Drinking herbal tea which contains a little amount of alcohol

26-4-2006 | IslamWeb

Question:

I bought some herbal tea and it contains little amount alcohol and I did not know about it. My question is it allow to drink it even it does not make any one sick or intoxication. I read on Fatwa place regarding alcohol in coca cola: What is clear, therefore, is that the alcohol dissolves during the chemical interaction which results in the production of a new substance. We have then to apply the Islamic rule which states that a change of substance may lead to changing its position with regard to permissibility or otherwise. This rule applies to all substances and it is universally agreed by all Muslim scholars. In this connection, I may mention that when any intoxicant drink is turned into vinegar as a result of a chemical process, it becomes permissible to use by Muslims. What we are using here is vinegar, not an intoxicant drink. Please advise.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

It is not permissible to consume something which contains alcohol or other intoxicants whether the consumer becomes intoxicated or not and whether this led to a disease or not, as this is using intoxicants which one must get rid of. Allaah Says (what means): {O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone altars [to other than Allaah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.}[Quran 5:90]. Therefore, one must avoid any intoxicant whether it is a small or big quantity.

As regards the existence of alcohol in coca cola drink, then we are not aware of this, and we have not come across any statement of trustworthy experts on this issue. So, in principle it is permissible to consume coca cola unless there is a reason of prohibition like being an intoxicant or causing harm.

With regard to transforming alcohol to another substance, then the jurists agreed that if wine is transformed to another substance without any treatment, then it takes the ruling of the substance to which it was transformed, because the reason of its prohibition is intoxication, and this reason disappeared, and the ruling depends on the reason which makes it prohibited, and when there is no reason for its prohibition then it is not forbidden.

Nonetheless, the jurists differed in opinion about wine being transformed to another substance with a treatment, the most preponderant opinion is that it is not permissible to treat it; this is the view of the Shaafi'ee and Hanbali schools, and the narration of Ibn Al-Qaasim from Maalik because when the Prophet was asked about taking wine as vinegar, he replied: "No." [Muslim] Furthermore, the Prophet ordered us to spill intoxicants, and Allaah ordered us to absolutely avoid them, and if we treat them we are not avoiding them.

Allaah Knows best.