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:

if husband drinks alcohol what can the wife do if he chooses to do so without getting intoxicated so always within limit

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Husband drinks alcohol

The time to investigate, check and verify the character and the practice of the deen of a person is before one decides to marry them, not after one has married them!

Respected Sister, if after your very best efforts, your husband does not desist from openly transgressing the Prescribed Boundaries of Allah and insists on drinking alcohol, you have two lawful options in Islam:

Bear his evil habit with patience with the conviction that justice will be served and you will get your full and due retribution for your patience and steadfastness in the Presence of your Lord Most Just, Most Supreme on that Inevitable Day of Judgment; and thus save your marriage.

If you cannot bring yourself to accept your husband so blatantly disobeying the Commands of Allah, and especially if you fear that your own faith might be put to test because of the evil deeds of your husband, you are well within your rights to initiate divorce proceedings against your husband….and if what you have related is indeed true, there would be absolutely no blame or sin upon you.

Your statement: if he chooses to do so without getting intoxicated so always within limit

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 the Shaytaan; therefore, stay (far) away from these so that you may attain success.   Indeed, the Shaytaan 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?

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

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Every intoxicant is ‘khamr’ (alcohol, wine, beer, etc.), and every ‘khamr’ is haraam.”

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4477        Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah the Prophet (saws) said, "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must not (even) sit at a cloth (table or gathering) where wine is being circulated."

Allah Subhanah and His Messenger (saws) have categorically forbidden the consumption of absolutely all types of intoxicants for the believers who sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day.

Such is the categorical prohibition of consuming any type or manifestation of ‘khamr’ or intoxicants in Islam that not only has The Lord Most Majestic prohibited the believers from ever consuming it, The All-Knowing All-Wise Lord has Commanded the believers to stay far away from it, if indeed they fear Allah and wish to attain salvation on the Last Day!

The appetite or level of intoxication of each individual might indeed be different; it is possible that one might need to drink a whole liter of whisky to get intoxicated, when another might get intoxicant with half a can of beer….that the consumption of alcohol intoxicates the human mind is not in question, but rather what quantity of its consumption intoxicates…for alcohol is indeed a natural intoxicant!

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.”

Such is the categorical prohibition of consuming alcohol in Islam, that not only did the Messenger of Allah (saws) call ‘intoxicants’ the ‘Umm-al-Khabaith’ (mother or root of all evil), but he (saws) declared that if one has knowledge that the consumption of a substantial quantity of something causes intoxication, even a handful (or drop) of it is also prohibited!

Although the Messenger of Allah (saws) explicitly declared the consumption of intoxicants as ‘haraam’, the words used in the Glorious Quran by Allah Subhanah for the prohibition of intoxicants are ‘fajtanebu’ (stay far away from it!). 

For example, the consumption of swine, or blood, or dead meat, etc. are declared as ‘haraam’ in the Quran…..but there is no prohibition if for any reason one happens to approach it or sits at a table where these ‘haraam’ products are being consumed…..The majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that the term ‘fajtanebu’ (stay far far away from it!) is much more stronger than ‘haraam’, for not only are the believers forbidden from consuming intoxicants, they are forbidden from even coming near it!!!!

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled;   but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.   

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