This excerpt is taken from Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi's book Halal and Haram in Islam, translated into Urdu by Muhammad Tahir Naqash.
Alcohol is not a medicine but a disease:
It is clear from the mentioned texts that Islam has waged a strong war against alcohol, completely forbidding Muslims from it and leaving no room for benefiting from it. In Islam, neither is drinking even a little alcohol permissible, nor can it be bought or sold, nor can it be presented as a gift, nor is it permissible to produce it. Similarly, keeping alcohol in one’s shop or home is not allowed, nor is there any justification for serving it at celebrations or offering it to non-Muslim guests, or mixing it in food and drinks.
As for the issue of using alcohol as medicine, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) forbade it when asked by a person:
إنه ليس بدواء ولكنه داء
“Alcohol is not medicine but a disease.”
Reference: Sahih Muslim, Book of Drinks, Chapter on the Prohibition of Healing with Wine, Hadith No: 1984. Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal (311/4) Hadith No: 18787. Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Medicine, Chapter on Disliked Medicines, Hadith No: 3873. Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Medicine, Chapter on the Prohibition of Healing with Wine, Hadith No: 3500
He also said:
إن الله أنزل الداء والدواء وجعل لكل داء دواء فتداووا ولا تتداووا بحرام
“Allah has sent down both disease and cure, and He has provided a cure for you, so seek treatment, but do not seek treatment with something forbidden.”
Reference: Weak. Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Medicine, Chapter on Disliked Medicines, Hadith No: 3874. Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Al-Bayhaqi (10/5). Nasb al-Rayah by Al-Zaili (285/4). Sharh al-Sunnah by Al-Baghawi, Book of Medicine and Ruqyah, Chapter on Medicine 139/12, Hadith No: 3226, Kanz al-Ummal by Al-Mufti al-Hindi 53/10, Hadith No: 28324
Sayyiduna Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said about intoxicants:
إن الله لم يجعل شفاءكم فيما حرم عليكم
“Allah has not placed a cure for you in what He has forbidden.”
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Drinks, Chapter on Sweet Wine and Honey, commentary before Hadith: 5614 — and Ahmad included it in the Book of Drinks Hadith (130) and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak (218/4)
There is nothing surprising in Islam declaring alcohol and other forbidden things as prohibited for treatment. According to Imam Ibn Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him), the prohibition of something necessitates complete avoidance and distancing from it. If its use for treatment were allowed, it would create desire and mixing, which is completely against the intention of the Shariah.
He further states: “If alcohol were made permissible for treatment, it could become a means of seeking pleasure and enjoyment, especially since people consider it beneficial and healing.”
Ibn Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) also pointed out an important psychological aspect, saying:
To obtain healing from medicine, it is necessary to use it with acceptance, believing that it is beneficial and that the cure Allah has placed in it will bring blessings. But a Muslim believes that alcohol is absolutely forbidden, and this belief contradicts the idea that it is beneficial and a means of healing. With this belief, one cannot have a good opinion of alcohol nor use it with acceptance. Rather, the stronger the faith of a person, the more he will detest alcohol and consider it bad and unpleasant. In such a case, using alcohol will cause illness rather than cure.
Reference: See: Zad al-Ma’ad - Vol. 3, pp. 115-116
Nevertheless, in the view of Shariah, necessity is a reality with its own rulings. Suppose alcohol or something mixed with alcohol is the only cure for a disease that threatens human life and no other medicine is available that can replace it — and I do not think such a situation is possible — and the prescribing person is a Muslim expert physician who is also conscientious about religion, then the principles of Shariah, which are based on facilitating ease and removing hardship, do not forbid its use, provided that this use is limited as much as possible.
The Divine command is:
فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“But whoever is forced by necessity without willful disobedience nor transgressing limits — then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.”
Reference: (Al-Baqarah: 173/2)
