Liquor is Absolutely Haraam

Mar 15, '13 12:20 PM for everyone

It makes no difference if the quantity consumed is less or more; liquor is absolutely Haraam; whether pure or mixed. Thus even if a person licks a single drop it is Haraam whether he gets intoxicated or not. In the same way if liquor is consumed by mixing it with other things, it is still Haraam.

Allama Hilli (r.a.) has quoted an authentic tradition from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.), that he said: "If more of it intoxicates, then to consume even a bit of it is Haraam." A person enquired from Imam (a.s.), "but I dilute it with water?" Imam (a.s.) told him, "A Haraam thing does not become halaal by mixing it with water. Fear Allah, refrain from partaking of it." (Mustanad ush Shia) Umar Ibne Hanzala says that he enquired from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.): "Does it matter if as much water is mixed in wine so that it is no more intoxicating?" Imam (a.s.) replied: "No! By Allah it is not. Even if a drop of wine falls into a well full of water it does not become halaal. Rather the whole well has to be emptied." (Furu-al-Kafi) Ibne Wahab has narrated this tradition from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.): "Every intoxicant is Haraam. Something that intoxicates only when consumed in large quantities, is also not allowed to be taken even in a lesser quantity." The narrator says, "I asked, 'Then if a Haraam thing is mixed in a huge quantity of water, does it become permissible?'"

Imam (a.s.) flailed his arms twice, indicating emphatically that it does not. (Furu Al Kafi) Liquor is harmful irrespective of the quantity consumed. Even if a drop of the poison enters the body it has harmful effects on it, whether apparent immediately or not. If you mix a few buckets of red dye in a pond of water, the whole pond water turns red. But on the other hand if you throw a glassful of ink in a pond of clear water it would not bring about any appreciable change in its appearance, yet, could you say that the ink has not affected the water at all?  Certainly not! If the water is subjected to the process of distillation the glassful of ink could be recovered. If it enters the body it will cause harm. A person who tastes liquor, one drop at a time, soon gets addicted to it till he needs to drink more and more of it. Consequently a stage is reached when he is unable to rid himself of this habit howsoever hard he may try. A stone is eroded when water drips upon it over a period of time. Similarly alcohol erodes the liver and other cells of the body. Grapes, raisins and dates, when unfermented have medicinal properties and are wholesome and beneficial to the body. But as soon as fermentation sets in these fruits and wine is produced they turn harmful and prohibited. Intoxicant Liquids If an intoxicant is a liquid in its natural state, in addition to its being Haraam, it is also najis (impure). But if an intoxicating substance is solid in its natural form and it is available as a solution, like opium or hemp for consumption, it is not najis, but its consumption is Haraam like that of wine.