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Person Makes Food With Bacon Fat, Muslim Roommate Eats It Without Knowing
A Muslim man eating food and a pot of mashed potatoes, half purple, half white, with bacon fat.

Person Makes Food With Bacon Fat, Muslim Roommate Eats It Without Knowing

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There is a religious concept among Muslims called haram. For the uninitiated, it’s doing anything forbidden under Islamic law, including food. They believe that engaging in haram is harmful to a person’s faith and body, and that includes eating pork. 

This is where the problem between two roommates began. One person had left out food drizzled in bacon fat, which their Muslim roommate unknowingly ate. They admitted going blank at the moment and had not stopped their friend from eating.

Likely overrun with guilt, the individual turned to the Reddit community for some advice. 

RELATED:

    Muslims believe in the religious concept of haram, which forbids them from eating specific foods like pork

    Image credits: Curated Lifestyle / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

    A Muslim man unknowingly ate his roommate’s mashed potatoes drizzled with bacon fat

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    Image credits: Rocco_nh / Reddit (not the actual photo)

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    Likely overrun with guilt, the roommate turned to the internet for advice

    Image credits: Available-Car7584

    Eating food by mistake is common among roommates and should not be an issue as long as there is no ill intent

    Especially with less restrictive food rules, roommates often unknowingly eat each other’s food. And as the story shows, it can happen even when one person has dietary restrictions. 

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    According to Rany Burstein, CEO and co-founder of the roommate-matching platform Diggz, a common issue among people living together is a lack of communication. 

    As he told Bored Panda, there typically is no problem with such miscommunication, as long as there is no ill intent. In the story’s case, the author appeared to make an honest mistake, without purposely having their roommate eat something that his religion forbids him from eating. 

    However, the author’s biggest dilemma is whether to tell the roommate or continue sweeping it under the rug. In such cases, Burstein advises acknowledging it and apologizing before clearly defining the rules around food. 

    “In my opinion, the roommate setups that work best are the ones where people clearly define what’s shared, what’s not, and basic boundaries like not taking the last portion of something without asking,” Burstein said.  

    Given that the author and their roommate are good friends, there should be no issue about coming clean. It is an honest mistake that they could prevent from happening again in the future by being clearer about their food rules. 

    Many readers urged the author to come clean

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    Other commenters advised keeping things a secret

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    Miguel Ordoñez

    Miguel Ordoñez

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    Struggling writer by day. Frustrated jazz drummer by night. Space Cowboy 24/7.

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    Miguel Ordoñez

    Miguel Ordoñez

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Struggling writer by day. Frustrated jazz drummer by night. Space Cowboy 24/7.

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Author, BoredPanda staff

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    I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

    Read less »

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

    What do you think ?
    UnclePanda
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I made a great friend of a Muslim man at a buffet. He was looking at a tray of tiny meat balls, turned to me (a stranger) and said, "I don't know if I can eat these because they might have pork in them. "Let's find out!," I proclaimed as I tossed one back. I chewed carefully, thoughtfully, even analytically. "I can't say for certain so you probably shouldn't." The look on that man's face as I sinned on his behalf was priceless. He told me to call him Mo and always went out of his way to wave. "Hey Mo!" (yes, I did it like Curly)

    WubiDubi
    Community Member
    26 minutes ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's banned because pork in hot countries is dangerous. A food poisoned d**d follower is not able to do God's will. Well done to that author for adding it to the Quran, saved a lot of lives.

    Peter Bear
    Community Member
    31 minutes ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As I understand it, Islam teaches that it is worse to ignore a sin than to commit one and apologize for it (but I'm not Muslim, so I could be wrong about that). But again, as I understand it, Islam also believes that God makes exceptions for situations that are out of our control. So the best thing to do in this situation would be to tell your roommate that the food had bacon in it, apologize, and see what happens. If there's any further question, I advise consulting your local imam and seeing what they say about it.

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    UnclePanda
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I made a great friend of a Muslim man at a buffet. He was looking at a tray of tiny meat balls, turned to me (a stranger) and said, "I don't know if I can eat these because they might have pork in them. "Let's find out!," I proclaimed as I tossed one back. I chewed carefully, thoughtfully, even analytically. "I can't say for certain so you probably shouldn't." The look on that man's face as I sinned on his behalf was priceless. He told me to call him Mo and always went out of his way to wave. "Hey Mo!" (yes, I did it like Curly)

    WubiDubi
    Community Member
    26 minutes ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's banned because pork in hot countries is dangerous. A food poisoned d**d follower is not able to do God's will. Well done to that author for adding it to the Quran, saved a lot of lives.

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    Peter Bear
    Community Member
    31 minutes ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As I understand it, Islam teaches that it is worse to ignore a sin than to commit one and apologize for it (but I'm not Muslim, so I could be wrong about that). But again, as I understand it, Islam also believes that God makes exceptions for situations that are out of our control. So the best thing to do in this situation would be to tell your roommate that the food had bacon in it, apologize, and see what happens. If there's any further question, I advise consulting your local imam and seeing what they say about it.

    Load More Comments
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