the nabīdh (a steeped drink) whose ruling is disputed, saying: “Nabīdh is intoxicating, and every intoxicant is forbidden,” or: “It is wine, and all wine is forbidden.”

Our statement, “Intoxicating nabīdh is wine,” is known from the revealed text, namely the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Every intoxicant is wine.”

Our statement, “All wine is forbidden,” is known from the revealed texts and scholarly consensus. There is no dispute about this; the dispute concerns only the minor premise. It is established in Sahīh Muslim that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Every intoxicant is wine, and all wine is forbidden.”

Another wording reads:

“Every intoxicant is wine, and every intoxicant is forbidden.”

Some people may suppose that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated this in the form prescribed by logic, to demonstrate the conclusion through two premises, as logicians do. Such a supposition betrays great ignorance. His standing, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is far above employing such a method to impart knowledge. Indeed, even those inferior in reason and knowledge to individual scholars of his community would not accept following the method of these logicians. Rather, they regard them as ignorant people proficient only in practical disciplines such as arithmetic, medicine, and the like. As for the universal demonstrative sciences that yield certainty, and the sciences concerning God, they were not qualified practitioners of them. Muslim scholars of rational inquiry have explained this in their books and discussed these people at length.

The point is that Muslims already know that all wine is forbidden, so they have no need to learn this through a syllogism. Some of them were uncertain only about particular kinds of intoxicating drinks, such as nabīdh made from honey, grains, and other ingredients, as reported in the two Sahīh collections from Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī