What is the ruling on using cologne water for fragrance?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Al-Huwaini: We ask, O our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
Al-Huwaini: I used to hear a lengthy fatwa from you in the past prohibiting the use of cologne, but the last time I was in Oman, some young men asked you, and you ruled it permissible. However, the first fatwa prohibiting it was lengthy and very strict. So, is there something we should understand regarding the retraction of the first fatwa?
The Shaykh : There is no retraction; rather, it is a matter of specification. Permissibility has its place, and prohibition has its place. The place of permissibility is when the proportion of alcohol is small and does not make the cologne intoxicating in large quantities. In this case, it is permissible. As for when the proportion of alcohol in the cologne is large such that whoever drinks it becomes intoxicated, then it is not permissible to use a large amount or a small amount.
Al-Huwaini: This is known by what is written on the bottle, meaning, for example, a proportion of such and such...
The Shaykh : This is the common, well-trodden path, and those afflicted with drinking intoxicants may know it. But the rule we have heard from some of the chemists is that intoxicating wine has an alcohol proportion of 120—for example. If the alcohol proportion in the cologne is 150 or more, it is worse than wine. The reality we hear about some addicts in some Arab countries where wine is publicly prohibited is that they find no way to obtain it, so they resort to mixing cologne with some liquids, distilling it, drinking it, and treating it as a substitute for wine. So, there is no contradiction between
The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. The specification you referred to is included in the summary I mentioned.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Al-Huwaini: We ask, O our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
Al-Huwaini: I used to hear a lengthy fatwa from you in the past prohibiting the use of cologne, but the last time I was in Oman, some young men asked you, and you ruled it permissible. However, the first fatwa prohibiting it was lengthy and very strict. So, is there something we should understand regarding the retraction of the first fatwa?
The Shaykh : There is no retraction; rather, it is a matter of specification. Permissibility has its place, and prohibition has its place. The place of permissibility is when the proportion of alcohol is small and does not make the cologne intoxicating in large quantities. In this case, it is permissible. As for when the proportion of alcohol in the cologne is large such that whoever drinks it becomes intoxicated, then it is not permissible to use a large amount or a small amount.
Al-Huwaini: This is known by what is written on the bottle, meaning, for example, a proportion of such and such...
The Shaykh : This is the common, well-trodden path, and those afflicted with drinking intoxicants may know it. But the rule we have heard from some of the chemists is that intoxicating wine has an alcohol proportion of 120—for example. If the alcohol proportion in the cologne is 150 or more, it is worse than wine. The reality we hear about some addicts in some Arab countries where wine is publicly prohibited is that they find no way to obtain it, so they resort to mixing cologne with some liquids, distilling it, drinking it, and treating it as a substitute for wine. So, there is no contradiction between
The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. The specification you referred to is included in the summary I mentioned.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.