and is to be asked to repent; if he repents, then well and good; otherwise, he is to be executed—whether it is made from grapes, barley, wheat, dates, or anything else.
The issue of whether wine is impure
The majority of scholars—including the four imams, and this was also the view preferred by Shaykh al-Islam—hold that it is impure (1). They cite the saying of Allah, Most High:
“O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, sacrificial altars, and divining arrows are but filth from Satan’s handiwork.” [al-Ma'idah 5:90]
Rijs means impurity, as evidenced by His saying, Most High:
“Say: I do not find, in what has been revealed to me, anything forbidden for one to eat except carrion, spilled blood, or the flesh of swine—for it is indeed impure.” [al-An'am 6:145]
There is no objection to its originally being wholesome, then becoming impure due to the cause of intoxication—just as a person eats food that is wholesome and pure, then it comes out foul and impure.
They also cite the saying of Allah, Most High:
“And their Lord will give them a purifying drink.” [al-Insan 76:21]
That is, in Paradise; thus, this indicates that it is not so in this world.
The correct view, however, is that it is not impure. The evidence for this is as follows:
- The hadith of Anas: “When wine was prohibited, the people went out and poured it into the streets” (2). The streets used by Muslims must not be used as places for pouring out impurities. Hence, it is forbidden for a person to urinate in the road or to pour impurity into it; there is no difference in this regard between