This excerpt is taken from Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi's book Halal and Haram in Islam, translated into Urdu by Muhammad Tahir Naqqash.
Alcohol:
Khamr (intoxicating wine) is an alcoholic substance that causes intoxication.
It goes without saying how many harmful effects wine has on a person's intellect, body, religion, and worldly life. It brings numerous destructions to a family. It is also as clear as the sun that it is extremely dangerous and deadly for the material, moral, and spiritual life of a nation and society.
A researcher has rightly said that nothing has harmed humans more than wine. If the statistics of those who become insane or suffer incurable diseases due to wine, those who commit murder and bloodshed, those who suffer from nervous disorders and stomach ailments, and those who lose their property and become destitute and helpless are collected from hospitals around the world, the numbers would reach such a dangerous level that any advice given in comparison would seem insufficient.
In the era of Jahiliyyah (ignorance), Arabs were fond of and addicted to wine. They had nearly one hundred names for wine in their language, and their poetry frequently mentioned the types of wine, its characteristics, the cup and goblet, and the gatherings of merriment. When Islam arrived, it adopted a very wise method of training and gradually declared it completely forbidden.
First, it prohibited praying in a state of intoxication. Then it made clear that the sin of wine outweighs its benefit. Finally, the comprehensive verse of Surah Al-Ma'idah was revealed, which gave the definitive ruling on wine as follows:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنْصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ 90 إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ فِي الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلَاةِ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ
"O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist
Every intoxicating thing is khamr (wine):
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not give importance to what the wine is made from, but rather considered its effect, i.e., intoxication, as significant. Therefore, anything that has the power to cause intoxication is khamr (wine). Regardless of what name people have given it or from what it is prepared, in view of this reality of wine, beer and similar things are haram (forbidden).
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about the ruling on wine made from honey, corn, and barley, he gave a very comprehensive answer:
كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام
"Every intoxicating thing is khamr, and every intoxicating thing is forbidden."
Reference: Muslim, Book of Drinks, Chapter explaining that every intoxicant is khamr, Hadith: 2003, and the wording is his, and it is also narrated by Bukhari in the Book of Expeditions, Chapter on the sending of Abu Musa and Mu'adh to Yemen, Hadith: 4343 with slight variation
And Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) announced from the pulpit of the Messenger (peace be upon him):
الخمر ما خامر العقل
"Khamr (wine) is that which covers the mind."
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Drinks, Chapter on what has been narrated that khamr is what covers the mind, Hadith: 5588, Muslim, Book of Tafsir, Chapter on the revelation of the prohibition of khamr, Hadith: 3032
Intoxicating substances are forbidden, whether in small or large amounts:
Islam has categorically forbidden alcohol and has not considered the quantity, whether less or more, so that a person's steps do not falter on this path and he does not adopt decline. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
ما أسكر كثيره فقليله حرام
"What intoxicates in large quantities, a small quantity of it is also forbidden."
Reference: Musnad Ahmad (343/3) Abu Dawood Kitab al-Ashriba Bab Ma Ja'a Fi al-Sukr, Hadith: 3681, Tirmidhi Kitab al-Ashriba Bab Ma Ja'a Ma Askar Kathirah Fa Qalilahu Haram, Hadith: 1865, Ibn Majah Kitab al-Ashriba Bab Ma Askar Kathirah Fa Qalilahu Haram Hadith: 3393
He also said:
ما أسكر الفرق منه فملء الكف منه حرام
"What intoxicates in the amount of a Firq (a measure equal to sixteen Ratl), even forty times that amount is forbidden."
Reference: Musnad Ahmad 131/6 Abu Dawood, same reference, Hadith: 3687. Tirmidhi same reference Hadith: 1866
