His other or third question asks: There are bottles of beer labeled as alcohol-free; what is the ruling on drinking them?
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The questioner : His other or third question asks: There are bottles of beer labeled as alcohol-free; what is the ruling on drinking them?
The Shaykh : First, the questioner and the listener should know that the original ruling for things is permissibility.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Based on His saying, the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:29] Therefore, if anyone says that this food is forbidden or this drink is forbidden, he is required to provide evidence. If he provides evidence for its prohibition from the Book of Allah, or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or the consensus of the scholars, or valid analogical reasoning, it is accepted. If he does not provide it, his statement is rejected, based on His saying, the Exalted: [An-Nahl 16:116] So, having established this great principle, we say that beer falls under this principle and is lawful, and it is permissible for a person to drink it, unless he is certain that it intoxicates. If he is certain that it intoxicates, it becomes forbidden. Then, let the questioner and the listener know that the mere mixing of some amount of intoxicants with food or drink, if it does not affect it in taste, color, effect, or smell, does not affect it, and its ruling does not shift from permissibility to prohibition. Because if it disappears and no trace of it remains, neither in taste, smell, nor effect, it has no ruling. Just as if water is affected by impurity that does not affect it, it remains pure, and the impurity that diminished in it has no ruling.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The Shaykh : First, the questioner and the listener should know that the original ruling for things is permissibility.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Based on His saying, the Exalted:
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens
هو الذي خلق لكم ما في الأرض جميعا ثم استوى إلى السماء فسواهن سبع سماواتAnd do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.
ولا تقولوا لما تصف ألسنتكم الكذب هذا حلال وهذا حرام لتفتروا على الله الكذب إن الذين يفترون على الله الكذب لا يفلحونThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.