The Explanation of a Report from Abū al-Dardāʾ (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu)

This query was received from a sincere and pious teacher:
“Al-salāmu ʿalaykum. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī there is a statement of Abū al-Dardāʾ (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu): وقال ابو الدرداء فی المری ذبح الخمر النينان والشمس. Could you please explain this? Does fish annul the effect of wine, thereby rendering it lawful?”

The prohibition of khamr (wine) is most severe; those who drink it, serve it, buy or sell it are all accursed. From this it is evident that the Sharīʿah does not permit any dealing with khamr. The question therefore arises: if it is subjected to some process and then used, how is this to be understood? Nowadays, in cooking, wine is often added, and it is claimed that the process eliminates its effect. How then does the Sharīʿah view such use in the preparation of food?

Answer:
The meaning of the aforementioned report is that marī (a particular mixture involving wine), when subjected to salt, fish, and the heat of the sun, undergoes such a transformation that it is considered as if it has been “slaughtered” (dhubiḥa), i.e., rendered lawful.

Through the mixture of salt and the effect of sunlight, the intoxicating quality of wine is removed. For this reason it is said: dhubiḥa al-khamr — it has been “slaughtered,” meaning that it has departed from its original state of prohibition and impurity, and has become permissible. The basis of the prohibition of khamr lies in its intoxicating property; when this property disappears, its ruling also changes accordingly.

In this matter, two well-known opinions of the fuqahāʾ are found:

1. The opinion of permissibility (Ḥanafī and Mālikī schools): If wine loses its intoxicating nature and, through transformation, assumes a new form — such as becoming vinegar — it becomes pure and lawful. Their reasoning is that the cause (ʿillah) of prohibition is intoxication; when that cause ceases, so too does the prohibition.

2. The opinion of prohibition (Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools): According to this view, wine remains impure and prohibited, regardless of what it is mixed with or how it is transformed, even if it is used in food. If the intention is deliberately to render wine lawful, this is impermissible, for with the intention of takhallul (inducing transformation), its prohibition remains in force.

For this reason Ibn Taymiyyah and other scholars maintained that wine becomes lawful and pure only if it changes into vinegar by the act of Allah Himself, not through human manipulation.

If, in contemporary times, wine is added into cooking merely for flavour, while its intoxicating property remains, then this is prohibited by the Sharīʿah. If, however, through some process, the intoxicating quality is completely removed and it is transformed into another substance (such as vinegar), then according to the Ḥanafī and Mālikī scholars its use would be permissible.

But in practice, in most cases today, the addition of wine in food does not fully remove its intoxicating effect. Therefore, abstention and caution is best.

Conclusion:
The essential reason for the prohibition of wine is its intoxicating nature. If that quality remains, no process can make it lawful. But if it is fully removed and the wine is transformed into a new, non-intoxicating substance, then according to some jurists its use is permitted.

—

Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI. Original post: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/6869