(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of Visitors to His Facebook Page)
To: Adhipati-Yudhistira Indradiningrat
Question:
Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatuLlaahi wa barakatuh,
To the honourable scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, may Allah safeguard and look after him.
Can you please provide an explanation, what exactly the Islamic view on Ethanol is? Is the substance itself considered as Khamr, and therefore prohibited, regardless whether it stands alone or in a solution, and regardless of its amount (in a solution, e.g.: drinks, perfume, etc?) I apologize, one more thing. Please also discuss about the ethanol in fruits. BarakaLlaahu fiikum.
Answer:
Wa Alaikumus Salam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh:
As I have learned from specialists in the science of alcohols, there are two types: ethyl alcohol and methyl alcohol. If the name mentioned in the question, "Ethanol," refers to ethyl alcohol, then here is the answer:
One category of alcohol is called methyl alcohol. I have been told that it is not intoxicating, but it is a deadly poison. Fuel spirit is of the methyl type and is derived from wood shavings and other materials; drinking it causes blindness and leads to death within days. Accordingly, methyl alcohol is not khamr (an intoxicant) and does not take the ruling of khamr regarding impurity (najash) and prohibition, except in terms of using methyl alcohol as a poison according to the "Rule of Harm." Ibn Majah narrated from Ubada bin al-Samit:
لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَارَ
"There should be no harming nor reciprocating harm." (Sunan Ibn Majah)
Another category is called ethyl alcohol, which is used in intoxicating fermented or distilled drinks. Medical spirit is of this type. Ethyl alcohol is also used in industry; it is used as a preservative for some materials, as a drying agent for moisture, as a solvent for some alkalis and fats, as an anti-freeze, as a solvent for certain medicines, as a solvent for aromatic substances like cologne and perfumes, and it enters into the manufacturing of some carpentry materials. These uses are divided into three types:
a. A type where alcohol is used merely as a solvent or as an additive to certain materials. This use does not cause the alcohol to lose its essence or its properties; rather, it remains in its original composition and intoxicating state. This type is absolutely prohibited to use. An example is cologne; it is not permissible to use and remains impure (najis) because impurity has mixed with it and the intoxicating alcohol remains as it is. Thus, it is a material mixed with khamr, and khamr is impure. The evidence for this is the Hadith of Al-Khushani:
Al-Daraqutni narrated from Al-Khushani, who said: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, we mix with the polytheists and we have no pots or vessels other than theirs." He said:
اسْتَغْنُوا عَنْهَا مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَجِدُوا فَارْحَضُوهَا بِالْمَاء فَإِنَّ الْمَاءَ طَهُورُهَا ثُمَّ اطْبُخُوا فِيهَا
"Dispense with them as much as you can, but if you cannot find (others), then wash them with water, for water is their purifier, then cook in them." (Sunan al-Daraqutni)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "for water is their purifier," meaning those vessels were impure because khamr had been placed in them, and they became pure after washing. This is evidence that khamr is impure. The question was about those vessels in which khamr is placed, as mentioned in the narration of Al-Khushani in Abu Dawood from Abu Tha’laba al-Khushani, that he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "We live near the People of the Book while they cook pork in their pots and drink khamr in their vessels." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إِنْ وَجَدْتُمْ غَيْرَهَا فَكُلُوا فِيهَا وَاشْرَبُوا، وَإِنْ لَمْ تَجِدُوا غَيْرَهَا فَارْحَضُوهَا بِالْمَاء وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا
"If you find others, then eat and drink from them. If you do not find others, then wash them with water and eat and drink." (Sunan Abu Dawood)
So, pork and khamr are both impure, and the vessel they are placed in becomes impure, so it must be washed to purify it before use.
b. A type where the alcohol transforms from its original essence and loses its intoxicating property, and from it and other materials, a new substance is formed that has specifications different from the specifications of alcohol, but it is non-toxic. This is a new substance that does not take the ruling of khamr and is pure (tahir) like any other substance to which the rule "The origin of things is permissibility unless there is evidence for prohibition" applies.
c. A type where the alcohol transforms from its original essence and loses its intoxicating property, and from it and other materials, a new substance is formed that has specifications different from the specifications of alcohol, but it is toxic. Its ruling is that of poison: it is pure, but its use is prohibited for drinking or for causing harm to oneself or others.
Accordingly, if ethyl alcohol is mixed with other materials, the ruling depends on knowing whether the ethyl mixture loses the property of intoxication or not, and whether the mixture is toxic or non-toxic. This requires tahqiq al-manat (verifying the reality) according to experts and specialists. If it is proven scientifically or practically that this mixture intoxicates, then it takes the ruling of khamr, and it indicates that the ethyl in this mixture has not lost its property and essence. However, if it is proven scientifically or practically that this mixture no longer intoxicates and is not toxic, then it does not take the ruling of khamr nor the ruling of poison. If it is proven scientifically or practically that this mixture no longer intoxicates but is toxic, then it does not take the ruling of khamr, but rather the ruling of poison.
Therefore, if the resulting mixture is an intoxicant, such as cologne, it takes the ruling of khamr, due to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim from Aisha, Mother of the Believers (ra):
كُلُّ شَرَابٍ أَسْكَرَ فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ
"Every drink that intoxicates is forbidden." (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
And in what was narrated by Muslim from Ibn Umar, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
كُلُّ مُسْكِرٍ خَمْرٌ، وَكُلُّ مُسْكِرٍ حَرَامٌ
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is forbidden." (Sahih Muslim)
In another narration by Ibn Umar: "Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden."
Khamr is forbidden in ten aspects, not just when it is drunk. At-Tirmidhi narrated from Anas bin Malik, who said:
لَعَنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي الخَمْرِ عَشَرَةً: عَاصِرَهَا، وَمُعْتَصِرَهَا، وَشارِبَهَا، وَحَامِلَهَا، وَالمَحْمُولَةُ إِلَيْهِ، وَسَاقِيَهَا، وَبَائِعَهَا، وَآكِلَ ثَمَنِهَا، وَالمُشْتَرِي لَهَا، وَالمُشْتَرَاةُ لَهُ
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed ten regarding khamr: the one who presses it, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who consumes its price, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought." (Sunan at-Tirmidhi)
So, any one of these ten is forbidden.
As for your question about ethanol in fruits, the question is not clear. If the question refers to fruits in their natural state—that is, when they ripen while still on the tree—then some ethyl alcohol exists in them naturally by creation. If you were to analyze the components of an orange, for example, you would find some ethanol in it. If this is the case, it does not matter, because the alcohol here is not in an intoxicating liquid solution; rather, it is in a solid fruit where it exists naturally. However, if the fruit containing ethanol causes harm, it is not permissible to eat it according to the "Rule of Harm." Ibn Majah narrated from Ubada bin al-Samit:
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، قَضَى أَنْ لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَارَ
"That the Messenger of Allah ﷺ decreed that there should be no harming nor reciprocating harm." (Sunan Ibn Majah)
If the meaning of the question is something else, please clarify it so we may answer it, Allah willing.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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