Chapter: Defining the Intoxicant

The word muskir (intoxicant) is an active participle derived from askara—“a drink intoxicated him,” meaning it rendered its consumer sukrān (drunk); the drunk person is the opposite of one who is sober. In juristic usage, sukr (intoxication) denotes the clouding and confusion of the mind.

Wine (khamr) is prohibited by the Quran, the Sunnah, and the unanimous agreement of the scholars. Allah the Exalted says:
“O you who believe, intoxicants, gambling, sacrificial stones, and divining arrows are only an abomination of Satan’s handiwork; so avoid them so that you may prosper. Satan only seeks to sow enmity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you not then desist?” (Al-Maʾidah 5:90–91).

Khamr is whatever veils the intellect, regardless of the substance from which it is produced.

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere it is related: “Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is unlawful,” and: “Every drink that intoxicates is forbidden.” Thus, every beverage—