❀ Shar‘i Ruling on the Use of Alcohol-Containing Medicines ❀
✦ Taken from: Fatāwā ʿUlamā’-e-Ḥadīth, Kitāb al-Ṭahārah, Vol. 1, pp. 40–41
❖ Question:
Is it permissible to use medicines that contain alcohol, particularly when used for treatment or preventive purposes? Some medicines have minimal quantities of alcohol, while others have more — yet both types are non-intoxicating.
❖ Answer:
✿ Ruling on Alcohol-Based Medicines:
The use of any medicine containing alcohol is not permissible, whether for curative or nutritional purposes.
❖ Prophetic Evidence:
The prohibition is based on a Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
Ṭāriq ibn Suwayd (رضي الله عنه) asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about alcohol. The Prophet ﷺ forbade it.
He then said, “O Messenger of Allah, I prepare it for medicinal purposes.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
“It is not a medicine, but a disease.”
(Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Bāb al-Khamr wa Waʿīd Shāribihā, Section One, p. 309)
✿ Shar‘i Principle:
✔ Alcohol is not allowed for medicinal use in Islam.
✔ Islam prohibits the use of impure and intoxicating substances, even in small quantities, as medicine.
✔ The presence of alcohol in non-intoxicating amounts does not make it permissible.
✔ Summary:
① Medicines containing alcohol are Islamically impermissible, regardless of the amount or whether they intoxicate.
② The Prophet ﷺ clearly stated that alcohol is not a cure, but a disease.
③ It is necessary to avoid such medications and seek permissible alternatives.
📌 Reference:
Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Bāb al-Khamr wa Waʿīd Shāribihā, Section One, p. 309
Tanẓīm Ahl Ḥadīth, Vol. 22, Issue 6
Al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ by ʿAlī Muḥammad Saʿīdī, Jāmi‘ah Saʿīdiyyah, Khanewal, West Pakistan
