How Is Ethanol Considered Halal in Food and Drinks for Pleasure?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I read your fatwa on ethanol and have a follow-up question. Since ethanol often comes from wheat, barley, honey, or maize—and Imam Muhammad (Allah have mercy on him) considered alcohol from these sources haram—the fatwa follows his view due to the prevalence of fasad, as noted in al-Binaya. Based on the Ifta principle of following the Rajih Qawl, how is ethanol considered halal in food and drinks for pleasure, especially when halal alternatives are available? Jazakumullah Khayran.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The answer lies in differentiating between alcohol being used as an intoxicant and alcohol being used in a non-intoxicating manner as an ingredient.
Trace amounts of ethanol are often permitted not to override Imam Muhammad’s (Allah have mercy on him) view. Still, because it’s not used in large amounts, or for pleasure, or intoxication, and it’s chemically transformed or diluted enough to lose its khamr status in the legal sense.
It would be religiously superior, where reasonably possible, to avoid the varieties containing such alcohol to respect the differences of opinion on the matter. A cautious approach is valid where halal alternatives exist; abstaining is a personal choice rooted in mindfulness (taqwa).
The dispensation applies to alcohols that are non-wine, namely, those not extracted from grapes, dates, or raisins.
[Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab; Usmani, Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim ]
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
