Alcohol 0%, is it allowed in Islam?

 

Many ask about this question especially those who lives in minority muslim area that consume alcohol in daily basis, such as Europe, America, and some countries in Asia continent. Is it allowed for muslim to drink beverage with the name such as Beer, or anything else that contain 0% of alcohol that whatever how much we drank, it is not intoxicating.

Before we get to the main question, we have to make it clear that, the name of the beverage is not the issued in this topic. The prophet himself said in the hadith narrated by Abu Daud:

 ليشرَبنَّ ناسٌ من أمَّتي الخمرَ يُسمُّونَها بغيرِ اسمِها

Meaning: Indeed, many people among my ummah will drink khamr, and they will name it other than that (khamr).

Imam Nasa’i also narrated such hadith in different word but in the same meaning.

So, as long as it is khamr, whatever the name, it is does not matter. It is still haram in Islam. (For further explanation about what is khamr and what it difference with alcohol or nabidz, you can check here: https://www.al-haky.com/2022/07/Alcohol-Khamr-Nabidz-Halal-Haram.html )

But in this case, is beverage 0% alcohol is khamr? Or even daring question, is beverage that has 0,05% alcohol which, if we drink it no matter how much is it, we will never intoxicated by it, is still haram?

Here, there are three fatwas issued by prominent figures and also a well known religious institution that we will represent.

1.      According fatwa issued by Dar Ifta Mishriyah, they stated “it is lawful to drink beverages that have been mixed with minute quantities of an intoxicating substance, and which do not intoxicate even if drunk in large amounts”. According to them, those kind of beverage does not come under the hadith narrated by Jabir RA, in which the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Any beverage that intoxicates when taken in large quantities is unlawful both in small and large quantities.” This is due the fact that beverage 0% alcohol, or even 0,05% alcohol, will not make whoever drink it and no matter how much is it, become intoxicated.

2.      Yusuf al-Qardhawi also said almost the same thing. He said, if there is a beer that has alcohol free in it and the muslim who wants to drink it really sure about that, then it is allowed for them to drink it. But if there is even a little amount of alcohol in the beverage which if they drink large amount causing intoxicating, then it is prohibited by Islam. Furthermore, he added, if muslim has a doubt in the beverage, it always better to avoid it. Like in the hadith said “leave what make you hesitate, to the thing that does not make you hesitate”. Because those are the things that is in criteria of syubhat (suspicions).

3.       Ibnu Utsaimin said that there are two kinds of beer, the first one is intoxicating beer that is haram to sell and to buy. The second is non-intoxicating beer, either because it is completely free of alcohol, or because it contains a minuscule amount of alcohol that does not reach the level of causing intoxication no matter how much a person drank it. In this case, it is permissible.

To sum up, the beer with alcohol free in it, is allowed by Islam for muslim. Even tough, in our opinion, it is better for us to not consume it as habit or even avoid and never touch it if it is possible. This because drinking beer, even it is free of alcohol, there is an aspect of tasyabbuh (resembling) with something bad, sin-full, and hated by Allah. Wallahu a’lam.

 

Reference

1.      Syekh Yusuf al-Qardhawi, Fatwa al-Mu’ashirah, volume 1, page 649.

2.      https://islamqa.info/en/answers/33763/drinking-beer-in-islam-halal-or-haram

3.      https://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=6632

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