What is the ruling on some perfumes that contain alcohol?

The questioner : All right; here the question asks: What is the ruling on some perfumes that contain alcohol?

The Shaykh : Regarding alcohol, we used to say, and we still say, but we have heard a new opinion, and the responsibility for that lies with its narrator; and that is that there is poisonous alcohol that cannot be used to make an intoxicating substance. So, if it is a type of aromatic alcohol that contains alcohol but cannot be converted into an intoxicant by mixing it with certain things so that it becomes intoxicating; then in that case, it is permissible to use it; because the alcohol in it is not of the type of alcohol that can convert thisThe questioner : into an intoxicating substance. So, if... this is an intoxicating substance, if this is true, and if all the perfumes known today as cologne and the like; then in that case, there is nothing to prevent its use. But if the alcohol is of the type that is the origin of wine; because alcohol is, as came in some reports, that wine is the mother of all evils, so the alcohol in wine is the mother of the mother of all evils. If this origin, which is the mother of the mother of all evils, is found in a drink; then that means it is a strongly intoxicating drink. If this cologne, for example, is mixed with other liquids, and it can affect the one who drinks it if the proportion of alcohol makes that drink highly intoxicating; then its ruling in the Shari'ah is known from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . If the alcohol now placed in these pleasant scents, which many people are afflicted with using, is of the poisonous type that cannot be converted into an intoxicating substance, it is permissible; otherwise, it is not permissible, with the detail mentioned previously; which is that the proportion of alcohol is large enough to make thisThe questioner : by mixing it with other substances, such as water or drink or some fruits, if it becomes intoxicating; then there is no difference between intoxicating wine and what we call perfume and the like; because names do not change the realities of the named things. This is what I have. Is there any doctor here now, or anyone who knows the reality of the perfumes currently in the market, is it true that the alcohol in them cannot be converted into an intoxicating drink?

The questioner : We asked about the matter, and they said the cologne... the proportion of intoxicating alcohol in it is large.

The Shaykh : The issue is not about that. Is the alcohol in it of the poisonous type, or of the type that is the mother of the mother of wine?

The questioner : It is the mother of the mother of wine, but if the cologne is boiled from... the proportion decreases, but they did not specify the proportion, okay, but the...

Another questioner : ... The analysts have indicated that there are two types; one type is intoxicating, which is well known, and the other is poisonous and contains what they call volatile oils, which are added... to the Kingdom. These volatile oils are added to these substances to prevent their entry into the Kingdom. But these volatile oils are ready to fly, hence their name "volatile," so they return to the forbidden intoxicating alcohol if they become oils.

Another questioner : We have... chemical...

The Shaykh : This is more deserving of an answer. This chemical one is more deserving... than the doctors; because the doctors benefit from it.

The questioner : Alcohol has types; some is called poisonous, and some is called... others are the same. So, the alcohol used like wine and which intoxicates is ethanol, and the other alcohols are poisonous; whether methanol, propanol, or other alcohols.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, before you finish your speech, is it not possible to translate these two names, ethanol, into an Arabic name, for example, so that it is more firmly fixed in the mind, or is this a scientific technical term that cannot be translated?

The questioner : ... This is also used in the Arabic language.

Another questioner : If it were translated...

The Shaykh : It means it was agreed upon in the foreign language.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : All right; please go ahead.

The questioner : It may be translated by the following terms: ethyl alcohol and methyl alcohol, but the terms ethyl and methyl still exist, and they are words from the Latin language. So, ethanol is the alcohol that intoxicates, and the others are poisonous, meaning fatal. In fact, there is no exact evidence of the alcohol used in the market perfumes; is it of this type or that type? But as I know and hear, some people drink some perfumes for the sake of the alcohol.

The Shaykh : Instead of the forbidden wine?

The questioner : Yes, which indicates that it is certainly of the ethyl type; because if it were of the other type, it would be poisonous.

The Shaykh : They would have perished.

The questioner : Yes, they would have perished, and that does not prevent the second type from also being used in these perfumes.

The Shaykh : No, there is no obstacle to its use in these perfumes. The whole issue, may Allah bless you, ... and what some people afflicted with addiction do, but we want to address this existing reality. These perfumes in the markets, some are cheap and some are expensive, and I know that some types of them have the proportion of alcohol written on them, like some medicines; it is written in them, for example, five percent... alcohol. But we want to address this reality; because these precise scientific data do not benefit us unless we agree on this type of perfume that is circulating and prohibited in the markets. So, we want someone to inform us about this reality: which type of the two alcohols is it; is it the poisonous one or the intoxicating one? Because behind that, the ruling differs radically.

The questioner : Some types have written...

Another questioner : Our Shaykh, they use both.

The questioner : ... .

Another questioner : The analysts in the official government laboratories informed us that they use both; some perfume is this and some perfume is that. But the government, so that there is no problem, required them to add volatile oils to the intoxicating one; if added to it, it becomes poisonous. But the problem with the volatile oils, if added to this intoxicant, is that it becomes temporarily poisonous as long as these volatile oils are present in it. So, some people take it and know this secret, and they open it or expose it to fire or something, and these oils fly off from it, and it returns to its original state. As for the other intoxicating alcohols, they remain intoxicating; whether volatile oils are added to them or not. But anything that enters this Kingdom is presented to the laboratories, and they test it, so the volatile oils are then ready in it and present, so it does not intoxicate, such that it indicates that it is poisonous. Then, after it is transferred from the shops to the warehouses and so on, it is subjected to a distillation process, and then it becomes intoxicating.

Another questioner : One person told me... in Spain... in the Spanish villages... a poisonous substance, and the result of this alcohol was...

Another questioner : Call it what you wish...

Another questioner : But the entry, often, brings specific things to the Kingdom, especially... the one who mentioned this is free from this substance. But I saw some types of these perfumes with "alcohol" written on them, meaning the type of alcohol is explicitly stated... in them. If it is this poisonous type, then it is dealt with accordingly. But if it is... the type is unknown...

The Shaykh : Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt. And in oily perfumes, there is an exit from these perfumes that contain cologne with alcohol. This is the exit: that a person pays attention to oily perfume, and this is widely available in the markets. By doing so, there is an exit from a person falling into doubt, at least. We hear, as more than one person mentioned, that many use cologne in place of the forbidden drinks that do not enter the Kingdom, and praise be to Allah. All right, anything else?

The questioner : If you please, if a lot of it intoxicates, then a little of it is forbidden. Is this subject to experiment?

The Shaykh : I mean, the experiment... "Everyone laughs".

The questioner : That they mean, I mean, that he is the one who determines such a thing.

The Shaykh : ... the drunkards. "Everyone laughs".

The questioner : But sometimes we have a substance that contains a percentage of this alcohol. The doctors say: if it is consumed in varying doses, it does not intoxicate; meaning the blood alcohol level does not reach the intoxicating threshold. But if it is consumed all at once in very large quantities, it does intoxicate. However, they say this is impossible because it is beyond human capacity; for example.

The Shaykh : ... the matter is ... if it is not possible for him to drink it.

The questioner : It is not possible to drink it all at once.

The Shaykh : I say, but if he drinks it, he will be affected by the poisoned alcohol.

The questioner : No, no, that does not happen.

Another questioner : Does it kill, meaning?

The questioner : No, it does not kill, but it is not within human capacity to drink, for example, within half an hour to reach this standard in the blood; let us suppose it is ten percent; no, it is not possible in this hour to drink fifty liters. The limit of a person is to drink twenty liters in an hour, so it is not possible in this hour for the intoxicating level in the blood to reach this degree for him to drink twenty liters; so is this considered as: if its large amount intoxicates, then its small amount is forbidden?

The Shaykh : It is upon the narrator's guarantee that the hadith applies to it, upon the narrator's guarantee!

The questioner : Regarding the evidence, the evidenceThe Shaykh : of Al-Amīn al-Shanqitī (may Allah have mercy on him) in his statement: He said: even if alcohol were not impure, it is obligatory for the Muslim to avoid it entirely, by the evidence of His saying (Exalted and Majestic is He): , and avoidance here does not include avoiding drinking only; but also avoiding its use in all its types - as well - ... , so consequently it is not permissible for the Muslim to buy anything intoxicating, even if it is not for the purpose of intoxication.

The Shaykh : Is there a disagreement on this? Is there anyone who says otherwise?

The questioner : I am asking?

The Shaykh : No, there is absolutely no disagreement. That is why I say, quoting from the words of Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him): "A mosque and a grave do not coexist in the religion of Islam." I say: "Alcohol and a Muslim's house do not coexist." Because we know from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) to Abu Talhah al-Ansari when he was trading with the money of orphans from ... alcohol, so when the prohibition of alcohol was revealed, he came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: I have ... of alcohol; should I sell it? He said: . He said: Should I turn it into vinegar? He said: , so although the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for this Companion whose alcohol money was not his own but belonged to the orphans; he ordered him to pour it out and not convert it from alcohol to vinegar; and therefore it is not permissible for there to be anything intoxicating in a Muslim's house.
And from here I say: it is not permissible for Muslim doctors today to use sterilizing and purifying alcohol if it is ... according to the previous detail intoxicating, but if it is toxic, that is understood, and its answer remains from what has preceded. So taking something called alcohol and keeping it in the house is not permissible Islamically at all, and the evidenceThe Shaykh : of al-Shanqitī (may Allah have mercy on him) in his chapter and like this hadith that we mentioned, and the hadiths that state that when alcohol was prohibited, the pots were poured out until the streets of the city flowed with it, this indicates that it is not permissible for anything called alcohol to remain in a Muslim's house; no matter what is said and claimed that, by Allah, we do not buy - for example - this alcohol to convert it into alcohol or to drink it, but if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says: , and he mentioned the first of those he mentioned was its drinker, and he mentioned among those he mentioned its presser and its presser, its seller and its buyer and and so on, so how can there be in a Muslim's clinic or a Muslim's pharmacy; how can there be intoxicating alcohol without there being someone to press it? These are all matters connected to each other, and I am amazed that some medicines are given a warning that they are not sold; because they contain a very toxic substance except with a special license, for example, from a known doctor, whereas these intoxicants are permitted to be bought by every person under what name? That it is alcohol and it is intoxicating, and therefore as I quoted fromThe Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him) it is the exact truth, and no Muslim doubts it except ... some of the legal rulings in some excuses, and when we were talking with some of our brother doctors in Damascus, they used to say - for example - that it is possible - for example - there are purifiers and sterilizers that do not contain any alcohol, I do not know what is the name of this one that is a bit green?

The questioner : Dettol.

The Shaykh : Dettol, and therefore Muslim doctors should not fall into violating the Shari'ah, but rather they should replace the good with what is lower ... Allah (Mighty and Majestic) the Jews with it.