Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Is eating nutmegs forbidden; for I heard that it contains an intoxicating substance?

Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon His kind Messenger.

Ruling about nutmegs: There is no Shari’ah ruling that prohibits eating nutmegs, it falls under the category of the Prophetic Hadith: (That the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him has warned against all intoxicants), hence, some Shari’ah scholars have ruled out that it is prohibited, as maintained by Ibn Hajar Al-Makki in his book: Al-Zawajer.

But it seems that Abou-Hanifah maintained that the forbidden side of it is eating too much of it which is intoxicant, though the lesser quantities of it and of any intoxicant substance, except liquor and its likes, should not be categorized as prohibited, on condition that it does not intoxicate, as is mentioned in Al-Tahawi’s Commentary on Maraqi Al-Falah, 1/441.

It is mentioned in the book: Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar – which a Hanafi literature: (And also, nutmegs are prohibited, but not as much as hashish or hemp), Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar, 6/458.

As for the Maliki Doctors of Fiqhi school, the author of: Mawaheb Al-Jalil: (And al-Barzali said that some of our Imams have permitted eating small quantities of nutmegs just for refreshing the mind, and some of them conditioned it by mixing with some medicine, and the correct rule is the generality of using it), Mawaheb Al-Jalil, 1/90.

The point is that its prohibition is not as grave as that of liquor, and that some Shari’ah doctors have absolutely forbidden it, and some of them only prohibited the big quantities of it, not of the lesser quantities. A Muslim should be careful in seeking the Halal substances, especially of food and drink. Therefore, it is preferable to avoid eating nutmegs, because it is closer to prohibition for having intoxication in it. Allah knows best.