PLEASE CAN YOU ADVISE IF IT IS HALAAL TO USE VINEGAR OR NOT.
Mu' meneen
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As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
AS SALAAM MALAYKUM,
PLEASE CAN YOU ADVISE IF IT IS HALAAL TO USE VINEGAR OR NOT.
ALSO WITH REGARDS TO ALCOHOL IS IT STATED IN THE QURAN AS BEING HARAAM, OR IS
IT INTOXICATION THAT IS HARAAM.
THANK YOU
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Answer:
Vinegar alcohol
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Your Question: ALSO WITH REGARDS
TO ALCOHOL IS IT STATED IN THE QURAN AS BEING HARAAM, OR IS IT INTOXICATION
THAT IS HARAAM.
Allah and His Messenger (saws) have prohibited every type or kind of khamr (intoxicants), and because the consumption of
alcohol intoxicates, it will be included in the category of khamr.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verses 90-91: O you who have believed! Khamr (all
types of intoxicants), games of chance, idols,
and divining arrows are all abominable works of Shaitaan; therefore, stay (far) away from these so that
you may attain success. Indeed, Shaitaan
seeks to sow enmity and hatred among you by means of khamr
(intoxicants) and gambling, and to
prevent you from the Remembrance of Allah and from Salaah. Will you not, then, abstain from these
things?
The
honest truth is that the Glorious Quran does not term or specify khamr or intoxicants as haraam;
but rather the term the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord has used for its prohibition
is fajj-tanebu which means to absolutely eschew,
shun, avoid, or stay far-far away from it!
In light
of the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, the best
amongst the scholars and jurists in Islam have deduced that the term and
command of the Quran fajj-tanebu (to stay far away)
is stronger than the term haraam (prohibited)! For a thing can be declared haraam (blood, meat of un-slaughtered animals, flesh of
swine, etc.) but if one happens to approach it, there is no harm as long as one
does not consume it. But when Allah Subhanah Commands the believers to fajj-tanebu
or absolutely eschew, shun, avoid, and stay far away from something, one can
only imagine how hated and despised these evils of intoxicants, gambling,
idols, and diving arrows are in the Sight of Allah Subhanah!
There are
several authentic and established ahaadiths of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) whereby in addition to the Quranic
Command of fajj-tanebu, the Messenger of Allah
(saws) specified all khamr or intoxicants as
absolutely haraam for the believers.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith
3672 Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Every intoxicant is khamr (alcohol, wine, drugs, etc.), and every intoxicant is haraam.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith
3679 Narrated by Aisha
I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Every intoxicant is haraam; if a quantity of
anything causes intoxication, a handful
of it is (also) haraam.
Sahih Muslim Hadith 4962 Narrated by Jabir
ibn Abdullah
Allah's Messenger (saws) said:
Every intoxicant is haraam! Verily Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, made
a covenant to those who drank intoxicants to make them drink Tinat al-Khabal. The
companions asked: O Allah's Messenger (saws), what is Tinat
al-Khabal? He
(saws) said: It is the sweat of the denizens of
Hell, or the discharge of the denizens
of Hell.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
2776 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger (saws) invoked the curse of Allah on ten people
in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one
who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one
who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid
for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.
Your Question: CAN YOU ADVISE IF
IT IS HALAAL TO USE VINEGAR OR NOT.
Sahih Muslim Hadith 5093 Narrated by Jabir
ibn Abdullah
Allah's Messenger (saws) asked his family for condiment. They
(the members of his household) said: We have nothing with us but vinegar. He (saws) asked for it, began to eat it, and
then said: Vinegar is a good condiment, vinegar is a good condiment.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
4222 Narrated by Umm Hani
The Prophet (saws) came in to visit me and asked whether I had
anything. When I replied that I had nothing but some dry bread and vinegar he
said, "Produce it; a house in which there is vinegar is not devoid of
condiments."
Sahih Muslim Hadith 5091 Narrated by Aisha
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: The best of condiments is
vinegar.
Normal
vinegar in its essence is not amongst any of the prohibited products; thus its
consumption is absolutely legal and lawful for the believers.
If one
adds something forbidden to, or ferments the substance to make a type of
vinegar which intoxicates when consumed, or any type of intoxicants are used
in the making of the vinegar, then indeed that vinegar would be considered as khamr, and the consumption of this specific vinegar
would be prohibited for the believers.
Sahih Muslim Hadith 4891 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger (saws) was asked about the use of Khamr from which (a specific type of) vinegar is prepared.
He (saws) said: No, it is prohibited.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allahs Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me alone.
Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
