HIBAPRESS
An Algerian citizen residing in France has sparked widespread controversy on social media after appearing in a video promoting the idea of eating food inside commercial stores and major markets in European countries without paying for it, considering that "it is not religiously forbidden" as long as the person does not take the products outside the store.
The speaker in the widely circulated video said that many homeless and needy people in European countries suffer from hunger and do not find anything to eat, adding that they can eat food inside the stores without buying it, citing the verse: “So walk in the paths thereof and eat of His provision.” The Algerian citizen considered that consuming food products inside large markets is not included in the prohibited theft, according to his personal interpretation, while he saw that taking goods out of stores without paying for them is forbidden. The statements triggered a wide wave of interaction on social media platforms, where a number of commentators criticized what they described as "irresponsible incitement" to violate the laws, while others considered that justifying such actions with religious interpretations harms the image of Arab and Muslim communities abroad.
