Using perfume containing alcohol when going out to the mosque
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A message was received by the program from one of the listening brothers, and at the end of it he signed as your brother M-A-H-A-S. Our brother asks and says: Sometimes, when I finish performing wudu', I apply perfume to my clothes and my hands, and then I go out to pray in the mosque. I have heard some people say that perfume is najasah (ritually impure) because it contains alcohol in its composition, and that it invalidates the wudu' and the prayer. Please issue a ruling, and may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Not all perfumes contain alcohol. If it is not established that it contains alcohol, then that is the case. The default ruling for perfumes is permissibility, and they are among the good things. A person should perfume himself when he goes out to the mosque.
This is a beautiful and required thing. It is required of a person to prepare himself for the houses of Allah the Exalted, and to adorn himself for prayer. This is a required matter. He should also remove unpleasant odors. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was strict about a person’s head, or rather, he would not come to the mosque with the smell of garlic or onions on him, because that harms the angels and harms the Muslims present in the mosque, and it is bad for the houses of Allah. So, perfuming the scent is written among the sunnah (recommended practices). The only thing that prevents one from perfuming when going out is if it leads to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), especially when leaving the mosques. We are prevented from perfuming if there is fitnah in it. As for men, this is a good and beautiful thing, and they are rewarded for it. As for alcohol, this requires verification. The default ruling for perfumes is permissibility. What is established with certainty to contain some alcohol should be avoided, because alcohol is khamr (intoxicants), and khamr is najasah (ritual impurity) according to the correct opinion of the scholars of knowledge, where there is no need for its book or month.
A message was received by the program from one of the listening brothers, and at the end of it he signed as your brother M-A-H-A-S. Our brother asks and says: Sometimes, when I finish performing wudu', I apply perfume to my clothes and my hands, and then I go out to pray in the mosque. I have heard some people say that perfume is najasah (ritually impure) because it contains alcohol in its composition, and that it invalidates the wudu' and the prayer. Please issue a ruling, and may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Not all perfumes contain alcohol. If it is not established that it contains alcohol, then that is the case. The default ruling for perfumes is permissibility, and they are among the good things. A person should perfume himself when he goes out to the mosque.
This is a beautiful and required thing. It is required of a person to prepare himself for the houses of Allah the Exalted, and to adorn himself for prayer. This is a required matter. He should also remove unpleasant odors. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was strict about a person’s head, or rather, he would not come to the mosque with the smell of garlic or onions on him, because that harms the angels and harms the Muslims present in the mosque, and it is bad for the houses of Allah. So, perfuming the scent is written among the sunnah (recommended practices). The only thing that prevents one from perfuming when going out is if it leads to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), especially when leaving the mosques. We are prevented from perfuming if there is fitnah in it. As for men, this is a good and beautiful thing, and they are rewarded for it. As for alcohol, this requires verification. The default ruling for perfumes is permissibility. What is established with certainty to contain some alcohol should be avoided, because alcohol is khamr (intoxicants), and khamr is najasah (ritual impurity) according to the correct opinion of the scholars of knowledge, where there is no need for its book or month.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، نور على الدرب 100 من المجموعة الأولى للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (18:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.