ruling has already been issued on this matter by the Permanent Committee, the text of which is:

"Yes, it is permissible for us to feed the disbeliever - both the one who is under treaty with us and the prisoner of war - from the meat of the sacrifice; and it is permissible to give it to him due to his poverty, or because of family ties, or in order to soften his heart, because the sacrifice is only the slaughter, which is to bring us closer to Allah and act of worship for Him. As for the meat, it is preferable for him (the one who slaughtered it) to eat a third of it, to give a third to his family, neighbors and friends, and to give a third in charity to the poor. If he should increase or decrease any of these portions, or suffice himself with one or two of them, there is no objection to that, as the order on this is liberal.

But he should not give any meat from the slaughter to one who is at war with us, since it is an obligation to suppress him and weaken him, not to support him or strengthen him with charity. The ruling is the same for voluntary charity, based on the generality of Allah's Words:

Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity. It is only as regards those who fought against you on account of religion and have driven you out of your homes and helped to drive you out, that Allah forbids you to befriend them, then such are the Zalimun (wrongdoers - those who disobey Allah).

And because the Prophet ordered Asma' bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, to give her mother some money while she was a disbeliever.

May peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and Companions.