When Do Fruits/Fruit Juice Become Alcohol and Impure?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

When do fruits/fruit juice become alcohol and impure?

Fruits like strawberries/raspberries/grapes and cut fruits like pineapple and mango start to go soft and soggy in the fridge, and at which point does it become impure? Because the alcohol content increases and sometimes the fruit tastes fizzy? Does this matter? Is it impure?

Obviously, if left too long, they will turn to alcohol and smell bad. Is this the point it becomes haram? Same with fruit juice; sometimes it has a fizzy taste.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Fruits, as well as fruit juice, do not become alcohol by merely being left past their freshness period. Furthermore, these types of fruit, even if hypothetically, they were to become alcohol, they are considered non-wine alcohol and are therefore not impure. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]

Prohibited Drinks

Wine (Khamr):

Definition – an alcoholic drink made from dates, grapes, or raisins [Ibid.]

Uncooked –

Grape juice, when left till it, begins to froth and becomes strong and intoxicating. Other scholars added another condition – that its froth dissipates completely. [Ibid.]

Cooked –

Grape juice when cooked down till less than two-thirds remains.[Ibid.]

Grapes and Raisins –

Grapes and raisins that are soaked in water till they become intoxicating, or dates and grapes that are cooked down slightly till they become intoxicating.[Ibid.]

All the above are considered wine and are both prohibited and impure.[Ibid.]

Summary

The fruits you listed do not constitute wine (khamr) and therefore are not impure even if they become strong enough to intoxicate. If they become strong enough to intoxicate (which is highly unlikely), it is only prohibited to eat them if done with the intention of intoxication, to the extent of intoxication (regardless of intention), and in a manner in which intoxicants are taken.

Lastly, note that eating expired foods may be harmful to your health and would be disliked (makruh) if there is a reasonable fear of harm entailed. It is strictly prohibited (haram) if harm is certain.

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.