Is it okay to drink without getting intoxicated?

Question

I like to drink alcoholic drinks, but I've always limit myself not to drink until I got intoxicated and unable to control myself. Thus I'm still drinking in moderation. A glass of beer or a shot of vodka never made me intoxicated and I always limit my consumption to avoid getting intoxicated.

And of course, after that, I always do shalat 5 times a day as usual, not under any influence because being my prayer wouldn't be accepted when I'm intoxicated.

Is this okay? Because from peer discussions and various listings of ulama's opinions, alcohol is not haram per-se but it's considered makrooh (strongly discouraged) and when you intoxicated that's the moment it became haram. (Same case when I went for the club to socialize but always limit myself not to commit any zinah like adultery, but that's for another question)

Answer 1

The relevant hadith is:

Jabir (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "If a large quantity of any beverage intoxicates, then a small amount of it is prohibited." Related by Ahmad and the four Imams. Ibn Hibban graded it as Sahih. -- Bulugh al-Maram (sunnah.com)

and other sources Sunan Ibn Majah [grade: hasan; narrator: Jabir bin ‘Abdullah] (sunnah.com), and Sunan an-Nasa'i [grade: hasan; narrator: 'Amir bin Sa'd] (sunnah.com)

It is cited in fatawa which forbid drinking small amounts of alcohol: AMJA, Islam Q&A, IslamWeb, Darul Iftaa, Darul Ifta, Birmingham.

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The only dissenting opinion I've seen is by Quranists who "reject the religious authority, and/or authenticity of, the Hadith collections", e.g. Free-Minds.org writes "Cleary alcohol is not forbidden in Islam and the only restriction found in the Quran is to avoid making Salat if intoxicated." This is a non-scholarly stance, and I personally don't take it seriously. This appears to be another example of how hadith rejection can lead to sin (see my question here: What kinds of sin does hadith rejection lead to (if any)?).

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It may be this question was prompted by this recent news article: Drinking Liquor Without Getting Drunk Not Sinful: Islamic Scholar based on a discussion (at YouTube):

In a sharp contradiction to what is common among Muslims, Khaled Al Gendy, a famous Islamic cleric and a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, stated that drinking liquor without getting drunk is not sinful.

This was described as a misunderstanding on Islam21c.com, who reference the same hadith:

He explicitly affirmed the principle, taken from a hadith, that "whatever intoxicates in larger amounts is haram even in small amounts." He also stated that the drinker is sinful for any effect of intoxication even if it is not complete intoxication.

...

Nowhere did they say, as is claimed, that drinking something that has the ability to intoxicate you in large amounts is permissible in small amounts—as people would have understood from reading the article.

Answer 2

If the beverage will intoxicate you if drank in large amounts then it is sinful to have that beverage in a small quantity. I have just taken this from a hadith that states "whatever intoxicates in larger amounts is haram even in small amounts."