All alcohol or only wine debate notifying that sales of beer are for non-Muslim customers only Early caliphs distributed cooked wine (
tilā’) to Muslim troops, as the cooking process caused the wine to be nonalcoholic. However, fermentation could resume in the amphorae, and Caliph
Umar II had to prohibit drinking this beverage. Like the
rationalist school of Islamic theology, the
Muʿtazila, early Hanafi scholars upheld the unlawfulness of intoxication, but restricted its definition to fermented juice of grapes or grapes and dates. As a result, alcohol derived by means of honey, barley, wheat and millet such as beer, whisky or vodka was permitted according to some minor faction of followers of
Abu Hanifa and
Abu Yusuf, although all forms of grape alcohol were banned absolutely. (Hanafis traced their view on intoxicants back to
Umar (
d.644) and
Abdullah ibn Masud (
c.653).) This was in stark contrast to other schools of fiqh, which prohibit consumption of alcohol in all its forms.
Averroes, the Muslim
Andalusi polymath and
jurist, explained in his encyclopedia of comparative Islamic jurisprudence the idea of alcohol derived from honey, wheat, barley or corn being
haram when used as an intoxicant, in an amount that intoxicates, but permissible if used in a manner intended for medical purpose, hygiene, perfume, etc.: The distinction between the legal status of wine and non-grape alcoholic beverages was reflected in early Hanafi jurists delineated drinking-related offences into two categories: • Drinking grape-derived wine (punishment applicable on drinking "even a drop"). • Intoxication from non-grape intoxicants (certainly prohibited from a religious-moral perspective, but may or may not qualify for criminal punishment). Since the second category of punishment was specific to the Hanafis (other schools punish drinking regardless of intoxication), they had to come with a legal definition of drunkenness. These definitions ranged from
Ibn Qutaybah's, "[a drunk is he] whose intellect has left him so he does not understand a little or much (anything at all)" to Ibn Nujaym's, "[a drunk is he who] does not know (the difference) between a man and a woman or the earth from the sky". Hanafi understanding of Shariah not only permitted adherents to indulge in alcoholic beverages but they could do so up to a near point of total "annihilation". However, from the 12th century, the Hanafi school embraced the general prohibition of all alcoholic beverages, in line with the other schools.
Alcohol consumption as traditionally allowed Contemporary Islamic scholar
Shahab Ahmed (1966–2015) argued that fiqh prohibition and punishment of consumption of alcoholic beverages notwithstanding, Rudi Matthee also writes that many Muslim elites during the reign of the
Umayyads, the
Abbasids, Islamic Spain (
al-Andalus), and dynasties that ruled Egypt and the eastern, Persianate half of the Muslim world consumed alcohol.
Punishment The Quran does not prescribe a penalty for consuming alcohol. Among
hadith, the only reference for punishment comes from one by
Anas ibn Malik (according to Murtaza Haider of the newspaper/website
Dawn in Pakistan), who is reported to have stated that Muhammad prescribed 40 lashes "administered with two palm branches ... for someone accused of consuming alcohol". According to Muhammad Al-Munajjid, the consensus of classical
fuqaha’ for the punishment for consumption of alcohol is flogging, but scholars do not agree on the number of lashes to be administered; "the majority of scholars are of the view that it is eighty lashes for a free man" and forty for slaves and women. Similarly Murtaza Haider writes, "a consensus (
ijmāʿ) on how to deal with alcohol has eluded Muslim jurists for more than a millennium". The "Maliki, Hanbali, and Hanafi schools" of Islamic jurisprudence consider 80 lashes to be lawful punishment, the Shafi’i school calls for 40 lashes. "The Hadith does not cover the matter in sufficient detail. ... Is it 40 or 80 lashes? Can one substitute palm branches with a cane or leather whips? What constitutes as proof for consumption?" • In
Pakistan the penal code, under "the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd)
Order of 1979, awards 80 lashes to those convicted of consuming alcohol". Non-Muslims may consume alcohol in licensed areas in Pakistan, but violating alcohol regulations there may result in "severe penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and public flogging in some regions". • In Saudi Arabia lashes "can also be part of the sentence" for consuming alcohol, according to the British Embassy. ==Contemporary state laws==