Book of Drinks

Every beverage that intoxicates in large quantity is forbidden in every quantity, and its drinker is subject to the ḥadd—except for a minor, an insane person, a hostile non-Muslim enemy, a dhimmī, someone under temporary safe-conduct, and, according to the relied-upon view, one who was coerced into drinking. If a person truly did not know that what he drank was wine, the ḥadd is not imposed, even if he is a recent convert; but when someone who is otherwise liable claims, “I did not know it was forbidden,” or, “I did not know there is a ḥadd for it,” he is nevertheless punished.

The ḥadd is incurred for drinking the dregs of wine, but not for eating bread whose dough was kneaded with wine, nor for a paste in which wine is an ingredient. The same ruling, on the sounder opinion, applies when wine is taken by rectal injection or as a nasal snuff. If a person chokes on a morsel and has no other liquid, he may swallow it down with wine; yet the more reliable view is that wine remains unlawful even for medicine or to relieve thirst.

The prescribed penalty for a free person is forty lashes, and for a slave twenty, administered with a whip, the hand, sandals, or the hem of a garment; another view makes the whip obligatory. Should the ruler deem it appropriate to raise the number to eighty lashes, that is permissible according to the sounder position; anything beyond that counts as discretionary punishment, although another opinion still treats the excess as part of the ḥadd.

The ḥadd is established by the offender’s confession or by the testimony of two men, not by the mere smell of wine, visible drunkenness, or vomit. In confession or testimony it suffices to state, “He drank wine,” though another view requires proof that he acted knowingly and voluntarily. The punishment is not carried out while he is intoxicated.

Any implement between a small branch and a stick, whether fresh or dry, may be used. The blows are distributed over the body, avoiding the vital areas and the face—and, according to one view, the head as well. The lashes are not struck with excessive force, the offender is not stripped, and the blows follow one another closely enough to deter and chastise.

Section

A discretionary punishment (taʿzīr) is imposed for every sin that entails neither a specific ḥadd nor an expiation, whether by imprisonment, beating, slapping, or reprimand, the judge exercising his own discretion