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Purpose: The study of instability due to the effects of Maxwell–Cattaneo law and internal heat source/sink on Casson dielectric fluid horizontal layer is an open question. Therefore, in this paper, the impact of internal heat generation/absorption on Rayleigh–Bénard convection in a non-Newtonian dielectric fluid with Maxwell–Cattaneo heat flux is investigated. The horizontal layer of the fluid is cooled from the upper boundary, while an isothermal boundary condition is utilized at the lower boundary. Design/methodology/approach: The Casson fluid model is utilized to characterize the non-Newtonian fluid behavior. The horizontal layer of the fluid is cooled from the upper boundary, while an isothermal boundary condition is utilized at the lower boundary. The governing equations are non-dimensionalized using appropriate dimensionless variables and the subsequent equations are solved for the critical Rayleigh number using the normal mode technique (NMT). Findings: Results are presented for two different cases namely dielectric Newtonian fluid (DNF) and dielectric non-Newtonian Casson fluid (DNCF). The effects of Cattaneo number, Casson fluid parameter, heat source/sink parameter on critical Rayleigh number and wavenumber are analyzed in detail. It is found that the value Rayleigh number for non-Newtonian fluid is higher than that of Newtonian fluid; also the heat source aspect decreases the magnitude of the Rayleigh number. Originality/value: The effect of Maxwell–Cattaneo heat flux and internal heat source/sink on Rayleigh-Bénard convection in Casson dielectric fluid is investigated for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]