Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salam alaikum,

Quran says do not consume alchohol as it is work of shaitan, But like other things its not declared haram, its ONLY forbidden.. guide me pls. Can A person who touched or consumed Alchohol becomes impure and has to take a bath or ghusool?
What about the containts of Alchohol in medicines? and what about the doctors today prescribing Alchohol for heart patients? Pls guide as per Quran and hadith.
jazaakAllah ! 

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Answer:

Alcohol forbidden not haraam

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 90-91:

O you who have believed! ‘Khamr’ (all types of intoxicants), games of chance, idols, and divining arrows are all abominable works of the Shaytaan; therefore, stay (far) away from these so that you may attain success. Indeed, the Shaytaan seeks to sow enmity and hatred among you by means of ‘khamr’ (intoxicants) and gambling, and to prevent you from the Remembrance of Allah and from Salaah. Will you not, then, abstain from these things?

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2776 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Allah's Messenger (saws) invoked the curse of Allah on ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4477 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

The Prophet (saws) said, "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must not sit at a cloth (table or gathering) where wine is being circulated."

Allah Subhanah has commanded the believers to stay far far away from any and all types of intoxicants, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) explicitly forbade the believers from not only consuming any type of intoxicants, but forbade its manufacturing, its transportation, its serving, its trading, or obtaining any material benefit from its buying or selling….so much so that the Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the believers to even sit at a table or gathering where intoxicants are being circulated!

Your Question: …..But like other things its not declared haram, its ONLY forbidden..

Although the Messenger of Allah (saws) explicitly declared the consumption of intoxicants as ‘haraam’, the words used in the Glorious Quran by Allah Subhanah for the prohibition of intoxicants is ‘fajtanebu’ (stay far far away from it!).

For example, the consumption of swine, or blood, or dead meat, etc. are declared as ‘haraam’ in the Quran…..but there is no prohibition if for any reason one happens to approache it or sits at a table where these ‘haraam’ products are being consumed…..The majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that the term ‘fajtanebu’ (stay far far away from it!) is much more stronger than ‘haraam’, for not only are the believers forbidden from consuming intoxicants, they are forbidden from even coming near it!!!!

Your Question: Can A person who touched or consumed Alchohol becomes impure and has to take a bath or ghusool?
Although some scholars have deemed the substance ‘alcohol’ to be impure, the vast majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam do not consider the substance ‘alchohol’ to be impure in its essence; thus the touching or (Allah forbid) the consumption of alcohol neither makes one impure, nor does it require a ‘ghusl’ or full bath of purification.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5:

6 O ye who believe! When ye prepare for prayer wash your faces and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity (post menstruation, post sexual intercourse, etc.) bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill or on a journey or one of you cometh from offices of nature or ye have been in contact with women and ye find no water then take for yourselves clean sand or earth and rub therewith your faces and hands. Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty but to make you clean and to complete His favor to you that ye may be grateful.

The acts which make the performance of ‘ghusl’ absolutely obligatory upon the believers before they can make themselves available for prayer are:

1. After a wet-dream.
2. When the male private organ so much as touches the female private organ.
3. After sexual intercourse.
4. After full sexual (semen) discharge.
5. At the end of the period of menstruation of the women.
6. After the end of the period of post-child birth menstruation of the women.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded and guided the believers that it is ‘wajib’ for the believers to perform the ‘ghusl’ or full bath before they attend the Friday mid-day and the Eid prayers.

Your Question: What about the containts of Alchohol in medicines? and what about the doctors today prescribing Alchohol for heart patients?

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.6

The majority of scholars are of the opinion that the use of intoxicants and other prohibited things as medicine, is unlawful. They base their arguments on the following guidance:

Wa'il ibn Hujr al-Hadrami reported that, "Tariq ibn Suwaid asked the Prophet (saws) if he could use alcohol as medicine. The Prophet (saws) replied: 'It is not a cure, but a disease'.'' (Related by Muslim, Abu Daw'ud, and Tirmidhi.)

Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet (saws) reports that he (saws) once said: "Allah has not placed a cure for your diseases in things that He has forbidden for you.'' (Related by Baihaqi and Ibn Hibban. Bukhari has also related the same hadith on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud.)

Abu ad-Darda reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "Allah has sent down both the malady and its remedy. For every disease He has created a cure. So seek medical treatment, but never with something the use of which Allah has prohibited.'' (Related by Abu Daw'ud.)

In light of the above absolutely clear guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws), it would not be permissible for a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day to consume any type of ‘khamr’ or intoxicant, even under the guise or excuse of medicine.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3672 Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Every intoxicant is khamr (alcohol, wine, etc.), and every intoxicant is haraam.”

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3679 Narrated by Aisha

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: “Every intoxicant is haraam; if a quantity of anything causes intoxication, a handful of it is (also) haraam.”

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan