Musleh Khan – Should I use products that contain traces of alcohol

			Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu brothers and sisters, your brother Muslim Khan here. Today
let's talk about alcohol in food products. Many Muslims are confused about this issue. You go to the
grocery store, you buy something at a restaurant or an ice cap, and there's traces of alcohol in it.
Even perfumes that have alcohol ointments that have alcohol medicines that have alcohol does all of
this fall under one umbrella and become proud on. So here's the first thing that we want to talk
about. Brothers and sisters understand that alcohol literally any of us who have taken basic
chemistry, you would know that alcohol come in millions of different grades and different types. And
		

			the alcohol that is referred to in these food products are not necessarily alcohol that will
intoxicate you. In the Quran, Allah subhanho wa Taala prohibits alcohol. But more specifically, the
verses are always talking about somebody who is most scared of somebody who's intoxicated. That's
why one verse says, less tolerable sada, what atoms to Canada, don't get near Sala and you're in a
drunken state. So understand. And this is, of course, is the most extreme type of alcohol, it's the
alcohol that causes you to become drunk, this is the most extreme of them. So that's one thing you
want to understand about how the poor an incident addresses this kind of issue. Now coming to
		

			alcohol, specifically in food products and medicines, brothers and sisters, this type of alcohol
here is a completely different grade of alcohol that's used as a preservative. That's why it gives
these products a longer shelf life in the grocery stores, you can buy an ice cap, and you can
literally take the entire day to try to finish this, this drink. And the drink will still taste the
same from the moment you about it. Why? Because it's more or less something to just preserve the
taste to preserve the texture. And even I talked to one, one brother who was working in a particular
farm here in Toronto. And he had told me that in their company, the expiry dates that are on their
		

			products, the expiry date is given to those products based on how long the alcohol can preserve that
particular product. So it's essential part of the food in terms of preservation, but it doesn't
actually affect the taste of the product itself. So that's important to know, because what this
tells you is that this type of alcohol is not going to intoxicate you. And so therefore it shouldn't
be an issue for you to consume. However, having said that, still, there is a another opinion that's
argued that alcohol is natural or impure, so you shouldn't consume it anyways. Now here's the next
point that you want to understand with regards to this opinion. When alcohol is put into these
		

			products, it is such a new level of alcohol, it's almost untraceable. Like even if you wanted to
extract the alcohol, you couldn't extract it, it's just untraceable because the amount of it is so
minute. So what scholars say is that this nebulous product of alcohol is so minute that it doesn't
actually affect the three elements that need to be affected in the in a food product in order for it
to become hot, or impure. So an example of this is imagine if you had a swimming pool and you threw
some kind of nudges in it, some kind of impurity in it, one of three things has to happen for that
swimming pool to become impure, either the taste of the water is altered, the smell of the water is
		

			there, or the texture of the water has changed. One of these three elements has to change with that
particular product before the ruling is changed. So having said that, here you are drinking a nice
ice cap or you have like vanilla extractor you have some kind of medicine that has alcohol in it,
you need to look at one of these three elements and see what of it has changed the texture of that
product change or the smell of it, can you actually smell the alcohol coming out of that product. If
you do, then you know right away, you stay away from it. Or when you taste it, you actually taste
like something fumi and sort of has that alcohol taste to it, then of course it becomes hot off as
		

			well. So once you keep in this principle, and anybody who again has studied basic fit in the chapter
of tahara, you'll know that these three principles are always there when you judge a product or
water or anything to note whether it's pure or not. So the taste is there, the smell is there, or
the texture has been altered in any way, then the product becomes harder. So having said that, to
conclude, are these products always hot? And the answer is No, they're not. And simply because
again, keep in mind of how little niches or impurity is within these products. I just want to
mention one side point before we conclude
		

			Some have argued, well look, it really doesn't matter. As long as the product, the impure ingredient
exists, it becomes haraam. cased close, there is no such thing as 1% out or 5% out on. It's either
harm or it simply isn't. And this is a principle that is unheard of scholars have mentioned it
shifts them, even taymiyah has talked about this a lot as well in his ritual. I mean, this is a
principle that really, it's not very practical. Because if you were to apply that principle in every
food product, then you're going to run into a problem because literally everything that we eat, to
some degree has some kind of impurity in it, whether it's bacterial, whether it's something else,
		

			some kind of impurity could be there, the things that we touch, the things that we handle, all of
this has become impure, the clothes, the clothing that we wear, the elements that it's exposed to
outside can always carry some kind of impurity. But why are you still allowed to pray with them? Why
are you still allowed to you can touch like some some dirty doorknob or something and some people
choose not to wash their hands, and they can still eat, nothing happens to them. Why? Because those
impurities are so minute it doesn't affect the food itself or what it is that you're going to
handle. So that's really, really important in sha Allah. When you choose these products and
		

			understand brothers and sisters, it's not hold on right off the bat. The last point that I want to
mention to you is the safety point that I call it. So always safe. If you can avoid these products,
just avoid them make your life easy, and that's also a safe opinion as well. So if the doctor
prescribes something for you that has traces of alcohol in it, simply ask the product of the doctor
if there are any other alternatives for you that don't have alcohol in it. Usually 90% of the time
you can find other products without alcohol otherwise take the product, take the medicine enjoy the
food. May Allah subhanho wa Taala reward all of you said I'm Wiley Kumar.