Every Intoxicant and Mind-Altering Substance is Prohibited
Author: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Meaning of “Ashribah”
The word أشربة is the plural of شراب (drink). It refers to any liquid that is consumed. It is used in different verb forms:
- شَرِبَ يَشْرَبُ (Samiʿ) – to drink
- أَشْرَبَ يُشْرِبُ (Ifʿāl) – to give someone to drink
- شَارَبَ يُشَارِبُ (Mufāʿalah) – to drink together
📚 References: Al-Munjid, p. 422; Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 7, p. 64
Basic Principle Regarding Food and Drink
The original ruling regarding foods and drinks is permissibility, except for those items which have been explicitly prohibited.
Allah Almighty says:
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا [البقرة: 29]
“He is the One Who created for you all that is on the earth.”
Prophetic Hadiths on the Prohibition of Intoxicants
❶ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
كل مسكر خمر و كل خمر حرام
“Every intoxicant is Khamr, and every Khamr is prohibited.”
📚 Muslim: 2003; Abu Dawood: 3679; Tirmidhi: 1861; Nasā’ī: 5582
❷ Stages of Prohibition of Alcohol – narrated by Ibn ʿUmar (RA):
① يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ [البقرة: 219] – People thought it was banned, but still argued about its benefits.
② يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ [النساء: 43] – It became forbidden during prayer times.
③ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ… فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ [المائدة: 90] – Complete prohibition.
The Prophet ﷺ then declared:
حُرّمت الخمر
“Alcohol has been prohibited.”
📚 Abu Dawood al-Tayālisī: 1715
❸ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported:
من شرب الخمر فى الدنيا ثم لم يتب منها حرمها فى الآخرة
“Whoever drinks alcohol in this world and dies without repentance will be deprived of it in the Hereafter.”
📚 Bukhari: 5575; Muslim: 2003; Ahmad: 2/19
❹ ʿĀ’ishah (RA) reported:
كل شراب أسكر فهو حرام
“Every intoxicating drink is prohibited.”
📚 Bukhari: 242; Muslim: 2001
❺ When alcohol was banned, the Companions poured it into the streets of Madinah.
📚 Muslim: 1587
❻ Abu Hurairah (RA) reported:
مدمن الخمر كعا بد وثن
“A habitual drinker of alcohol is like a worshipper of idols.”
📚 Sahih Ibn Mājah: 2720; Ibn Mājah: 3375
Difference of Opinion
- Hanafis: Only wine from grapes and dates is haram.
- Majority (Jumhūr): Every intoxicant, regardless of its source, is haram.
This is also the position of Imam al-Shāfiʿī, Imam Muhammad, Imam al-Nawawī, Imam al-Shawkānī, and Hafiz Ibn Hajar.
📚 References: Nayl al-Awtār 5/256; al-Rawdah al-Nadiyyah 2/438; Tuhfat al-Ahwadhī 5/612; Sharh Muslim al-Nawawī 7/256; Bada’iʿ al-Sana’iʿ 5/117; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid 1/457; al-Mughnī 8/304; al-Muhadhdhab 2/286; Fath al-Bārī 11/157
Reasons the Majority Opinion is Stronger
❶ ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb (RA) declared from the pulpit:
“Alcohol is made from five things: grapes, dates, honey, wheat, and barley. والخمر ما خامر العقل – Khamr is anything that clouds the mind.”
📚 Bukhari: 5581, 5588; Muslim: 3032; Abu Dawood: 3669; Nasā’ī 8/295
❷ Similar narration from Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (RA).
📚 Sahih Abu Dawood: 3123; Ahmad: 4/227; Tirmidhi: 1872; Ibn Mājah: 3379
❸ The hadith stating alcohol is only from النخلة والعنبة refers to the fact that the finest quality at that time came from these two sources — not that other intoxicants were permissible.
📚 Muslim: 1985; Ahmad: 2/279; Nasā’ī: 8/294; Ibn Mājah: 3378; Tirmidhi: 1875
Rule: If a Large Amount Intoxicates, a Small Amount is Also Haram
❶ Jābir (RA) and Ibn ʿUmar (RA) narrated:
ما أسكر كثيره فقليله حرام
“Whatever intoxicates in large quantity, its small quantity is also prohibited.”
📚 Sahih Ibn Mājah: 2736; Abu Dawood: 3681; Tirmidhi: 1865; Nasā’ī: 8/300
❷ ʿĀ’ishah (RA) reported:
وما أسـكـر الـفـرق منه فملء الكف منه حرام
“If one Farq (16 Ratl) of something intoxicates, then even a handful of it is haram.”
📚 Sahih Abu Dawood: 3134; Tirmidhi: 1866; Dar Qutni: 4/250
Refutation of the Hanafi View
- Linguistic Reason: The term “Khamr” as a genus includes all of it, from the first sip to the last.
- Logical Reason: The last cup is not the only cause of intoxication — the earlier ones contribute as well, so all are prohibited.
📚 Nayl al-Awtār 5/260; Tuhfat al-Ahwudhī 5/617
✅ Conclusion:
Authentic ahadith prove that whatever intoxicates in large quantities, its small amount is also haram. Hence, not just the last sip, but the first sip itself is prohibited.
