Fatwa ID: 23386
Title: Selling alcohol
Category: Financial Transactions
Scholar: Dr.Salah Al-Sawy
Date: 07/26/2008

Question

Is it permissible to sell alcohol? Please advise and may Allah reward you.


Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,

 

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his household, his companions and whoever follows him. To proceed:

 

The consensus of Muslims, both early and contemporary, is that selling alcohol is prohibited. On the authority of Jabir ibn Abd-Allah (raa), he heard Allah's Messenger (saws) say in the Year of the Conquest of Mecca, "Verily, Allah and His Messenger have prohibited the sale of alcohol, 'dead' (unslaughtered or improperly slaughtered) meat, swine and idols." So, it was asked, "Oh Messenger of Allah, what do you think of the fat of 'dead' animals, with which ships are painted, leather is oiled and people light their lamps?" He replied, "No, it is prohibited." Then Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "May Allah destroy the Jews. Verily, when Allah prohibited their ['dead' animal] fats, they melted them, sold them and ate their price." [Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim] On the authority of Anas, "Allah's Messenger (saws) cursed ten in relation to alcohol: the one who presses it, the one who orders it to be pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is brought, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who eats its price, the one who buys it and the one for whom it is bought." [Related by Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah] He (saws) said, "The Angel Gabriel came to me and said, 'Oh Muhammad, verily, Allah (Azza wa Jall) has cursed alcohol: the one who presses it, the one who orders it to be pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is brought, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who serves it and the one who orders it.'" [Related by Imam Ahmad and others]

 

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Alcohol was a cursed in ten respects: alcohol was cursed in itself, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who presses it, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried and the one who eats its price." [Related by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah] In fact, the majority of the people of knowledge hold that it is [even] prohibited to sell grapes to anyone who will press them to make wine, so what about wine itself? It is strange to find someone like yourself, my dear rightly-guided brother, asking this question when the information in this answer is considered something necessarily known of the religion! We ask Allah to grant success to us and to you.

 

And Allah Almighty is the Most High, and He knows best.