that strengthen it and increase its potency until it becomes intoxicating. It then falls under the category of drinks made by combining two ingredients. It is widely reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “forbade combining two ingredients in a drink,” because each strengthens the other. Thus, he forbade combining dates with raisins, fresh dates with dried dates, and similar mixtures.

Scholars disagree about such mixtures when they are not intoxicating, just as they disagree about nabīdh (infused drinks) kept in vessels whose contents do not become potent through fermentation, and about juice and nabīdh after three days. But if a mixture of two ingredients becomes intoxicating, it is forbidden by agreement of these imams.

The boiled drink that ‘Umar permitted was unmixed. If it is mixed with something that increases its potency and two-thirds has evaporated, that is not what ‘Umar permitted. Conditions in some lands may cause a drink to become intoxicating even after two-thirds has evaporated. It is then forbidden if it intoxicates, for intoxication is the criterion for prohibition by agreement of the imams. Whoever claims that ‘Umar or any other Companion permitted an intoxicating drink has falsely attributed this to them.

He—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked:

Concerning someone who says, “According to the school of Imam Abū Hanīfah, small quantities of grape wine and hashish are permissible if they do not cause intoxication”: is he truthful in this particular claim, or is his attribution false? Does someone who considers this lawful become a disbeliever or not? He also stated that drinking a small amount of mazr (a grain-based drink) is permissible. Does it have the same ruling as grape wine in the school of Imam Abū Hanīfah, or does it have a different ruling, as this man claims?