Did The Prophet Drink Wine?

Question

في شرب النبيذ وتخمير الإناء الأشربة صحيح مسلم

حدثنا ‏ ‏أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة ‏ ‏وأبو كريب ‏ ‏واللفظ ‏ ‏لأبي كريب ‏ ‏قالا حدثنا ‏ ‏أبو معاوية ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏الأعمش ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏أبي صالح ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏جابر بن عبد الله ‏ ‏قال ‏ ‏كنا مع رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏فاستسقى فقال رجل يا رسول الله ألا ‏ ‏نسقيك ‏ ‏نبيذا ‏ ‏فقال بلى قال فخرج الرجل ‏ ‏يسعى فجاء ‏ ‏بقدح ‏ ‏فيه ‏ ‏نبيذ ‏ ‏فقال رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏ألا ‏ ‏خمرته ‏ ‏ولو ‏ ‏تعرض عليه عودا ‏ ‏قال فشرب ‏

Sahih Muslim: "Drinks, Drinking wine and fermentation"

Narrated by Gaber bin Abdullah: We were with the messenger of Allah, PBUH and he asked for a drink. One of his men said: "Oh Messenger of Allah, Can we offer you wine to drink?" He said Yes. He (Gaber) went out looking for the drink and came back with a cup of wine. The messenger (Peace Be Upon him) asked, “Have you covered it with a twig in a transverse manner” He (Gaber) said, “Yes” and he (Muhammad) drank.

I was informed this hadith was omitted from sunnah.com and is only available on Arabic sites. Can someone verify if this is true or perhaps what a more accurate translation would be.

Answer 1

It is mistranslated. The relevant part of the hadith is as follows:

A man said: 'O Messenger of Allah, shall we not give you some Nabidh?' He said: 'Yes.' The man rushed out and brought a vessel in which was some Nabidh.

Nabidh (نبيذ) is a drink that is made by soaking fruit in water, so that the water becomes flavored. It is like any other fruit juice, in the beginning it is only a sweet drink and not intoxicating, however if it is left for a long time then it ferments and becomes intoxicating.

The type of Nabidh which is permissible and which was drunk by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is only that which has not yet become intoxicating, as ahadith show that the Prophet would drink it soon afterwards and waste it after it had aged too much:

نهيتكم عن النبيذ إلا في سقاء فاشربوا في الأسقية كلها ولا تشربوا مسكرا

I had forbidden you from the preparation of Nabidh except in a waterskin. But now you may drink in all vessels, but do not drink what is intoxicant.

^{— Muslim}

كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ينبذ له الزبيب في السقاء، فيشربه يومه، والغد، وبعد الغد، فإذا كان مساء الثالثة شربه وسقاه، فإن فضل شيء أهراقه

Nabidh was prepared from raisins for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in a skin and he would drink it that day, the next day and the next day, then when evening came on the third day, he would drink it and give it to others to drink, and if there was anything left over, he would spill it out.

^{— Muslim}

كنا ننبذ لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في سقاء يوكى أعلاه وله عزلاء، ننبذه غدوة فيشربه عشاء، وننبذه عشاء فيشربه غدوة

We used to make Nabidh for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in a skin that was tied at the top and had a plugged hole in the bottom. We would make the Nabidh in the morning, and he would drink it in the evening, or we would make it in the evening and he would drink it in the morning.

^{— Muslim}

The last two ahadith are compiled in the chapter named: باب إباحة النبيذ الذي لم يشتد ولم يصر مسكرا The permissibility of Nabidh so long as it has not become strong and has not become intoxicating

The claim that the hadith quoted in the question is hidden and only available on Arabic sites is unfounded. It is available on sunnah.com, muflihun.com, islamicfinder.org. Nabidh is not wine khamr (خمر), however in modern usage it seems to be considered a synonym and there was also a type of Nabidh which was aged until it fermented, so this could be why someone has mistranslated the hadith.

Answer 2

The hadith in question is easily found on sunnah.com (https://sunnah.com/muslim:2011a). The drink that is translated as "wine" in your copy is actually referring to "nabidh", which is a drink made from dates that the prophet was known to drink; it is typically non-alcoholic, but it can become intoxicating if left to ferment for too long.