What is the ruling on using perfumes that contain alcohol?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you and benefit us with your knowledge. There is a group of people who forbid certain perfumes and fragrances on the grounds that they contain some alcohol, and that this khamr (intoxicants) has been classified by some scholars as najasah (ritual impurity). Is this correct?
The Shaykh : First, we must know the percentage of alcohol. It may be small, like five or ten percent; this is what is harmful, because this does not have an effect. If the percentage is large, like fifty percent or more, we look into it. As for the claim that it is impure, it is not impure. It does not make clothes, bodies, or carpets impure if it falls on them. It is pure, because there is no evidence for the impurity of khamr. The original khamr that foams and intoxicates has no evidence for its impurity; rather, the evidence is that it is pure, and that if it touches clothes, bodies, or carpets, it is not obligatory to wash it. This is one point.
As for using it, meaning using these substances with a high percentage of alcohol: if it is for drinking, there is no doubt in its prohibition because it will intoxicate, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1865Hasan (Darussalam). If it is not for drinking, such as for anointing or perfuming, then scrupulousness (wara') is to avoid it. There is no doubt that scrupulousness is to avoid it, but we do not say that it is forbidden, because the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah 5:90], in which Allah the Exalted made clear the cause for the command to avoid it by His saying: [Al-Ma'idah 5:91], this does not happen unless a person drinks it. But avoiding it is better, and praise be to Allah, there are many other fragrances.
It remains to be said: if a person needs this to sterilize wounds, for example, is it permissible or not?
We say: Yes, it is permissible, because we do not assert the prohibition with certainty. And if we do not assert the prohibition with certainty, then the need permits what is doubtful in it, after the right side of the doubt.
The Shaykh : First, we must know the percentage of alcohol. It may be small, like five or ten percent; this is what is harmful, because this does not have an effect. If the percentage is large, like fifty percent or more, we look into it. As for the claim that it is impure, it is not impure. It does not make clothes, bodies, or carpets impure if it falls on them. It is pure, because there is no evidence for the impurity of khamr. The original khamr that foams and intoxicates has no evidence for its impurity; rather, the evidence is that it is pure, and that if it touches clothes, bodies, or carpets, it is not obligatory to wash it. This is one point.
As for using it, meaning using these substances with a high percentage of alcohol: if it is for drinking, there is no doubt in its prohibition because it will intoxicate, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whatever a lot of it intoxicates, a little of it is unlawful.
ما أسكر كثيره فقليله حرامO 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.
يا أيّها الَّذين آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَSatan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred
إنّما يريد الشّيطان أن يوقع بينكم العداوة والبغضاءIt remains to be said: if a person needs this to sterilize wounds, for example, is it permissible or not?
We say: Yes, it is permissible, because we do not assert the prohibition with certainty. And if we do not assert the prohibition with certainty, then the need permits what is doubtful in it, after the right side of the doubt.