A folded betel leaf given as prasad

Question

Question: In factories they bring a folded betel leaf with filling and the like and hand it out, after placing it before a photograph or just like that, in the manner of prasad (food consecrated before a Hindu deity). Is it permissible to eat it or not?

Answer

If the intention behind it is neither to seek nearness to other than Allah nor to venerate something contrary to the Shari‘a — as happens at the special festivals of another religion and the like — but they simply treat one another out of friendly good cheer, then it is permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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