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Q & A --> Trade and Transactions --> The Ruling on the Buying and Selling of [Ethyl] Alcohol

Question : A question was asked regarding the buying and selling of ethyl alcohol.

Fatwa in Brief: This is not permitted, as it [ethyl alcohol] is an intoxicant (muskir) and ritually impure (najis).

The Permanent Committee, 13/53

Response:

Any substance that is beneficial to Muslims may be exempted from the general ban on trading in impurities. This is the Hanafi and Zahiri opinion.

Commentary:

Jabir related that the Prophet (upon him be peace) said:

Verily God and His Messenger (upon him be peace) forbade selling alcohol, carrion, pig and idols. It was said: “O Messenger of God, what about the grease of carrion because ships are anointed with it, skins are greased and people light themselves a lamp with it?” He [the Prophet] replied: “No, this is forbidden (haram)”. This hadith is narrated by the group [of 6 main hadith collectors].

Al-Bayhaqi included a hadith, with a sound (sahih) chain of transmission, in which Ibn ‘Umar (r.a.) was asked about [the purity status of] oil into which a mouse had dropped. He [Ibn ‘Umar] replied: use it to temper your pots.

The Prophet (upon him be peace) found a dead sheep owned by Maymuna. He [the Prophet] asked, ‘Aren’t you going to use its skin?’ To which they replied ‘Messenger of God, but it is carrion’. The Messenger of God, said: ‘Yes, but only eating it is haram’”. This hadith is narrated by the group [of the 6 main hadith collectors], bar Ibn Majah.[1]

The majority of scholars rule that the selling of, and trading in, impurities is forbidden (haram). This is on the basis of the first hadith cited above [i.e. that of Jabir] that any contract involving the selling or buying of impurities is invalid.

However, on the basis of the second hadith and that of Ibn ‘Umar, it is permitted (halal) for Muslims to use impure substances for anything other than eating/drinking.

Indeed, according to the Hanafis, any substance that can be used beneficially by Muslims is an exception to the general prohibition on trading in impurities. The Zahiris follow the Hanafis [in this ruling]. They argue that it is permitted to sell excrement [for farming, for instance], and other impure substances used in agriculture, or [in manufacturing] fuel, as well as impure oils, and dyes, as long as the end product is not eaten.

These scholars’ [Hanafis and Zahiris] evidence for this overall ruling is that, if it is legally permitted to use these impure substances, then selling them must also be permitted (halal), providing that such substances are used for purposes other than eating/drinking. And they intepret Jabir’s hadith to mean that the prohibition against trading in impurities applied only in the early days of Islam, when Muslims were still used to eating and drinking them; after Islam had settled in the Muslims’ hearts, however, [these scholars assume that] it became legal to use impure substances for any purpose, other than for eating/drinking.[2]

Dr. Anas Abu Shadi 


[1] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, no. 2221; Muslim, Sahih, 832.

[2] Shaykh ‘Atiyya Saqr, Fatawa Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya, May 1997.