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Any addictive substance is banned in Islam. It includes smoking, drinking, etc.
Now, my question is: is wine banned or is alcohol banned?
I am asking this as many Muslims say not to use deodorants which contain alcohol, or any daily usage which contain minimal traces of alcohol.
So can we use (in any form/any way) any non-addictive thing which contain minimal traces of alcohol?
Is wine banned or is alcohol banned?
All intoxicants are haram for consumption. The wines and alcohols that cause intoxication are totally forbidden.
'A'isha reported that Allaah's Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was asked about it, whereupon he said that everything that causes intoxication is forbidden.
Ibn 'Umar reported Allaah's Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying: Every intoxicant is Khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden. He who drinks wine in this world and dies while he is addicted to it, not having repented, will not be given a drink in the Hereafter.
Abu Musa reported: Allaah's Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) sent me and Mu'adh b. Jabal to Yemen. I said: Allaah's Messenger, there is prepared in our land a wine out of barley which is known as Mizr (beer of our times) and a wine from honey which is known as Bit, (are these also forbidden? ), whereupon he said: Every intoxicant is forbidden.
Can we use products, such as deodorant, which contain alcohol?
The prohibition on consumption of intoxicants doesn't mean that using (without drinking/consuming) products that contain alchol (which is an intoxicant) is haram. The prohibition applies to drinking/consuming alchol not using deodorant or other products that contain some alchol. Scholars at IslamQA.info says:
We need to talk at length about the issue of perfumes that are said to contain cologne or alcohol. If the percentage of alcohol is very little, we say that it does not matter, and a person may use them without any concern, such as if the alcohol content is 5% or less. This does not matter.
If the percentage of alcohol is very high, so that you can detect it, then it is better not to use it except where it is necessary, such as for sterilizing wounds and the like.
In cases where it is not necessary, it is better not to use it, but we do not say that it is haram. The most we can say is that this high alcohol content is an intoxicant, and no doubt consuming intoxicants is haram according to the texts of Islam and the consensus of the scholars, but is using it in ways other than drinking it permissible? This is open to speculation, but to be on the safe side we should not use it.
Is wine banned or is alcohol banned?
An ayat from the Holy Quran:
They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they should spend. Say, "The excess [beyond needs]." Thus Allah makes clear to you the verses [of revelation] that you might give thought. Al Bakarah - Ayat 219
A hadith:
“The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: If a large amount of anything causes intoxication, a small amount of it is prohibited.” (Sunan Abi Dawud, Drinks, 3681)
Source: http://www.islamandquran.org/fatwas/is-non-alcoholic-beer-permissible.html
So can we use (in any form/any way) any non-addictive thing which contain minimal traces of alcohol?
Ethyl alcohol is actually the intoxicating substance in alcoholic drinks. However, it is already included in many foods such as bread, orange peel, ready-sold dough; and our body needs it to a certain extent. In Qur’an Al-Karim, the word ‘alcohol’ is not mentioned. The Glorified Allah forbids consuming intoxicants. However, drinks and other foods do not intoxicate as long as the ratio of alcohol within them reach a certain amount. If a substance includes sugar or starch, ethyl alcohol emerges in it, although you do not interfere. If you do interfere and add more than a certain amount of alcohol to drinks, they become intoxicant and forbidden.
As a result, those drugs do not intoxicate and therefore are not forbidden.
Source: http://www.islamandquran.org/fatwas/what-is-the-ruling-on-taking-drugs-that-include-alcohol.html
