Monday, January 5, 2009

Quran & Hadith: Alcohol

Includes hadith and fiqh for alcohol-derived vinegars.

ALCOHOL in the Quran
Intoxicants were forbidden in the Quran through several separate verses revealed at different times over a period of years. At first, it was forbidden for Muslims to attend to prayers while intoxicated:
ياايها الذين امنوا لاتقربوا الصلاة وانتم سكارى حتى تعلموا ماتقولون ولاجنبا الا عابري سبيل حتى تغتسلوا وان كنتم مرضى او على سفر او جاء احد منكم من الغائط او لامستم النساء فلم تجدوا ماء فتيمموا صعيدا طيبا فامسحوا بوجوهكم وايديكم ان الله كان عفوا غفورا
O believers! Do not offer your Salah when you are drunk until you know what you are saying; nor in a state of janaba, except when you are travelling, unless you wash your whole body. If you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you has used the toilet, or has had (sexual) contact with women and can find no water, then make Tayammum: take some clean earth and rub your faces and hands with it. Allah is Lenient, Forgiving.
— Quran, Surat al-Nisaa 4:43
Then a later verse was revealed which said that alcohol contains some good and some evil, but the evil is greater than the good:
يسألونك عن الخمر والميسر قل فيها اثم كبير ومنافع للناس واثمهما اكبر من نفعهما ويسألونك ماذا ينفقون قل العفو كذلك يبين الله لكم الايات لعلكم تتفكرون
They ask you about drinking and gambling. Tell them: "There is great sin in both, although they may have some benefit for men; but the sin is greater than the benefit." They ask you what they should spend; tell them: "Whatever you can." Thus Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may reflect upon [them].
— Quran, Surat al-Baqarah 2:219
This was the next step in turning people away from consumption of it. Finally, Muslims were ordered to abstain:
٩٠ ياايها الذين امنوا انما الخمر والميسر والانصاب والازلام رجس من عمل الشيطان فاجتنبوه لعلكم تفلحون ٩١ انما يريد الشيطان ان يوقع بينكم العداوة والبغضاء في الخمر والميسر ويصدكم عن ذكر الله وعن الصلاة فهل انتم منتهون
O you who believe, intoxicants, and gambling, and the altars of idols, and games of chance are abominations of Shaitan; you shall avoid them, that you may succeed. Shaitan wants to provoke animosity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to distract you from remembering Allah, and from observing Salat. Will you then refrain?
— Quran, Surat al-Ma'ida 5:90-91
Hadith referencing ALCOHOL
Prohibition against drinking / consuming alcohol.

Narrated by Anas ibn Malik:
"I was serving wine to the people in the house of AbuTalhah when it was prohibited and that day our wine was made from unripe dates. A man entered upon us and said: 'The wine has been prohibited, and the herald of the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) made an announcement.' We then said: 'This is the herald of the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.).'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3665

Narrated Daylam al-Himyari:
"I asked the Prophet (s.a.s.) and said: 'Prophet of Allah! We live in a cold land in which we do heavy work and we make a liquor from wheat to get strength from it for our work and to stand the cold of our country.' He asked: 'Is it intoxicating?' I replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'You must avoid it.' I said: 'The people will not abandon it.' He said: 'If they do not abandon it, fight with them.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3675

Narrated AbuHurayrah:
"I knew that the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) used to keep fast. I waited for the day when he did not fast to present him the drink (nabidh) which I made in a pumpkin. I then brought it to him while it fermented. He said: 'Throw it to this wall, for this is a drink of the one who does not believe in Allah and the Last Day.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3707

Prohibition against drinking / consuming alcohol or other intoxicants in any quantity or strength.
Narrated by Ahmed bin al-Musnad:
"Whatever intoxicates in large quantities, a small amount of it is haram.”
— al-Musnad, 2/91, 167, 179; 3/343.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
"I heard the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) say: 'Every intoxicant is forbidden; if a faraq ('fraction') of anything causes intoxication, a handful of it is forbidden.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3679

Prohibition against khamr (alcohol) as medicine and recognition of it as a disease.
Narrated Tariq ibn Suwayd:
"Wa'il said: 'Tariq ibn Suwayd asked the Prophet about wine, but he forbade it. He again asked him, but he forbade him. He said to him: "Prophet of Allah, it is a medicine." The Prophet said: "No it is a disease."'"
— Abu Dawoud

Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet reports that he once said:
"Allah has not placed a cure for your diseases in things that He has forbidden for you.''
— Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud.

Abu ad-Darda reported that the Prophet said:
"Allah has sent down both the malady and its remedy. For every disease He has created a cure. So seek medical treatment, but never with something the use of which Allah has prohibited.''
— Abu Dawoud; Sahih Bukhari

Prohibition against buying, selling, transporting, producing alcohol.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar:
"The Prophet (s.a.s.) said: 'Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3666

Narrated Jabir ibn Abd Allah:
"The Messenger of Allah said, 'Verily, Allah and His Messenger have prohibited the sale of alcohol, dead animals, swine and idols.'"
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim

Defining word khamr to extend to all alcoholic beverages, beyond those produced by grapes.
Narrated An-Nu'man ibn Bashir:
"The Prophet (s.a.s.) said: 'From grapes wine is made, from dried dates wine is made, from honey wine is made, from wheat wine is made, from barley wine is made.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3668

Narrated An-Nu'man ibn Bashir:
"I heard the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) say: 'Wine is made from grape-syrup, raisins, dried dates, wheat, barley, millet, and I forbid you from every intoxicant.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3669

Narrated AbdurRahman ibn Ghanam:
"Malik ibn AbuMaryam said: 'AbdurRahman ibn Ghanam entered upon us and we discussed tila' and he said: "AbuMalik al-Ash'ari told me that he heard the Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) say: 'Some of my people will assuredly drink wine calling it by another name.'"'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3680

Extending prohibition of khamr (alcoholic beverages) to all intoxicants.
Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu'minin: "The Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) forbade every intoxicant and everything which produces languidness."
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3672

'Rewards' of those who die without repenting and abstaining from alcohol.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:
"Allah's Messenger said: 'Every intoxicant is khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden. He who drinks wine in this world and dies while he is addicted to it, not having repented, will not be given a drink in the Hereafter.'"
— Muslim. #4963

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas:
"The Prophet of Allah (s.a.s.) said: 'Every intoxicant is khamr (wine) and every intoxicant is forbidden. If anyone drinks khamr, Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents, Allah will accept his repentance. If he repeats it a fourth time, it is binding on Allah that He will give him tinat al-khabal to drink.'
"He was asked: 'What is tinat al-khabal, Apostle of Allah?'
He replied: 'Discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell. If anyone serves it to a minor who does not distinguish between the lawful and the unlawful, it is binding on Allah that He will give him to drink the discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell.'"
— Abu Dawoud. Book 26, Number 3672

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar ; Abdullah ibn Amr:
"Allah's Messenger said, 'If anyone drinks khamr Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he again repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats it a fourth time Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, and if he repents Allah will not forgive him, but will give him to drink of the river of the fluid flowing from the inhabitants of Hell.'"
— Al-Tirmidhi #3643. Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr]

Punishment / treatment for those who are intoxicated.
Narrated 'Uqba bin Al-Harith:
"When An-Nuaman or his son was brought in a state of drunkenness, Allah's Prophet ordered all those who were present in the house to beat him. I was one of those who beat him. We beat him with shoes and palm-leaf stalks."
— Bukhari. 3:509

Narrated Anas bin Malik:
"The Prophet beat a drunk with palm-leaf stalks and shoes. And Abu Bakr gave forty lashes."
— Bukhari 8:764

Narrated Abu Salama:
"Abu Huraira said, 'A man who drank wine was brought to the Prophet . The Prophet said, "Beat him!"' Abu Huraira added, 'So some of us beat him with our hands, and some with their shoes, and some with their garments (by twisting it) like a lash, and then when we finished, someone said to him, "May Allah disgrace you!" On that the Prophet said, "Do not say so, for you are helping Satan to overpower him."'"
— Bukhari 8:768

Hadith referencing VINEGAR
Narrated by Jaabir (r.a.) -
"The Prophet (s.a.s.) said: 'What a good food is vinegar.'"
— Muslim, 3/1623

Narrated by Anas ibn Malik (r.a.) -
"The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) was asked whether wine could be changed to be used as vinegar. He said, 'No.'"
— Muslim

Narrated by Abu Talhah (r.a.) -
"The Prophet (s.a.s.) was asked about some orphans who had inherited some wine. He said, 'Pour it away.' He was asked, 'Could they not make it into vinegar?' He said, 'No.'"
— Muslim

‘Umar (r.a.) said:
“There is nothing wrong with a man buying vinegar from the People of the Book [Christians, Jews], if they sell it, so long as he knows that they did not deliberately process it from wine. And Allah knows best."
— Bidaayat al-Mujtahid li Ibn Rushd, 1/461; Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ li’l-Bahwati, 1/187; Fath al-Qadeer li Ibn al-Hammaam, 8/166; al-Majmoo’ li’l-Nawawi, 1/225; al-Mughni li Ibn Qudaamah, 8/319

ISLAMIC SCHOOLS of THOUGHT
ALCOHOL
There is no difference within the Four mathahib regarding the consumption of alcohol.

VINEGAR
When wine turns to vinegar by itself, without any deliberate treatment needed for it to be changed, it is permissible to eat, drink and handle it, according to the consensus of the scholars, because of the hadeeth quoted above (Jaabir). But if the wine has become vinegar because of deliberate treatment, by adding vinegar, onions, salt etc., or by any other process, then the majority view holds that it is impermissible (haram).

The Shafi'i, Hanbali and Maliki Schools of fiqh:
The Shafi’is, Hanbalis and some of the Maalikis say that it is not permissible to deliberately change wine to vinegar because then it is not pure, citing the hadith of Anas ibn Malik and of Abu Talhah referenced above.

"Wine that becomes vinegar without anything having been introduced into it is pure, as are the sides of the container it touched when it splashed or boiled. But if anything was introduced into the wine before it became vinegar, then turning to vinegar does not purify it."
— Reliance of the Traveler. e14.6

The Hanafi School of fiqh states:
In the Hanafi School, it is permitted to consume wine vinegar—whether it transformed by itself or through intervention.
— Shaykh al-Islam al-Marghinani, al-Hidaya

Imam Akmal al-Din al-Babarti explains in al-`Inaya, his commentary on al-Hidaya, that the texts that would seem to indicate the prohibition of wine vinegar are understood to be abrogated by later texts establishing permission. The wisdom behind the temporary prohibition was to reinforce the dislike of wine in the hearts of those morally responsible, as the hadith commentators explain.

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