Shaykh al-Islām said, “When the factual circumstances of a crime are self-evident—such as the smell of wine on a person—he is even more deserving of punishment than someone against whom mere testimony is given or who confesses to an act that might be either true or false. The Companions were in unanimous agreement on this point.”

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) added, “ʿUmar and Ibn Masʿūd ruled that the ḥadd is obligatory whenever the odor of wine is detected on a man or anyone else, and no dissenting opinion is known.”

The danger of wine is grave indeed; it is the mount upon which Satan rides to harm the Muslims. Allah the Exalted says, “Satan only wants to sow enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you not then desist?” (Q 5:91).

Wine is the mother of all abominations. The Prophet ﷺ cursed ten parties in connection with it, saying, “May Allah curse wine itself, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, the one who presses it, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who carries it, and the one to whom it is carried.”

Muslims, therefore, must confront this scourge with resolve and courage: cut off its sources and mete out decisive punishment to anyone who consumes it or promotes it.