Regarding the extent of the fixed penalty, there are two reports: one states that it is eighty lashes, and the other that it is forty lashes with a whip, as with the other fixed penalties. It has also been said that it is administered with the hands and the edges of garments. He should also be sternly reproached with scathing words and deterrent speech.

If he is given eighty or forty lashes—according to the disagreement between the two reports—and more than that is administered, causing him to die, liability is incurred for his life. Regarding the amount of compensation owed, there are two views, both transmitted by Abū Bakr. The first is that the full blood money is due, because half of his punishment is prescribed by the text while the other half is an addition. This first view is more consistent with Aḥmad’s statements. He explicitly stated, in the chapter on hiring, “If someone is paid to carry a specified number of pounds but carries more, he is liable for the value, and the liability is not waived.”

If he drinks it to quench his thirst, he is still subjected to the fixed penalty, because it does not quench thirst. The same applies if he drinks it as medicine, since he is prohibited from drinking it for medicinal purposes, based on what Aḥmad narrated through his chain of transmission from Ṭāriq ibn Suwayd: “He asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about khamr, saying, ‘I prepare it only as a medicine.’ He replied, ‘It is not a medicine; rather, it is a disease.’”

If he believes nabīdh to be lawful, he is subjected to the fixed penalty, even if he is regarded as upright. An intoxicated person is not subjected to the fixed penalty until he confesses to drinking an intoxicant, or two witnesses testify against him that he drank it voluntarily, knowing that it was intoxicating.