Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

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:

Dear Burhan,
i really appreciate what you are doing, i wanted to ask if there is any clear ruling in The Quran and The Sunnah that one cannot offer his prayers for 40 days if he drinks alcohol? and if this not true than what Quran and Sunnah has to say about having alcohol? and what if one tries only to just try it and doesnt drink on regular bases? i tried finding the answer for my question in the previoulsy asked question but couldnt succeed so please answer in detail as i am really preturbed at heart because of this issue. 

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Answer:

Drinking of alcohol intoxicant

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.

Q-1: what Quran and Sunnah has to say about having alcohol?

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?

Allah Subhanah in the above aayah clearly declares that ‘khamr’ or all types of intoxicants are the abominable works of Shaitaan, and commands the believers to stay far away from them! The term used by Allah in the Quran to guide the believers to stay away is ‘fajj-tanebu’, commanding the believers that this ‘khamr’ is so hated by Allah for the believers, that they not only should abstain from consuming it, they should stay far away from it! Some scholars have opined that the term ‘fajj-tanebu’ is stronger than the term ‘haraam’, and a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, must not even put himself in a position that he sits with those who consume intoxicants!

Allah and His Messenger (saws) have declared several things haraam (like the flesh of swine, dead animals, gold and silk for the male believers, etc.), but nowhere has it been mentioned that we cannot go near them! But for intoxicants, gambling, idols, and divining arrows… Allah has commanded the believers to stay far away from it!!!

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3672 Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Every intoxicant is khamr (alcohol, wine, etc.), and every intoxicant is 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: “Allah's Messenger, 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 4933 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who casts up the favours he has done, he who is disobedient to parents, and he who is addicted to wine will not enter Paradise."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 580 Narrated by Abud Darda'

My friend (the Prophet(saws)) instructed me: ‘Don't associate anything with Allah even though you are cut into pieces and burnt, and don't abandon the obligatory prayer intentionally, for he who abandon the obligatory prayer intentionally protection (guaranteed to him) because of his being a Muslim will be withdrawn (from him), and don't drink wine for it is the key to every evil.

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.

Q-2: i wanted to ask if there is any clear ruling in The Quran and The Sunnah that one cannot offer his prayers for 40 days if he drinks alcohol?

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3672 Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘Every intoxicant is khamr (wine) and every intoxicant is forbidden. If anyone drinks wine, Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents, Allah will accept his repentance. If he repeats it a fourth time, it is binding on Allah that He will give him tinat al-khabal to drink.’ He was asked: ‘What is tinat al-khabal, O Messenger of Allah (saws)?’ He (saws) replied: ‘Discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell. If anyone serves it to a minor who does not distinguish between the lawful and the unlawful, it is binding on Allah that He will give him to drink the discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell.’

In light of the above authentic hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saws), it is not as if the person cannot offer prayers for forty days; but rather that the sin of consuming intoxicants is so grave in the sight of the Lord All-Mighty, that He will not accept the prayers of the person for forty days unless the person repents.

Q-3: what if one tries only to just try it and doesnt drink on regular bases?

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.”

The Messenger of Allah (saws) has explicitly declared the consuming of all types of intoxicants as ‘haraam’ for the believers; and clearly stated that if the consumption of a considerable quantity of something intoxicates, even a small quantity of that thing will be considered ‘haraam’!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan