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:

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 Allah’s 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,

Burhan