Question : A question was asked regarding [the validity of] using ethyl alcohol in perfumes and/or in other things.

Fatwa in Brief: The [simple] answer is that this is not permitted.

The Permanent Committee, 13/54-55

Shaykh Sa‘id ‘Abd al-‘Azim, www.alsalafway.com

Response:

The jurists disagree as to whether or not ethyl alcohol is ritually impure (najis). Its usage in medicine, sterilization, medical analyses, perfume and other things has [long since] become widespread. There is considerable legal evidence to support the opinion that it is pure (tahir).

Commentary:

The ruling on whether or not one can use perfume saturated in ethyl alcohol depends on the legal ruling of alcohol itself: is it ritually impure (najis) or pure (tahir)? On the principle that all intoxicants befuddle the mind and are thus prohibited (haram), the scholars agree that alcohol/grape wine (khamr)   should not be imbibed. They are divided, however, as to the ritual purity status of the grape wine (khamr) itself.

The four Imams [of the Sunni law schools] agree that intoxicating alcohol is impure. They base their opinion on the following Qur’anic verse:

“O Ye who believe! Strong drink [Arabic: khamr: “wine”/”alcohol”] and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of Satan’s handiwork. Leave it aside in order than ye may succeed”. (Q. 5:90)

Some of the pious predecessors disagree with the majority on this matter. Among these are included Imam Rabi‘ah, the shaykh of Imam Malik, al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, al-Muzni and others. Each of these scholars ruled that grape wine (khamr) is ritually pure [though prohibited to consume]. Their evidence was that, when it was declared prohibited (haram), the Companions spilled out the existing quantities of wine in the roads of Madina. These scholars said that, had grape wine been ritually impure [rather than merely forbidden to drink], the Companions would not have done this. The Prophet would not have allowed grape wine to be disposed of in this way, just as he prohibited Muslims from urinating or excreting in the road. Hence [according to this minority] alcohol (kuhul) is ritually pure.

These scholars [who say that ethyl alcohol is pure] must respond to the evidence of the majority [who say that it is impure]. The latter group supports its decision on the basis of the above verse [i.e. Q. 5:90]. The former group declares that, here, the meaning of the “impurity” [attached to alcohol] is metaphorical/ethical (hukmiyya). Thus, it is like the impurity attached to the polytheists (mushrikin) in the following verse:

“The idolaters only are unclean (innama al-mushrikun najis)”. (Q. 9: 28)

There is, of course, no doubt that all prohibited substances/ acts are metaphorically/ethically impure. What lends strength to this argument [of alcohol possessing metaphorical/ethical rather than ritual impurity] is that all the other subjects of the [previous] verse [5:90] – gambling, idols and divining arrows – are described as “filthy” (“rijis”). Yet, no one has ever considered these things as sources of actual and substantive impurity (najasa ‘ayniyya); rather they have been treated traditionally as forms of ethical impurities. In this sense [and according to this line of thinking] alcohol cannot be considered a source of actual or substantive impurity. Rather, on the basis of this Qur’anic verse, it is only metaphorically/ethically impure. In contrast, the opinion [of the majority] – that alcohol is a source of actual and substantive impurity – requires further evidence.

Among the recent jurists to describe khamr as ritually pure are al-Shawkany, al-San‘ani (who wrote Subul as-Salam), Sudayq Hasan Khan (in his work, al-Rawda al-Bahiyya), and shaykh Muhammad Rashid Rida. Indeed, as Rashid Rida points out, Muslim scholars differentiate between two types of alcohol: khamr (wine distilled from grapes) and nabidh (wine that is not distilled from grapes). While there is no doubt that it contains alcohol, in Abu Hanifa’s view, nabidh is pure. He also notes that saying that a substance has alcohol in it is not the same as describing this substance as [unadulterated] alcohol. [So, to return to the subject of perfume] No scholar describes perfume as ritually impure (najis), even those [the majority] who consider grape wine (khamr) as a form of impurity.

Ultimately, as long as this matter provokes disagreement among the jurists – which first occurred after ethyl alcohol was used for medicine, sterilization, medical analyses, perfumes and other things – we incline towards the opinion that ethyl alcohol is ritually pure (tahir). Accordingly, it is not required for a person wearing cologne [or perfume, that contains alcohol] on his body, or clothes to wash these before praying. And his prayers are valid if he does not wash.[1]

According to Ibn al-‘Uthaymin: Regarding [the usage of] perfumes that contain alcohol, we distinguish between them along two lines. [First] If there is only a small percentage of alcohol contained in a perfume, such as 5% or less, there is no harm in using it; and Muslims should not be worried if they do so. If there is a higher percentage of alcohol than this, however, then perhaps some harm is caused [to the wearer]. Hence, people are advised not to use substances with a higher alcohol content [than 5%], except where there is a medical need for doing so, when sterilizing wounds (jiruh) for instance. Ultimately, its use [other than in drinking/eating] is not forbidden to Muslims.[2]

Dr. Anas Abu Shadi