the amount that causes intoxication. Small amounts that do not cause intoxication are not forbidden. As for grape juice, once it ferments, becomes potent, and produces froth, it is khamr, of which both small and large quantities are forbidden by the consensus of the Muslims.

Those who hold the “second position” maintain that only what is made from grapes is called khamr. They also say that when drinks made from dates or raisins are uncooked and intoxicating, both small and large quantities are forbidden, though they are not called khamr. If cooked even slightly, however, they become permissible. As for grape juice, if it is cooked while intoxicating, it does not become permissible unless two-thirds of it evaporates and one-third remains. Once it has become khamr, however, it remains impermissible even if cooked, provided it is still intoxicating; there is no disagreement on this.

The “first position,” held by the majority of Muslim scholars, is the correct one, supported by the Quran, the Sunnah, and sound reasoning. Allah Most High says in His Book:

“Intoxicants, gambling, sacrificial altars, and divining arrows are nothing but defilement from Satan’s handiwork, so avoid them that you may succeed.”

“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?”

In the language of the Arabs addressed by the Quran, the term “khamr” encompassed intoxicating drinks made from dates and other ingredients; it was not restricted to intoxicating drinks made from grapes. Authentic reports establish that when khamr was prohibited in the Prophet’s city of Medina—its prohibition coming after the Battle of Uhud, in the third year after the Hijrah—none of it was made from grape juice, for Medina had no