Why using mouthwash with alcohol is halal: 3 super points
C.J Ahmed-01.03.2023
Using mouthwash containing alcohol is not haram in Islam. There is nothing wrong in using mouthwash with alcohol because alcohol is not haram in Islam and only intoxicants are haram alcohol and in this article I hope to inshaAllah explain giving three powerful points to prove why it is halal to mouthwash containing alcohol. Below are the three super points.
Point-1-Alcohol is Only a Chemical
Among the misunderstandings that are prevalent among Muslims with regards to using perfumes containing alcohol, one wrong opinion is that alcohol cannot be used in your body because it is an intoxicant. First of all alcohol whether it is at normal level or up to intoxicating levels is just a chemical. What Islam forbids is drinking intoxicant level alcohol and using in perfumes and cosmetics is not at all haram. Alcohol is also called ethanol and ethanol is a chemical compound and is an important source in manufacturing, medicine, fuel, antidote, antiseptic and many other purposes. There is a huge difference between eating or drinking something which is forbidden and using it for something other than that. One example is petroleum. Petroleum has chemical elements like paraffin and naphthene and it has many uses and one important usage is in running vehicles. Now no fool will drink petroleum because it is harmful and the reason why intoxicants were forbidden was because of the great harm it could inflict to the individual and society. It was narrated from Abu Bakr bin 'Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Harith that his father said:
"I heard 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, say: 'Avoid Khamr (intoxicants) for it is the mother of all evils. There was a man among those who came before you who was a devoted worshipper. An immoral woman fell in love with him. She sent her slave girl to him, saying: We are calling you to bear witness. So he set out with her slave girl, and every time he entered a door, she locked it behind him, until he reached a beautiful woman who has with her a boy and a vessel of wine. She said: 'By Allah, I did not call you to bear witness, rather I called you to have intercourse with me, or to drink a cup of this wine, or to kill this boy.' He said: 'Pour me a cup of this wine.' So she poured him a cup. He said: 'Give me more.' And soon he had intercourse with her and killed the boy. So avoid Khamr, for by Allah faith and addiction to Khamr cannot coexist but, one of them will soon expel the other."
(Sunan Nasai-graded sahih by Albani)
From this hadith it is clear that intoxicants were forbidden not because it was impure.
Point-2-Even Fruits Contain Alcohol
It should be understood that even fruits contain alcohol. There is a level of alcohol which is non- intoxicant and that level of alcohol is not haram. Banana for an example contains 0.2g of alcohol per 100g but this level of alcohol is harmless and only will turn into an intoxicant if it is fermented and turned in to wine or some other intoxicant. The other example is eating grapes. Islam never forbade grapes but only forbade intoxicants such as wine made from grapes. Let me quote one hadith,
Narrated As-Samma' sister of Abdullah ibn Busr (rali):
“The Prophet (sal) said: Do not fast on Saturday except what has been made obligatory on you; and if one of you can get nothing but a grape skin or a piece of wood from a tree, he should chew it.”
(Abu Dawud-graded sahih by Albani)
In this hadith the prophet(sal) clearly told to eat grapes because grapes is not haram even though grape fruit contains little alcohol and it is the fermentation that causes the alcohol level to shoot up to the level of intoxication. Another example is Vinegar which is not a fruit but also contains a little of alcohol anywhere between 0.5% to 2%. The prophet (sal) even ate vinegar.
Jabir bin 'Abdullah reported that Allah's Apostle (sal) asked his family for condiment. They (the members of his household) said: “We have nothing with us but vinegar. He asked for it, he began to eat it, and then said: Vinegar is a good condiment, vinegar is a good condiment.”
(Sahih Muslim)
Point-3-There is a Huge Difference between Alcohol and Intoxicants
The biggest confusion of whether we can use mouthwash contaning alcohol or not is due to not understanding the difference between alcohol and intoxicants. The below hadiths will explain this difference.
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
I heard `Umar while he was on the pulpit of the Prophet (sal) saying, "Now then O people! The revelation about the prohibition of alcoholic drinks was revealed; and alcoholic drinks are extracted from five things: Grapes, dates, honey, wheat and barley. And the alcoholic drink is that which confuses and stupefies the mind." (Sahih al Bukhari)
There is no doubt that using mouthwash containing alcohol is halal in Islam
Using mouthwash containing alcohol is not haram in Islam. There is nothing wrong in using mouthwash with alcohol because alcohol is not haram in Islam and only intoxicants are haram alcohol and in this article I hope to inshaAllah explain giving three powerful points to prove why it is halal to mouthwash containing alcohol. Below are the three super points.
Point-1-Alcohol is Only a Chemical
Among the misunderstandings that are prevalent among Muslims with regards to using perfumes containing alcohol, one wrong opinion is that alcohol cannot be used in your body because it is an intoxicant. First of all alcohol whether it is at normal level or up to intoxicating levels is just a chemical. What Islam forbids is drinking intoxicant level alcohol and using in perfumes and cosmetics is not at all haram. Alcohol is also called ethanol and ethanol is a chemical compound and is an important source in manufacturing, medicine, fuel, antidote, antiseptic and many other purposes. There is a huge difference between eating or drinking something which is forbidden and using it for something other than that. One example is petroleum. Petroleum has chemical elements like paraffin and naphthene and it has many uses and one important usage is in running vehicles. Now no fool will drink petroleum because it is harmful and the reason why intoxicants were forbidden was because of the great harm it could inflict to the individual and society. It was narrated from Abu Bakr bin 'Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Harith that his father said:
"I heard 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, say: 'Avoid Khamr (intoxicants) for it is the mother of all evils. There was a man among those who came before you who was a devoted worshipper. An immoral woman fell in love with him. She sent her slave girl to him, saying: We are calling you to bear witness. So he set out with her slave girl, and every time he entered a door, she locked it behind him, until he reached a beautiful woman who has with her a boy and a vessel of wine. She said: 'By Allah, I did not call you to bear witness, rather I called you to have intercourse with me, or to drink a cup of this wine, or to kill this boy.' He said: 'Pour me a cup of this wine.' So she poured him a cup. He said: 'Give me more.' And soon he had intercourse with her and killed the boy. So avoid Khamr, for by Allah faith and addiction to Khamr cannot coexist but, one of them will soon expel the other."
(Sunan Nasai-graded sahih by Albani)
From this hadith it is clear that intoxicants were forbidden not because it was impure.
Point-2-Even Fruits Contain Alcohol
It should be understood that even fruits contain alcohol. There is a level of alcohol which is non- intoxicant and that level of alcohol is not haram. Banana for an example contains 0.2g of alcohol per 100g but this level of alcohol is harmless and only will turn into an intoxicant if it is fermented and turned in to wine or some other intoxicant. The other example is eating grapes. Islam never forbade grapes but only forbade intoxicants such as wine made from grapes. Let me quote one hadith,
Narrated As-Samma' sister of Abdullah ibn Busr (rali):
“The Prophet (sal) said: Do not fast on Saturday except what has been made obligatory on you; and if one of you can get nothing but a grape skin or a piece of wood from a tree, he should chew it.”
(Abu Dawud-graded sahih by Albani)
In this hadith the prophet(sal) clearly told to eat grapes because grapes is not haram even though grape fruit contains little alcohol and it is the fermentation that causes the alcohol level to shoot up to the level of intoxication. Another example is Vinegar which is not a fruit but also contains a little of alcohol anywhere between 0.5% to 2%. The prophet (sal) even ate vinegar.
Jabir bin 'Abdullah reported that Allah's Apostle (sal) asked his family for condiment. They (the members of his household) said: “We have nothing with us but vinegar. He asked for it, he began to eat it, and then said: Vinegar is a good condiment, vinegar is a good condiment.”
(Sahih Muslim)
Point-3-There is a Huge Difference between Alcohol and Intoxicants
The biggest confusion of whether we can use mouthwash contaning alcohol or not is due to not understanding the difference between alcohol and intoxicants. The below hadiths will explain this difference.
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
I heard `Umar while he was on the pulpit of the Prophet (sal) saying, "Now then O people! The revelation about the prohibition of alcoholic drinks was revealed; and alcoholic drinks are extracted from five things: Grapes, dates, honey, wheat and barley. And the alcoholic drink is that which confuses and stupefies the mind." (Sahih al Bukhari)
There is no doubt that using mouthwash containing alcohol is halal in Islam