Yes, though it is preferred not to be the drinkable kind. Without giving a fatwa (religious verdict) the way to think of it is the goal is to not drink alcohol. In particular is highlighted to not get drunk or addicted to it, but of course there may be other subtending reasons too. Intentions matter greatly in islam; it’s generally very practical.
At the same time the prohibition against drinkable alcohol in islam is so strong even the people who buy/sell, or even serve alcohol are considered sinning so best to stay well clear. That’s why there is such a distaste for the stuff in islamic culture, but for practical purposes as a chemical it can be extremely useful.
It could also be argued that it naturally appears in some foods (like overripe bananas I believe), but of course those probably aren’t haram as you’re likely not going to suffer the same effects.
Yes, it’s just consumption of alcoholic foodstuffs that’s proscribed. It might get murky if you’re dealing with some really regressive people and you’re also sanitizing with burbon, but otherwise it’s a pretty settled topic.
Interesting. My city has many breweries of local spirits so when we were low on hand sanitizers during COVID, the government allowed these breweries to make their own sanitizers.
It probably would have been nice to include a warning label for our Muslim friends saying that these products might not be allowed for them to use!
If your local distilleries were anything like mine, the sanitizer they produced was denatured, even the most absurdly orthodox would have had shaky grounds to complain (naturally done too, they just didn’t separate the methanol when distilling). So no worries there!
Are Muslims allowed to sanitize with alcohol?
Yes, though it is preferred not to be the drinkable kind. Without giving a fatwa (religious verdict) the way to think of it is the goal is to not drink alcohol. In particular is highlighted to not get drunk or addicted to it, but of course there may be other subtending reasons too. Intentions matter greatly in islam; it’s generally very practical.
At the same time the prohibition against drinkable alcohol in islam is so strong even the people who buy/sell, or even serve alcohol are considered sinning so best to stay well clear. That’s why there is such a distaste for the stuff in islamic culture, but for practical purposes as a chemical it can be extremely useful.
It could also be argued that it naturally appears in some foods (like overripe bananas I believe), but of course those probably aren’t haram as you’re likely not going to suffer the same effects.
Allah knows best.
Yes, it’s just consumption of alcoholic foodstuffs that’s proscribed. It might get murky if you’re dealing with some really regressive people and you’re also sanitizing with burbon, but otherwise it’s a pretty settled topic.
Interesting. My city has many breweries of local spirits so when we were low on hand sanitizers during COVID, the government allowed these breweries to make their own sanitizers.
It probably would have been nice to include a warning label for our Muslim friends saying that these products might not be allowed for them to use!
If your local distilleries were anything like mine, the sanitizer they produced was denatured, even the most absurdly orthodox would have had shaky grounds to complain (naturally done too, they just didn’t separate the methanol when distilling). So no worries there!