What to bring to a muslim dinner?

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Hi all,

My husband and I were invited by his muslim co-worker (and somewhat recently friend) and his wife for dinner at their home this weekend. I believe it is more like a farewell dinner since we are going back to the US. It is also the first time we are visiting them.

Out of courtesy and as thanks, we want to bring something and not just appear there empty handed. Muslim do not consume alcohol, so we can’t bring wine. And, on the other hand, they only eat halal food. Usually, one brings dessert, wine, or something to consume during dinner. But, since they are muslims, we have no idea what to bring.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

P.S. Is there any etiquette on visiting a muslim? (Like how we must take our shoes off when entering a house of a Singaporean family).
 
You can ask when you enter the house if you ought to remove your shoes or if there are any other house customs you ought to know about. This invites your hosts to give you guidance, whereas they might otherwise think it rude to correct you. You can do this at anyone’s home. Unless you know your friends keep the rules of halal, after all, you don’t want to assume that they do. Some Muslims don’t (just as some Catholics don’t go to Mass every Sunday and some Jews eat bacon), and yet pointing this out as something surprising might be a bit of an embarrassment.

As for food, you are safest if you steer clear of anything having to do with either alcohol or meats and meat products–anything that might have meat in it. It will surprise some to learn this includes cheese, gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen that are not taken from halal animals. Certain additives are suspect. Muslims also may not eat anything prepared using the same utensils as a forbidden food.

For that reason, I’d stick to items I could buy either in a halal grocery, in a strict vegan establishment, or else things that a vegan would purchase. In a normal grocery, for instance, I’d probably choose fancy olives, fancy olive oils, or nuts, since these can be purchased without any additives, are not prepared in the same plants as meat products, and don’t use alcohol in their production. Dried fruits with a very simple ingredient list would probably also make the grade, as would fresh produce.

Many Muslims observe the rule, “when in doubt, don’t.” For that reason, strict vegan items or those with the kosher “Pareve” or “Parve” on them (not only containing no meat or dairy, but having had no contact with gear used to prepare meat or dairy products), and an ingredient list that indicates no alcohol has been used to prepare the item are probably safest bets, if you can’t find a halal grocery.

If this is giving you a headache, bring flowers. Make sure they are in a vase already, so your hosts do not have to take time to attend to them when they might have had other things on their hosting “to-do” list. This is something you can do for anyone who doesn’t have allergies.
 
Great response above. I worked with many Muslim ladies when I was a midwife, and I always noted that they had a great deal of fresh fruit in their homes. A nice fruit platter would perhaps be a good idea, or for easiness, some uncut ‘exotic’ fruits in a basket.
 
Isca said:
Great response above. I worked with many Muslim ladies when I was a midwife, and I always noted that they had a great deal of fresh fruit in their homes. A nice fruit platter would perhaps be a good idea, or for easiness, some uncut ‘exotic’ fruits in a basket.
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Yes. Any consumable gift not specifically requested ought to be of a nature that gives the hosts a choice about whether or not to serve it immediately. It is especially important to avoid a gift that requires immediate work for the hosts, that requires their supervision to prepare, or that requires commandeering some of their work space (or refrigerated storage space, if you don’t know for a fact that they have more than they can possibly use).

They have presumably planned all the work for themselves and their appliances that they want, and don’t need more!
 
Islam is a region that covers cultures from around the world, much like Catholicism.

If we were to go to a dinner with friends from Italy who were Catholic, we wouldn’t ask “What to bring a Catholic for dinner?”, perhaps, instead we would be looking for suggestions for Italian food?

So, are they Islamists from India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Algeria, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia? My point is, they all may be Islamic, but their culture (which include foods) may be very much different.

We’re kinda like that as Americans. Notice how we quickly pigeon hole a vast segment of the population into a category such as “Asian”? There is a big difference between Japanese cuisine and Chinese (many regional culinary differences), Korean, Vietnamese…just to name a few…so, we really are being a little lazy or thoughtless (notice I did NOT say uncharitable) by simply referring to any person or people as “Asians”.
 
E_7 said:
Hi all,

My husband and I were invited by his muslim co-worker (and somewhat recently friend) and his wife for dinner at their home this weekend. I believe it is more like a farewell dinner since we are going back to the US. It is also the first time we are visiting them.

Out of courtesy and as thanks, we want to bring something and not just appear there empty handed. Muslim do not consume alcohol, so we can’t bring wine. And, on the other hand, they only eat halal food. Usually, one brings dessert, wine, or something to consume during dinner. But, since they are muslims, we have no idea what to bring.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

P.S. Is there any etiquette on visiting a muslim? (Like how we must take our shoes off when entering a house of a Singaporean family).
Click to expand...
Bring flowers.
 
I would probably just call and ask, “Can I bring anything?” Also, a floral arrangement is a good idea.
 
Hi all,

Thank you very much for all the good suggestions. We are planning on getting a halal certified cake, but first I gotta look on where to buy it. I can’t wait to be there, it is our first visit to a married couple since we got married.
 
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