# Did Abu Hanifa allow drinks with a little alcohol?

*Abu Hanifa on mildly fermented drinks: a Quran-oriented way of thinking*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/rtwywca2-pq/s/16/
- Date: 2021-01-29 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Shaykh Atabek Shukurov | Mortgages, Madhabs & Molvi-ism | MindTrap 48 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:12:59–1:16:23)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtwyWCa2-pQ&t=4379s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/rtwywca2-pq/

**Topics:** Intoxicants and substances; The Hanafi school and Imam Abu Hanifa

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The guest says Abu Hanifa's ruling that mildly fermented non-wine drinks are not haram shows he followed the Quran over reports; Mufti Abu Layth says the lesson is his way of thinking.

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth raises the early Hanafi position on drinks other than wine. The guest jokes about it, then says the position shows Abu Hanifa was Quran-oriented: hadith make all of it haram, but the Quran does not support that, so where reports contradicted the Quran he disregarded them. Mufti says that khamr in the Quran refers specifically to wine, and that Abu Hanifa held that a mildly fermented drink which two glasses of does not make one drunk should not be haram, a view that brought the Hanafis a backlash for two or three hundred years. The guest adds that by Abu Hanifa's reasoning liquid medicines containing some alcohol are mubah because they do not intoxicate. Mufti says the point is not the topic itself but the imam's way of thinking, and that he was ahead of his time.

## Sources and names cited

- Shaykh Atabek Shukurov (guest)
- Abu Hanifa
- khamr
- nabidh
- mubah

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:12:59–1:16:23)

[1:12:34] Okay. But early early Zafar and those they said no it's it's not potential but it should be actual and it's not because of changing the religion. So even if someone is Muslim and he's causing threat so he should be punished. Yeah. So this they saw this more as like treason or social instability not about the religion. No no no exactly that what was the case.

[1:12:58] Yeah. But then later han they became like more like a shi inclination. So it became very widely spread. Yeah. I mean the the early hanafi is another masala that's quite notoriously they're known for is the little speaking of the pub. Yeah yeah yeah. So the having a little No, no, no, no, no.

[1:13:23] Look, it's our secret. You should not, you know, speak. Sorry, sorry, sorry. After after the after the discussion, we'll just go out there. You know, that's later on. And we're going to open a special bar me and [laughter] so this which you are mentioning it clearly clarify that Abu Hanifh was Qurani orientated because a hadith show you know show that all of that is haram but Quran does not support that.

[1:13:53] Do you remember the meaning because Quran specifies only if you remember? Yeah yeah of course but other things taken from the hadith. So it again confirmed that Abuhanifh was mainly Quran orientated scholar you know of course and in this in this issue for example contradicting with Quran so he he just disregarded them. Yeah that's an amazing point. I mean you see people put the topic you know it's not about the topic it's about the way of thinking.

[1:14:24] Yeah. Like just look this is such a controversial topic. Yeah. Alcohol. Now think about it. Look how controversial it is today. How controversial do you think it was in the time when the which is only likeund and so many years after the prophet I mean it would have been so contentious. Yeah. And in that time I imbuif which is used in the Quran refers specifically to wine.

[1:14:59] Yes. So wine is haram. But what about other intoxicants? If they are mildly fermented, they're not actually, you know, they have a a very low percentage of alcohol in them, the chemical alcohol, they're not like wine and so on. So what today I suppose beers and things like this, but he said that where's the to say it's haram, you know, looking at the Quran and the Islamic principles.

[1:15:26] So he said, "Well, if you know you drank an average glass or two glasses of of this particular drink and it doesn't really two glasses doesn't really get you drunk, then that shouldn't be haram." Yeah. Yeah. Uh and you can imagine the stir. This caused a huge stir, didn't it? Huge backlash for the the hanafies. I think two 300 years they still faced, you know, this for two 300 years.

[1:15:52] Yeah. Yeah. No for example in our time for example ibuprofen and all of them liquid for example quite a lot of liquid medicines so it will have some certain amount of alcohol for example yeah so Abuhanif would say it's it's mouba actually because it doesn't intoxicate you actually yeah wow but it's just the way of what I what I want is don't f don't focus just on the issue try and get into the mind see how is this imam thinking he was ahead of his time and Yeah.

[1:16:22] Speaking of Imm Abuhanifh and his companions, she is there a a favorite that you have from his companions because you quoted Imam Zufur a moment ago. I'm just curious if No, no, I I don't I do have quite a few actually, but I would just give you Imam Zufar. Imam Zufur my main source of uh you can say why why so why Imam Zufur? uh because uh um uh in when you read the biography of Abu Hanifh he only gave main like to teach and to judge I mean to I mean make a statement about the issues it was zufar okay and even when Abu Ysef went

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment rtwyWCa2-pQ/s/16. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/rtwywca2-pq/s/16/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.