What is the ruling on using perfumes that contain alcohol?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is the ruling on using perfumes on the body and clothing? Some people prohibit this, citing the presence of alcohol in them.
The Shaykh : Perfumes? What are they?
The questioner : The fragrances, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The fragrances? Does anyone ask about the ruling on fragrance? People use fragrance.Sahih Muslim 1015 And Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:100] I do not think this is the question you are asking; perhaps you are asking about something else.
The questioner : Shaykh, these are the Eastern perfumes, O Shaykh. They say they contain alcohol, so...
The Shaykh : Do people drink them, or do they use them as fragrance?
The questioner : No, they do not put them on the body and clothing.
The Shaykh : I mean, do they use them as fragrance or drink them?
The questioner : No, they do not drink them.
The Shaykh : Well, I say there is nothing wrong with using them. If the mixture is small, like thirty or forty percent, there is no problem with that, because the ruling is based on the majority, and if it is small, its effect does not appear on what it is mixed with. So there is nothing wrong with it; there is no problem with that... Do you understand? And if there is a possibility [of harm], I do not declare it forbidden, but I do not use it. I do not declare it forbidden because the noble verse only indicates the prohibition of drinking or eating khamr (intoxicants), for that is what destroys the mind and causes enmity and hatred. As for rubbing it on the body, that does not cause enmity or hatred. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90-91] And it is known that this, which I mean sowing enmity and hatred, does not occur except through drinking. So it does not appear that His saying: means eating, drinking, and using it. It does not appear that [He said] in this case where it becomes a cause of enmity and hatred.
And the summary of the answer is:
First, khamr, khamr, khamr is not impure. Khamr itself is not impure, because there is no evidence for its impurity. And prohibition does not imply impurity—may Allah have mercy on you—prohibition does not imply that something is impure. It may be something that is forbidden but not impure, just as poison is forbidden but not impure, and smoke is forbidden but not impure. However, impurity implies prohibition; impurity implies prohibition. So every impure thing is forbidden, but not every forbidden thing is impure. This is the first point: there is no evidence for the impurity of khamr. As for His saying, Exalted is He:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90], the meaning of that is moral impurity, like His saying, Exalted is He: [At-Tawbah 9:28] Impure, what kind of impurity? Sensory impurity or moral impurity?
The student: Moral impurity.
The Shaykh : Moral impurity. And for this reason, the body of a disbeliever is pure. So the impurity mentioned in the verse is moral impurity, which is the impurity of the deed. This is also indicated by the fact that when khamr was prohibited and it was with the Companions in their vessels, they poured the khamr into the markets and were not ordered to wash the vessels. If it had been impure, they would have been ordered to wash the vessels, just as they were ordered to wash the vessels from the meat of donkeys when it was prohibited. Thirdly,
The Shaykh : Perfumes? What are they?
The questioner : The fragrances, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The fragrances? Does anyone ask about the ruling on fragrance? People use fragrance.
Allah is Good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good
إن الله طيب لا يقبل إلا طيباSay, "Not equal are the evil and the good
قل لا يستوي الخبيث والطيبThe questioner : Shaykh, these are the Eastern perfumes, O Shaykh. They say they contain alcohol, so...
The Shaykh : Do people drink them, or do they use them as fragrance?
The questioner : No, they do not put them on the body and clothing.
The Shaykh : I mean, do they use them as fragrance or drink them?
The questioner : No, they do not drink them.
The Shaykh : Well, I say there is nothing wrong with using them. If the mixture is small, like thirty or forty percent, there is no problem with that, because the ruling is based on the majority, and if it is small, its effect does not appear on what it is mixed with. So there is nothing wrong with it; there is no problem with that... Do you understand? And if there is a possibility [of harm], I do not declare it forbidden, but I do not use it. I do not declare it forbidden because the noble verse only indicates the prohibition of drinking or eating khamr (intoxicants), for that is what destroys the mind and causes enmity and hatred. As for rubbing it on the body, that does not cause enmity or hatred. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:
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
إنما الخمر والميسر والأنصاب والأزلام رجس من عمل الشيطان فاجتنبوه لعلكم تفلحون إنما يريد الشيطان أن يوقع بينكم العداوة والبغضاء في الخمر والميسرAvoid them.
اجتنبوهAvoid them.
اجتنبوهAnd the summary of the answer is:
First, khamr, khamr, khamr is not impure. Khamr itself is not impure, because there is no evidence for its impurity. And prohibition does not imply impurity—may Allah have mercy on you—prohibition does not imply that something is impure. It may be something that is forbidden but not impure, just as poison is forbidden but not impure, and smoke is forbidden but not impure. However, impurity implies prohibition; impurity implies prohibition. So every impure thing is forbidden, but not every forbidden thing is impure. This is the first point: there is no evidence for the impurity of khamr. As for His saying, Exalted is He:
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
يا أيها الذين آمنوا إنما الخمر والميسر والأنصاب والأزلام رجس من عمل الشيطانO you who have believed, indeed the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram after this, their [final] year
يا أيها الذين آمنوا إنما المشركون نجس فلا يقربوا المسجد الحرام بعد عامهم هذاThe student: Moral impurity.
The Shaykh : Moral impurity. And for this reason, the body of a disbeliever is pure. So the impurity mentioned in the verse is moral impurity, which is the impurity of the deed. This is also indicated by the fact that when khamr was prohibited and it was with the Companions in their vessels, they poured the khamr into the markets and were not ordered to wash the vessels. If it had been impure, they would have been ordered to wash the vessels, just as they were ordered to wash the vessels from the meat of donkeys when it was prohibited. Thirdly,