wine, even going so far as to exile people for it, because the people of his time were less careful to avoid it than the Companions had been during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. What, then, of an age in which neither the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, is present? Undoubtedly, its people are less careful to avoid forbidden things. How, then, could this avenue to sin be closed to those pious people yet opened to others who are less pious than they were?

As for the reported saying:

“The best of your vinegar is vinegar made from your wine,”

the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not say these words. Whoever attributes them to him is mistaken. Nevertheless, the statement itself is true, since wine vinegar contains no water. What is meant, however, is vinegar whose transformation Allah Himself initiated. Moreover, any wine made from grapes without water is like wine vinegar.

Scholars have described the process of making vinegar: something that sours the grapes is added at the outset, so that they do not first turn into wine.

For this reason, they disagreed over the wine produced by a vinegar maker: must it be poured away? There are two opinions within the school of Ahmad and elsewhere. The stronger of the two is that it must be poured away like any other wine, for Islamic law accords no wine protected status. If any wine deserved such protection, it would have been the wine purchased for orphans before the prohibition. Allah has commanded that wine be avoided, so it is impermissible to keep it, and no wine should be present in a Muslim’s home at all. Doubt arose only concerning its conversion into vinegar, because some scholars believed that this made it fit for use, just as tanning does an impure hide.

Some of them said: “Keeping it is impermissible, whether for conversion into vinegar or for any other purpose. But