Treating with sweets in order to learn a trade and at the insistence of friends

Question

Question: Zayd wants to learn the tailoring trade; the master says: “Treat us to sweets.” Is it permissible according to the Shari‘a to treat someone to some sweets or food and drink in order to learn a trade, or not? Or, friends and acquaintances sometimes say: “Treat us to sweets,” and so the poor fellow borrows money and treats them. Is this permissible or not?

Answer

To treat to sweets, or to give some other gift to, the master who is taken as a teacher to teach a trade, in order to please him, is correct according to the Shari‘a; there is no harm in it. And if friends with whom one is on informal terms insist, one should not feel aggrieved; rather, one should treat them gladly.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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