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Fatwa CenterOrdering from website that displays cross
Question
If there is a cross displayed on a website, can I order things from this site for it to be delivered to my house? If I order something from this site, do I have to worry that they might send a Christmas gift in the package that will be delivered to my house? Also, if the package is delivered to my house, do I have to worry that there might be something on the box that represents disbelief for people to see or that there might be something inside the box that represents disbelief?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
If it is possible to order these things from another website where crosses are not displayed, then that is better. Scholars stated that seeing an evil is like listening to it; just as a Muslim should not sit in a place where he can hear the sounds of (prohibited) musical instruments, he should not sit in a place where he can see people drinking alcohol or any other evil. The cross is an evil, and this is why the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to remove it. ‘Aa'ishah 
said, “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, never left in his house anything that had the image of crosses but that he obliterated it.” [Al-Bukhaari, Ahmad, and Abu Daawood]
If you cannot find any other website from which you can order what you need, then the benefit of obtaining this need must be weighed against the evil of seeing these crosses on that website. Scholars said that the elimination of evils takes precedence over the realization of benefits and that the benefit should not be given priority over the evil unless the benefit is greater than the evil. The realization of the benefit that is classified as a basic need or necessity may be given precedence over seeing crosses, but if the benefit (of buying these things) is not a basic need, it is better to give up its realization.
As for your question about the Christmas gift that they might send you, then the nature of the gift should be considered. If this gift is a symbol related to their religious feast, such as a cross or what they call Santa Claus or the like, then do not accept it. But if the gift is not related to the rituals of their feast, then there is no harm in accepting it. Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah 
wrote:
“As for accepting the gift from them (non-Muslims) on the day of their feast, we have already said that ‘Ali 
was given a gift on the Day of Nayrooz and that he accepted it. Ibn Abi Shaybah cited the following report in his book Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, ‘Jareer narrated from Qaaboos, from his father, that a woman asked ‘Aa'ishah, ‘We have some wet nurses from the Magians, and they have a festival on which they bring us gifts.’ She said, ‘As for what is slaughtered for that day, do not eat it, but eat from (what grows on) their trees.’’ Wakee‘ narrated on the authority of Al-Hasan ibn Hakeem, from his mother, from Abu Barzah, that he had Magian tenants who used to give him gifts on Nayrooz and Mihrajaan festivals, and he used to tell his family, ‘If it is fruit, then you can eat them, but if it is anything else, then reject it.’ All of this indicates that the feast has no effect on the permissibility of accepting their gifts. In other words, the ruling on accepting their gifts at the time of their festival and at other times is the same because this does not entail helping them in carrying out the rituals of their disbelief.” [Iqtidhaa' As-Siraat Al-Mustaqeem]
Allah knows best.
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