The ruling on using the substance spirit (an alcoholic substance) in perfumes, and whether there is a necessary connection between prohibition and impurity?

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.

The questioner : Our esteemed Shaykh, regarding the use of some perfumes, especially those containing the substance spirit, is there any prohibition in using them? What is your opinion on the substance spirit? Is it impure or pure? Please give us a ruling, may Allah reward you, and may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : In reality, from the perspective of the Islamic ruling, spirit is the mother of all abominations, just as you know. The mother of all abominations is khamr (intoxicants). Khamr is a compound of water and sweet, sugary substances. From these, the alcohol is present. It is not the water, nor the sweet sugar found in this khamr, that is the cause of intoxication; rather, the cause of intoxication is the alcohol. Therefore, it is correct for me to say that alcohol or spirit is the mother of all abominations. If Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden the mother of all abominations, then it is even more so that the mother of all abominations is forbidden in His Shari'ah. However, what students of knowledge must know is that there is no necessary connection in the Shari'ah between something being forbidden and it being impure. Rather, the reverse is the correct view: everything that is impure in the Shari'ah is forbidden, but not vice versa. That is to say, not everything that is forbidden is impure. First, this is from the perspective of the Shari'ah; this necessary connection between the forbidden and the impure has not come in the Shari'ah. No text has come, neither in the Book nor in the Sunnah, despite the disagreement among Muslims, as we will mention. Second, there is a consensus among the scholars of Muslims on the prohibition of certain things, and on the other hand, another consensus that these forbidden things are not impure. For example, gold is forbidden for men and permissible for women, with details that are not the place to mention now. If a man were wearing a gold ring on his finger, he has undoubtedly committed a forbidden act. If he stood up to pray, did he pray while carrying impurity? He prayed while carrying what is forbidden, not while carrying impurity, even though it is forbidden. Thus, there is no necessary connection between something being forbidden and it being impure. Similarly, if a man prayed on a silk carpet or wore a silk garment, he prayed while wearing what is forbidden for men. But is his prayer invalid because he prayed while carrying impurity? The answer is no. There is no necessary connection between the forbidden and the impure. Finally, among the interesting examples brought by Imam al-San'ani (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book *Subul al-Salam*, he clarifies that there is no necessary connection between the forbidden and the impure. He said: Allah the Exalted said: to the end of the verse. So, are your mothers impure? The answer, by consensus, is no. Therefore, there is no necessary connection between prohibition and making something impure. Based on this, we should say regarding the well-known disagreement among scholars since ancient times about khamr: is it impure, in addition to being forbidden by consensus? Such that if a Muslim's garment is touched by khamr without his intention, meaning some of the khamr touches it, does that mean his garment becomes impure? There are two opinions among the scholars. Some say khamr is forbidden and impure, and some say it is forbidden but not impure. Of course, every Muslim who is eager to know the Islamic ruling with its evidence asks: What is the evidence for the purity of khamr despite its prohibition? We say: First, this question is not jurisprudential and not scholarly. Why? The question should have been transformed to: What is the evidence for the impurity of khamr? Because the original ruling for things is permissibility. This is a principle of jurisprudence among the scholars. For example, tobacco: a man who is afflicted with smoking, and some of them, unfortunately, adorn their chests and pockets with the gilded, colored, dazzling packets, and so on. But he is not currently smoking, but the tobacco is in his pocket. This tobacco is forbidden to smoke, but he is now praying and the tobacco is in his pocket. Is he carrying impurity? The answer is no. This is a plant, and there is no evidence that it is impure. But because it is harmful and its smell is foul, which also harms him and his companions and those praying next to him, and so on, this tobacco is forbidden but not impure. And so, compare the correct question: What is the evidence for the impurity of khamr? The answer is: there is no evidence other than the assumption that impurity follows from prohibition. And we have just clarified that there is no necessary connection. That impurity is disconnected from what is forbidden, but the forbidden is connected to what is impure. Despite that, as an act of voluntary devotion and extra worship, we present some hadiths that indicate that khamr, despite its prohibition, is not impure. For example, when khamr was forbidden, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered it to be poured out in the alleys of Madinah. We know that the roads at that time were not paved or asphalted as they are now, but were made of dirt. So, that ground would quickly turn into mud with rain. Also, when the Messenger (peace be upon him) poured out the khamr in the alleys of Madinah, the secret of that was to make the prohibition widespread in the hearts of those people who were afflicted with drinking khamr in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, so they would know that this khamr walking in the alleys of Madinah has become forbidden. We know that there are Islamic rulings concerning the shoes of men and women, and that it is permissible for all of them to pray in their shoes, as he (peace be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And regarding women, concerning their trailing garments, when the Messenger (peace be upon him) heard Umm Salimah among those who heard his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning she drags it on the ground, a question came at another time: O Messenger of Allah, one of us passes her trailing garment over impurity. He (peace be upon him) said: What comes after it purifies it. So, if these roads had khamr that was impure, it would mean that the Messenger exposed the shoes of men and women and the trailing garments of women to becoming impure. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have done that if Allah had revealed to him that khamr is impure as it is forbidden. The second evidence, which is clearer, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the prohibition of khamr was revealed to him, said at the end of the verse: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: We have stopped, O