The Use of Alcohol in Medicines and Wall Painting
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Fatwa No. ( 3115 )
Q: A - Since khamr (intoxicants) are ritually impure, and although there is disagreement on whether their impurity is like that of urine or a conceptual impurity, caution is obligatory. Therefore, it is safer for a person to wash what has been contaminated by it, as a precaution and in pursuit of the safest course. However, I ask: Since every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden, and it is impure, then alcohol is impure. (Al-Ghawl) in Arabic, and as mentioned in the Qur'an in describing the wine of the Hereafter:
[As-Saffat 37:47] I understood from this that al-Ghawl, which is alcohol, is the intoxicating substance. If the alcohol is extracted from the wine, the wine (its dregs) from which the al-Ghawl was extracted no longer intoxicates. Is it not impure in this case, by analogy to the water extracted from sewers, regarding which a fatwa was previously issued, if it is true that - i.e., the dregs - do not intoxicate because their alcohol has been extracted? B - And since alcohol is impure and is khamr because it is intoxicating, is it not safer not to use it in painting walls, doors, windows, or anything in any of the houses of Allah? Because the substance (turpentine) used to dissolve paint often contains alcohol in this turpentine, or is it safer that we ask the experts about (turpentine and paint) that does not contain alcohol, if it is indeed, as you know, that it contains alcohol, so that we may use it in the houses of Allah? C - And since conferences are held from time to time to find a substitute for the alcohol substance in medicines, and no substitute has been found yet, is it permissible to use medicines that contain alcohol, where its percentage may reach 14% of the treatment? Is that considered in the ruling of being disliked? D - And since some injections, such as (liver extract), are extracted from the liver of an animal, could this animal not be a pig? Since these injections
come to us from non-Islamic countries, and if it is not a pig, is this animal slaughtered according to the correct Islamic or scriptural method? And is it permissible to use these injections? Please give us a ruling, may Allah assist you, and we thank you.
A : First : Khamr is not like the impure water of sewers in the ruling on keeping it and benefiting from it in its current state or after purifying it from what has mixed with it of impurity. Indeed, khamr must be poured out because of its intoxication, not because of its impurity; due to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to do so, when the two verses regarding the prohibition of khamr were revealed. It is forbidden to keep it and benefit from it in its current state, and it is forbidden to transform it from its state as khamr by distilling it or by distilling some of its parts and purifying it from the alcohol in it, and it is forbidden to mix it with anything else intended for benefit, due to the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against distilling khamr, to block the means [to sin] and to cut off the path of reconstituting it and using it. This is unlike impure water, whose defect is its impurity; it is permissible to use it in its state for watering crops and trees and the like, and it is permissible to purify it from what made it impure to benefit from all of its parts in what suits them, such as fertilizing land, spraying it, drinking it, or otherwise. Khamr is not like urine in the impurity of its substance; rather, khamr is more severe, for it is feared that keeping khamr will lead to its being drunk, whereas that is not feared in keeping urine, so it is permissible to keep it to fertilize crops with it. Second : It was mentioned in the answer to the first paragraph that it is not permissible to keep khamr,
nor to pickle it or distill it into its parts, nor to mix it with what is intended for benefit. If the one in possession of the khamr violates this and mixes it with paints and the like intended for benefit, if its effect appears in what it was mixed with in color, taste, or smell, then it is forbidden to use what it was mixed with, such as paints, in painting mosques and the like, and it must be discarded. If its effect does not appear in what it was mixed with, it is permissible to use it, and the safest course is to leave it. Third : It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol; however, if it is mixed with alcohol, it is permissible to use it if the proportion of alcohol is small and its effect does not appear in the color, taste, or smell of the medicine; otherwise, it is forbidden to use what was mixed with it. Fourth : The original ruling for things is purity and permissibility, so one does not deviate from this except by specification or by a predominant suspicion that necessitates deviation from it. So if one doubts about liver extract given in injections, for example, whether it is extracted from a pig's liver or another, or doubts whether it is extracted from the liver of an animal slaughtered according to the Sharia or slaughtered in a non-Sharia manner - then that doubt has no effect, and it does not necessitate deviating from the original ruling, which is purity and permissibility. Accordingly, it is permissible to use these injections and the like for treatment, provided that it is not established that they contain something that takes them out of the original ruling of permissibility.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: A - Since khamr (intoxicants) are ritually impure, and although there is disagreement on whether their impurity is like that of urine or a conceptual impurity, caution is obligatory. Therefore, it is safer for a person to wash what has been contaminated by it, as a precaution and in pursuit of the safest course. However, I ask: Since every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden, and it is impure, then alcohol is impure. (Al-Ghawl) in Arabic, and as mentioned in the Qur'an in describing the wine of the Hereafter:
No bad effect is there in it, nor from it will they be intoxicated.
لاَ فِيهَا غَوْلٌ وَلاَ هُمْ عَنْهَا يُنْـزَفُونَcome to us from non-Islamic countries, and if it is not a pig, is this animal slaughtered according to the correct Islamic or scriptural method? And is it permissible to use these injections? Please give us a ruling, may Allah assist you, and we thank you.
A : First : Khamr is not like the impure water of sewers in the ruling on keeping it and benefiting from it in its current state or after purifying it from what has mixed with it of impurity. Indeed, khamr must be poured out because of its intoxication, not because of its impurity; due to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to do so, when the two verses regarding the prohibition of khamr were revealed. It is forbidden to keep it and benefit from it in its current state, and it is forbidden to transform it from its state as khamr by distilling it or by distilling some of its parts and purifying it from the alcohol in it, and it is forbidden to mix it with anything else intended for benefit, due to the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against distilling khamr, to block the means [to sin] and to cut off the path of reconstituting it and using it. This is unlike impure water, whose defect is its impurity; it is permissible to use it in its state for watering crops and trees and the like, and it is permissible to purify it from what made it impure to benefit from all of its parts in what suits them, such as fertilizing land, spraying it, drinking it, or otherwise. Khamr is not like urine in the impurity of its substance; rather, khamr is more severe, for it is feared that keeping khamr will lead to its being drunk, whereas that is not feared in keeping urine, so it is permissible to keep it to fertilize crops with it. Second : It was mentioned in the answer to the first paragraph that it is not permissible to keep khamr,
nor to pickle it or distill it into its parts, nor to mix it with what is intended for benefit. If the one in possession of the khamr violates this and mixes it with paints and the like intended for benefit, if its effect appears in what it was mixed with in color, taste, or smell, then it is forbidden to use what it was mixed with, such as paints, in painting mosques and the like, and it must be discarded. If its effect does not appear in what it was mixed with, it is permissible to use it, and the safest course is to leave it. Third : It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol; however, if it is mixed with alcohol, it is permissible to use it if the proportion of alcohol is small and its effect does not appear in the color, taste, or smell of the medicine; otherwise, it is forbidden to use what was mixed with it. Fourth : The original ruling for things is purity and permissibility, so one does not deviate from this except by specification or by a predominant suspicion that necessitates deviation from it. So if one doubts about liver extract given in injections, for example, whether it is extracted from a pig's liver or another, or doubts whether it is extracted from the liver of an animal slaughtered according to the Sharia or slaughtered in a non-Sharia manner - then that doubt has no effect, and it does not necessitate deviating from the original ruling, which is purity and permissibility. Accordingly, it is permissible to use these injections and the like for treatment, provided that it is not established that they contain something that takes them out of the original ruling of permissibility.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.