What is the ruling on using alcoholic substances in paints, medicines, perfumes, and other things?
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The questioner : What is the ruling in the Shari'ah, in your opinion, regarding the use of alcoholic substances in paints, medicines, perfumes, and other things? I ask for your guidance, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. Alcoholic substances are among the intoxicating substances as established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Every intoxicant is forbidden by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Muslim community, so it is not permissible to drink intoxicants under any circumstances, except in cases of dire necessity where the necessity is removed by it. This is in the case where a person chokes on a piece of food and has nothing to remove this choking except drinking an intoxicant to push down that piece of food. In that case, it is permissible because this is a dire necessity that is removed by consuming the intoxicant. A dire necessity that is removed by consuming what is forbidden makes the forbidden permissible. Based on this, the well-known principle among scholars is applied: dire necessities make the prohibited permissible. This principle is based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3] up to His saying: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3].
But is the intoxicant ritually impure or not? The majority of scholars hold that the intoxicant is ritually impure, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90]. However, some scholars held that the intoxicant is pure in terms of physical purity. They argued that when the intoxicant was forbidden in Medina, the people faced the streets and markets with it and poured it out there. If it had been ritually impure, it would have been forbidden to pour it out in the markets and streets, because they are the paths of the Muslims, and it is not permissible to throw or pour any of the ritual impurities in the paths of the Muslims, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: . They also argued that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order them to wash the vessels when the intoxicant was forbidden, as he ordered them to wash the vessels when donkey meat was forbidden. Stronger than that is that a man brought a wineskin of intoxicant to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and offered it to him as a gift. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed him that it had become forbidden. A man whispered to him, saying, "Sell it." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The man said, "I said, 'Sell it, O Messenger of Allah.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Ibn Hibban 26:35. The man opened the mouth of the wineskin and poured out the intoxicant in it, in the place where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting around, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order him to wash this wineskin. If the intoxicant had been ritually impure, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have ordered him to wash the wineskin of it, because the need would call for it in this situation, as the man would depart and benefit from his wineskin, and it would have traces of the intoxicant in it.
As for the evidence cited by those who say it is ritually impure, the answer to it is easy. The saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90] refers to the conceptual, practical abomination. Therefore, He said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:90]. It indicates that this is what is intended that gambling, sacrificial stones, and arrow lots are not physically impure by consensus. So why do we say that the word , which was reported regarding the four things—intoxicants, gambling, sacrificial stones, and arrow lots—becomes a physical abomination considering the intoxicant, and a conceptual abomination considering its three companions? This cannot be said except with explicit evidence that the intoxicant is ritually impure, evidence separate from this verse, so that we can say that the word "abomination" is a shared term used in both its meanings: considering the intoxicant, the intended meaning is ritually impure in physical impurity, and considering its three companions, the intended meaning is ritually impure in conceptual impurity.
And what indicates to you that "abomination" can be used for conceptual abomination is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ahzab 33:33]. The intended meaning of "abomination" here is undoubtedly the conceptual abomination, because physical abomination is from them as it is from others; everyone urinates and everyone defecates.
Based on this, we say: Is it permissible to use this alcohol in a matter where the corruption that occurs by drinking it does not occur, such as using it in paints, in cleaning wounds, and the like? What I see in this is that there is no harm in using it in these things, because people have a need for it, and there is nothing in the texts that explicitly indicates the obligation to avoid intoxicants in all cases. Rather, they indicate the obligation to avoid intoxicants in their use for drinking and eating. Let us read the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90-91]. So Allah made the reason for avoiding it this reason, which does not exist unless a person consumes it by eating or drinking, which is that Satan wants to sow enmity and hatred between us in intoxicants and gambling, and to turn us away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. This reason does not occur if it is used in anointing and the like. But we say: avoiding it is more preferable, even in anointing and the like, out of scrupulousness, because the command to avoid it may be in the way of generality, including this case, i.e., the case of what is not eaten and drunk. But if the need calls for it, there is no harm in using it, and there is no blame in it, because the ruling of doubt regarding a doubtful thing is removed when there is a need for it. In summary, using alcohol in ointments and the like is not forbidden, but avoiding it is more preferable, except if the need calls for it. Yes.
The questioner : Thank you, Allah, O honorable Shaykh. The listener, 'Atif Muhammad, an Egyptian working in Yemen, in his second question says:
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. Alcoholic substances are among the intoxicating substances
And every intoxicant is an intoxicant
وكل مسكر خمرProhibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience.
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ وَأَنْ تَسْتَقْسِمُوا بِالأَزْلامِ ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌBut whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌBut is the intoxicant ritually impure or not? The majority of scholars hold that the intoxicant is ritually impure, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَFear the three types of curses: relieving oneself in water sources, on the main road, and in the shade.
اتقوا الملاعن الثلاث: البرازة في الموارد، وقارعة الطريق، والظلWhat did he whisper to you?
بم ساررته؟When Allah forbids something, He forbids its price.
إن الله إذا حرّم شيئاً حرم ثمنهAs for the evidence cited by those who say it is ritually impure, the answer to it is easy. The saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِdefilement from the work of Satan
رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِdefilement
رجسAnd what indicates to you that "abomination" can be used for conceptual abomination is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification.
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًاBased on this, we say: Is it permissible to use this alcohol in a matter where the corruption that occurs by drinking it does not occur, such as using it in paints, in cleaning wounds, and the like? What I see in this is that there is no harm in using it in these things, because people have a need for it, and there is nothing in the texts that explicitly indicates the obligation to avoid intoxicants in all cases. Rather, they indicate the obligation to avoid intoxicants in their use for drinking and eating. Let us read the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(90) O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. (91) Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ * إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ فِي الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنتَهُونَThe questioner : Thank you, Allah, O honorable Shaykh. The listener, 'Atif Muhammad, an Egyptian working in Yemen, in his second question says: