The Impurity of Intoxicants
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 3115 )
Q: 1 - Since intoxicants are impure , and there is disagreement regarding whether their impurity is
like that of urine or whether it is a conceptual impurity, although caution is obligatory, it is therefore safer for a person to wash what has been contaminated by them 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 (ghul in Arabic). As mentioned in the Qur'an in describing the wine of the Hereafter:[As-Saffat 37:47] I understood from this that ghul, which is alcohol, is the intoxicating substance. If alcohol is extracted from wine, the wine (dregs) from which the ghul was extracted no longer intoxicates. Is it not impure in this case, by analogy with water extracted from sewers, regarding which a fatwa was previously issued? If it is true that the dregs do not intoxicate because their alcohol has been extracted? B - And since alcohol is impure and it is khamr because it intoxicates, is it not safer not to use it in wall paint, doors, windows, or anything in any of the houses of Allah? Because the substance (turpentine) used to dissolve paint often contains alcohol. Or is it safer to 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 the percentage may reach 14% of the treatment? Is that considered to be in the ruling of one who is coerced? D - And since some injections, such as (liver extract), are extracted from the liver of an animal, could this animal be a pig? These injections come to us from non-Islamic countries. And if it is not a pig, was this animal slaughtered according to the correct Islamic or scriptural method? Is it permissible to use these injections? Give us your ruling, may Allah assist you, and we thank you.
A: First: Intoxicants are not like impure sewage water in the ruling regarding keeping them or benefiting from them in their current state or after purifying them from the impurity mixed with them. Indeed, intoxicants must be poured out because of their intoxicating nature, not because of their 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 intoxicants were revealed. It is forbidden to keep them or benefit from them in their current state, and it is forbidden to transform them from being intoxicants by pickling them or by breaking down some of their components, or purifying them of the alcohol they contain, or mixing them with other things intended for use. This is due to the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against pickling intoxicants to block the means to harm and to cut off the path to their reconstitution and use. This is unlike impure water, whose defect lies in its impurity; therefore, it is permissible to use it in its current state for
watering crops and trees and the like. It is also permissible to purify it from what made it impure so that one can benefit from all its parts in what suits them, such as fertilizing the land, spraying it, drinking it, or otherwise. Intoxicants are not like urine in the impurity of their substance; rather, intoxicants are more severe. One fears that keeping intoxicants will lead to their consumption, whereas that fear does not exist regarding keeping urine. Therefore, it is permissible to keep urine to fertilize crops with it. Second: As mentioned in the answer to the first point, it is not permissible to keep intoxicants, purify them, break them down into their components, or mix them with things intended for use. If the person in possession of the intoxicants violates this and mixes them with paints or the like intended for use, then if their effect appears in what they were mixed with in terms of color, taste, or smell, it is forbidden to use what they were mixed with, for example, in painting mosques and the like, and it is obligatory to discard it. However, if their effect does not appear in what they were mixed with, it is permissible to use it, though the most cautious course is to leave it unused. Third: It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol. However, if they are mixed with alcohol, it is permissible to use them if the proportion of alcohol is small such that 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. Therefore, if one doubts about a liver extract given in injections, for example, whether it is extracted from a pig’s liver or another animal’s liver, or doubts whether it is extracted from the liver of an animal slaughtered according to the Shari'ah or slaughtered in a non-Shari'ah manner, that doubt has no effect and does not necessitate deviation 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 removes them from the original state of purity and permissibility. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Q: 1 - Since intoxicants are impure , and there is disagreement regarding whether their impurity is
like that of urine or whether it is a conceptual impurity, although caution is obligatory, it is therefore safer for a person to wash what has been contaminated by them 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 (ghul in Arabic). 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 يُنْـزَفُونَto 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 the percentage may reach 14% of the treatment? Is that considered to be in the ruling of one who is coerced? D - And since some injections, such as (liver extract), are extracted from the liver of an animal, could this animal be a pig? These injections come to us from non-Islamic countries. And if it is not a pig, was this animal slaughtered according to the correct Islamic or scriptural method? Is it permissible to use these injections? Give us your ruling, may Allah assist you, and we thank you.
A: First: Intoxicants are not like impure sewage water in the ruling regarding keeping them or benefiting from them in their current state or after purifying them from the impurity mixed with them. Indeed, intoxicants must be poured out because of their intoxicating nature, not because of their 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 intoxicants were revealed. It is forbidden to keep them or benefit from them in their current state, and it is forbidden to transform them from being intoxicants by pickling them or by breaking down some of their components, or purifying them of the alcohol they contain, or mixing them with other things intended for use. This is due to the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against pickling intoxicants to block the means to harm and to cut off the path to their reconstitution and use. This is unlike impure water, whose defect lies in its impurity; therefore, it is permissible to use it in its current state for
watering crops and trees and the like. It is also permissible to purify it from what made it impure so that one can benefit from all its parts in what suits them, such as fertilizing the land, spraying it, drinking it, or otherwise. Intoxicants are not like urine in the impurity of their substance; rather, intoxicants are more severe. One fears that keeping intoxicants will lead to their consumption, whereas that fear does not exist regarding keeping urine. Therefore, it is permissible to keep urine to fertilize crops with it. Second: As mentioned in the answer to the first point, it is not permissible to keep intoxicants, purify them, break them down into their components, or mix them with things intended for use. If the person in possession of the intoxicants violates this and mixes them with paints or the like intended for use, then if their effect appears in what they were mixed with in terms of color, taste, or smell, it is forbidden to use what they were mixed with, for example, in painting mosques and the like, and it is obligatory to discard it. However, if their effect does not appear in what they were mixed with, it is permissible to use it, though the most cautious course is to leave it unused. Third: It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicating alcohol. However, if they are mixed with alcohol, it is permissible to use them if the proportion of alcohol is small such that 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. Therefore, if one doubts about a liver extract given in injections, for example, whether it is extracted from a pig’s liver or another animal’s liver, or doubts whether it is extracted from the liver of an animal slaughtered according to the Shari'ah or slaughtered in a non-Shari'ah manner, that doubt has no effect and does not necessitate deviation 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 removes them from the original state of purity and permissibility. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.