Mixing Medicines with Intoxicating Alcohol
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Fatwa No. ( 3717 )
Q: As you know, Your Eminence, no home is without medicine, as a result of the widespread distribution of these medicines to patients for free, either from government hospitals or school units, or by purchasing them from pharmacies. These medicines are manufactured abroad. For example, many pills are not free from the sedative substance, which varies in its proportion. Some contain a high percentage in the medicine, such that a person cannot get up, go out, or drive a car. Others contain a small amount, such that one feels heaviness in the eyelids and relaxation in the body. It is difficult for any doctor to prescribe a medicine free from this, due to the widespread prevalence of this substance in medicines. As for liquid medicine, much of it is not free from alcohol, with its proportion varying among the components of the medicine. I asked one of the doctors: Why is there alcohol in the drink? He said: For the medicine to retain its efficacy, it is necessary to add alcohol, even in a small proportion, so that it retains this property. What attracted my attention greatly is that the cough syrup dispensed to children contains alcohol in a large proportion, and the poor children drink these medicines without knowledge. Adults and children have become accustomed to taking the medicine, so they have no choice but one of the two, or both together: the sedative substance and the alcohol, which has become widespread
in medicine on a large scale. This has become a source of concern for many people who consider medicine part of their lives and cannot do without it due to their illnesses, except that the fear of the presence of these substances worries them with fear of the forbidden and sin. I am placing this serious problem before Your Eminence, hoping for the formation of a committee to study this issue and conduct a precise investigation into the components of the medicine and the substances it contains that harm the life of the Muslim, and which may even be a plot among the plots that the enemies of Allah strive to place so that the Muslim consumes it in any form. This is because one of the harms of these substances is that a person weak in faith may be led by their consumption to persist in them and not leave them, even when he is healthy and well. I also hope, in light of the above, that a fatwa be issued clarifying this matter to the people, and consequently taking what ensures that these medicines are free from these forbidden substances that may lead an unaware person to sin.
A: It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol. However, if it is mixed with intoxicating 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 is mixed with it.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: As you know, Your Eminence, no home is without medicine, as a result of the widespread distribution of these medicines to patients for free, either from government hospitals or school units, or by purchasing them from pharmacies. These medicines are manufactured abroad. For example, many pills are not free from the sedative substance, which varies in its proportion. Some contain a high percentage in the medicine, such that a person cannot get up, go out, or drive a car. Others contain a small amount, such that one feels heaviness in the eyelids and relaxation in the body. It is difficult for any doctor to prescribe a medicine free from this, due to the widespread prevalence of this substance in medicines. As for liquid medicine, much of it is not free from alcohol, with its proportion varying among the components of the medicine. I asked one of the doctors: Why is there alcohol in the drink? He said: For the medicine to retain its efficacy, it is necessary to add alcohol, even in a small proportion, so that it retains this property. What attracted my attention greatly is that the cough syrup dispensed to children contains alcohol in a large proportion, and the poor children drink these medicines without knowledge. Adults and children have become accustomed to taking the medicine, so they have no choice but one of the two, or both together: the sedative substance and the alcohol, which has become widespread
in medicine on a large scale. This has become a source of concern for many people who consider medicine part of their lives and cannot do without it due to their illnesses, except that the fear of the presence of these substances worries them with fear of the forbidden and sin. I am placing this serious problem before Your Eminence, hoping for the formation of a committee to study this issue and conduct a precise investigation into the components of the medicine and the substances it contains that harm the life of the Muslim, and which may even be a plot among the plots that the enemies of Allah strive to place so that the Muslim consumes it in any form. This is because one of the harms of these substances is that a person weak in faith may be led by their consumption to persist in them and not leave them, even when he is healthy and well. I also hope, in light of the above, that a fatwa be issued clarifying this matter to the people, and consequently taking what ensures that these medicines are free from these forbidden substances that may lead an unaware person to sin.
A: It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol. However, if it is mixed with intoxicating 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 is mixed with it.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.