in large amounts is forbidden even in small amounts. They regard it as khamr, whatever its ingredients—grains, fruits, or anything else—whether grapes, dates, wheat, barley, mares’ milk, or otherwise; whether uncooked or cooked; and whether two-thirds, one-third, one-half, or some other proportion has evaporated. Whenever a large amount intoxicates, a small amount is forbidden, without disagreement among them.

Nevertheless, they accept what is authentically reported from ‘Umar. When ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, came to Syria and wished to prepare a drink for the Muslims that would not intoxicate even in large amounts, he boiled the juice until two-thirds had evaporated and one-third remained, becoming like thick fruit syrup. He dipped his finger into it, found it thick, and said, “It looks like tilā’.” He meant the paste used to coat camels, so they called this drink “tilā’.”

What ‘Umar permitted, then, was not intoxicating. Abū Bakr Abd al-Azīz ibn Ja‘far, the associate of al-Khallāl, stated that it was permissible by the consensus of the Muslims. This rests on its being non-intoxicating. None of the aforementioned imams said that it was permissible despite being intoxicating.

However, “confusion” arose because this boiled drink may become intoxicating for various reasons. One is that it may not have been thoroughly boiled. In describing its preparation, they stated that it should first be boiled until its scum is removed, then boiled further until two-thirds has evaporated. If two-thirds evaporates while the scum is still in it, less than two-thirds of the drink itself has evaporated, because the scum then forms part of what has not evaporated. Another reason is that spices and other ingredients may be added to the boiled drink