Some alcohol is halal in Hanafi
Moataz Emam
halal if taken in moderation. The word "Khamr" in the Quranic verse was
explained by him as "wine made of grapes" only, based on the linguistic
origins of the word and other Fiqh considerations. In this, he was
following the view of Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood, one of the prophet's closest
companions.
Based on this, any alcoholic drink NOT grape wine is halal, as long as
you do not get drunk. Abou Hanifa listed the allowed types of alcohol
that existed at his time: Dates wine, wine made of cooked raisin, a type
called "Double Mix"; basically a mix of the first two, wine made of
honey and figs and others.
Abou Hanifa did not change his mind during his life. In fact, Hanafi
scholars afterwards were famous for holding this view. In mediaeval
times, Iraq scholars (followers of Abou Hanifa) were famous for
declaring alcohol halal, while Hegaz scholars (in modern day Saudi
Arabia) were famous for allowing singing and dancing.
Finally two disclaimers: I am not claiming that I believe alcohol is
halal, I only present this view as an example of the flexibility of
Islam and the fact that everything, even things we take for granted, is
open to discussion and Ijtihad. No one can claim Abou Hanifa did not
know what he was doing.
Secondly, everything I mention above is correct. I invite everyone to
look it up in books on the Fiqh of Abou Hanifa and his works.
--
Moataz H. Emam
GF Haddad
blue.rahul.net>...
> Imam Abou Hanifa decreed that some types of alcoholic beverages are
> halal if taken in moderation.
This position was not retained in the Hanafi Madhhab.
...
> Based on this, any alcoholic drink NOT grape wine is halal, as long as
> you do not get drunk.
NOT in the Hanafi Madhhab. Muhammad and Abu Yusuf disagreed with Abu
Hanifa on this, and the final position is theirs.
...
> open to discussion and Ijtihad. No one can claim Abou Hanifa did not
> know what he was doing.
Granted. But everyone that followed disagreed with him on this.
> Secondly, everything I mention above is correct. I invite everyone to
> look it up in books on the Fiqh of Abou Hanifa and his works.
Have you?
Hajj Gibril
Moataz Emam
> > Based on this, any alcoholic drink NOT grape wine is halal, as long as
> > you do not get drunk.
>
> NOT in the Hanafi Madhhab. Muhammad and Abu Yusuf disagreed with Abu
> Hanifa on this, and the final position is theirs.
< SNIP for brevity >
Relax my friend. I agree with what you say in its totality. The purpose
of my post was simply to point out that Islam is not as rigid and
inflexible as people would like to believe, and that even something we
take for granted like alcohol prohibition was surprisingly debatable by
none other than one of the most respected of early Islamic scholars,
Imam Abu Hanifa in person. That is all I wanted to say.
Qeyasan 3la hadha [analogously to this], everything else in Islam is
debatable, even if it was seemingly decided in the most rigid terms in
the Quran.
--
Moataz H. Emam